Director, Procurement

LaunchDarkly

5h•$163,000 - $263,000

About The Position

We are seeking an experienced and hands-on procurement leader to scale our procurement function for a high-growth SaaS company. As the first dedicated procurement hire, you will design and drive the end-to-end procurement process, partner closely with Finance, Legal and cross-functional stakeholders (e.g. Engineering, Product, Go-to-Market, Ops) and ensure the vendor ecosystem supports our strategic and operational goals while optimizing cost, minimizing risk and adding value.

Requirements

Typically requires a minimum of 15 years of related experience in a technology or high-growth SaaS company
At least 5 years of leadership experience
Proven experience negotiating complex contracts (cloud, software, services) and working with Legal/Risk functions.
Experience designing and running Procure-to-Pay (P2P) processes and implementing procurement tooling/automation.
Strong collaboration skills, showcasing an ability to engage with technical and non-technical stakeholders, influence without direct authority, and drive results in a dynamic environment.
Strong analytical and financial acumen, comfort with vendor cost modeling, ROI assessment, amortization, and aligning vendor decisions with broader strategic/financial goals.
Ability to present to executive leadership, manage vendor relationships, and drive change across functions.
Experience managing vendor risk, performance measurement, renewals, and vendor lifecycle management.
Able to build structure, process, and discipline in a rapidly growing, fast-paced company.

Nice To Haves

experience in SaaS business model, vendor consolidation, category management, and procurement governance frameworks.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement a robust procurement framework, map current state, define target state, establish policies, governance and controls, including vendor intake, approval, contracting, renewal and off-boarding.
Own the vendor lifecycle from selection through contracting, including negotiating, tracking performance, conducting renewals, and assessing risk management.
Drive value for the company by identifying cost savings, consolidation opportunities, vendor rationalization, alternate sourcing, and service delivery optimization.
Lead cross-functional stakeholder engagement with partners in Engineering, Product, and UX Design for on Tech software, Go-to-Market with SaaS and services vendors, Finance/Legal on contract terms, risk, amortization, and vendor obligations.
Negotiate major vendor agreements (software, cloud services, professional services, managed services) and optimize commercial terms (pricing, usage, escalation, exit rights, SLAs).
Deploy procurement tools (such as P2P workflows, vendor management systems, contract management systems), implement optimizations and automation, and ensure process adherence and efficiency.
Define and monitor key procurement metrics like vendor count, spend by category and team, savings achieved, contract term, renewal rate, vendor risk score, and regularly report on these to the Finance leadership and Executive team.
Support the annual budget/forecast process in coordination with Strategic Finance and business stakeholders ensuring vendor spend aligns with financial targets and growth plans.
Drive continuous improvement and establish a culture of disciplined sourcing, value-based vendor relationships, transparency, and risk mitigation across the procurement ecosystem.