Director, Procurement

Merative

1d•$157,868 - $236,802•Remote

About The Position

The Director of Procurement will lead enterprise-wide procurement for a U.S.-based, enterprise software company operating in the healthcare IT market. This role owns end-to-end sourcing strategy, supplier negotiations, contract commercial terms, and supplier performance across key spend categories such as technology (cloud/SaaS/software), professional services, corporate services, and contingent labor. The Director will manage a team of four buyers, partner closely with cross-functional budget owners, and provide executive-level reporting and briefings to ensure spend transparency, risk management, and measurable savings aligned with company priorities. This leader will also help mature procurement operating processes—category strategies, sourcing governance, supplier relationship management (SRM), purchase-to-pay (P2P) discipline, and compliance requirements typical of healthcare-adjacent environments (e.g., privacy/security expectations, vendor risk management, and data handling requirements).

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or a related field (Master’s degree preferred).
Minimum 10 years of progressive procurement/sourcing experience, including supplier negotiations and contract commercial management
Experience in enterprise software / SaaS / technology environments; healthcare IT experience strongly preferred.
Demonstrated success leading negotiations with technology vendors (SaaS, cloud, software licensing, professional services).
People management experience with direct leadership of a team (or strong evidence of mentorship/leadership readiness); ability to manage and develop a team of 4 buyers.
Proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and partner with budget owners, especially in fast-paced environments.
Strong executive communication skills—able to synthesize complex spend, risk, and commercial positions into concise leadership-ready materials.
U.S.-based with eligibility to work in the U.S.; comfortable working in a fully remote environment.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree

Responsibilities

Lead supplier negotiations across high-impact categories (e.g., cloud providers, SaaS subscriptions, software licensing, systems integrators, consulting, hardware, telecom, facilities, travel).
Own negotiation strategy and playbooks: price benchmarking, total cost of ownership (TCO), value-based tradeoffs, escalation paths, and multi-year commercial structures.
Drive competitive RFP/RFQ processes, supplier selection, and contracting approaches to optimize cost, quality, delivery, and risk.
Establish and enforce negotiation standards (e.g., target discounts, renewal timing, bundling/unbundling strategies, termination/renewal protections, and service credits).
Act as the executive owner for key suppliers and strategic partners; build structured governance and QBR routines.
Implement supplier performance scorecards (cost, service, quality, responsiveness, security posture, SLA adherence).
Manage supplier risk: financial stability, operational risk, concentration risk, and business continuity considerations.
Lead issue resolution and escalation management, ensuring fast containment and long-term prevention.
Partner with cross-functional budget owners (Engineering, Product, IT, Security, Sales, Customer Success, HR, Finance, Legal) to align sourcing to business strategy and annual operating plans.
Drive spend planning and demand management: challenge/validate requirements, standardize preferred products/services, and reduce duplicative tools.
Support budget owners with renewal calendars, forecast accuracy, and sourcing recommendations ahead of budgeting cycles.
Lead, coach, and develop a team of four buyers, ensuring clear role definitions, performance expectations, and career growth.
Build scalable procurement workflows (intake, triage, sourcing, contracting, PO management, receiving, and supplier onboarding).
Set and monitor KPIs for the team: cycle time, savings, contract coverage, compliance, and stakeholder satisfaction.
Provide executive reporting and briefings on procurement performance, savings pipeline, renewal risk, supplier concentration, and key sourcing decisions.
Develop dashboards and regular cadence materials for leadership (monthly/quarterly): realized savings, avoidance, committed spend, and contract compliance.
Present sourcing strategy and high-value negotiations to executives with clear options, risk tradeoffs, and recommendations.
Track procurement savings, KPIs, and financial performance, reporting to senior management.
Ensure alignment with overall financial strategies to improve profit margins.
Develop, update, and report on service level agreements, including distribution of metrics to senior leadership; identify root causes of issues and drive efficient resolution.
Partner with Legal, Security, and Privacy teams to standardize commercial and risk terms, supporting efficient contracting without sacrificing protections.
Ensure procurement inputs into contracts include: pricing schedules, SLAs, implementation milestones, data handling/security clauses, audit rights, termination rights, and renewal protections.
Maintain contract repository discipline and commercial term visibility (renewal dates, notice periods, auto-renew controls).
Ensure all procurement activities comply with company policies, industry standards, and legal requirements.
Lead initiatives to mitigate supply chain risks and ensure business continuity.
Work closely with Legal and Information Security teams to ensure contract terms comply with company standards.
Provide timely support for System and Organization Controls (SOC) audits and manage quarterly vendor reviews.
Mature procurement policy and controls: approval thresholds, competitive bidding rules, delegation of authority, and exception management.
Improve P2P compliance and reduce “shadow spend” through standardized intake and procurement engagement processes.
Optimize procurement systems/tooling (ERP/AP, contract lifecycle management, vendor management tools) in partnership with Finance/IT.
Coordinate with Security/Compliance to ensure vendors meet required standards for a healthcare IT context (e.g., security questionnaires, data access controls, incident response expectations).
Support audits and customer expectations by ensuring third-party relationships have appropriate commercial and operational documentation.