Director, S2P COE - Strategy, Governance & Excellence

Vertex Inc.•Boston, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, S2P - Strategy, Governance & Excellence is a critical leadership role responsible for establishing the foundational operating model, governance, and standards for the Source‑to‑Pay (S2P) Center of Excellence. This role serves as the architect, steward, and driver of procurement excellence, ensuring scalable processes, strong governance, digital enablement, and continuous capability advancement across the enterprise. This leader will operate at the intersection of strategy, execution, and influence, partnering closely with Sourcing leadership, Finance, Legal, Sustainability, Digital/IT, and business stakeholders to elevate departments impact and maturity. The role directly supports enterprise value creation through supplier relationship management (SRM), small business engagement, supplier excellence, and capability building. The Director will be accountable for Process Design & Optimization, Supplier Programs, and Capability & Change, and will play a visible role in shaping enterprise‑wide procurement transformation.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive experience in strategic leadership roles within Procurement, S2P, Supply Chain, or adjacent functional domains.
Deep experience in governance frameworks, policy development, and process design within complex organizations.
Demonstrated expertise in Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), supplier performance, and external value creation.
Strong background in capability building, organizational change, and transformation leadership.
Proven ability to operate in highly visible, ambiguous, and matrixed environments.
High proficiency in digital enablement, data, metrics, and performance management.
Track record of building and leading high‑performing teams.

Nice To Haves

Experience establishing or scaling a Center of Excellence.
Familiarity with small business programs, diversity sourcing, or supplier sustainability initiatives.
Exposure to global or enterprise‑scale procurement transformations.

Responsibilities

Set the Foundation: Strategy, Governance & Operating Model: Be accountable for end‑to‑end CoE outcomes, including progress against maturity goals, governance effectiveness, and value enablement. Design and establish enterprise‑level governance frameworks, policies, and standards for Procurement and S2P activities. Define and maintain the Procurement / S2P CoE operating model, including decision rights, controls, forums, and escalation mechanisms. Serve as the custodian of procurement standards, ensuring consistency, compliance, and scalability across regions and business units. Partner with Legal, Finance, Risk, and Compliance to ensure governance frameworks align with regulatory, contractual, and audit requirements. Drive clarity in roles, accountabilities, and ways of working across the Procurement ecosystem.
Process Excellence & Optimization: Lead end‑to‑end S2P process design, optimization, and standardization, grounded in leading practices and enterprise needs. Apply a market and benchmarking lens to evaluate S2P maturity, inform standards, prioritize capability investments, and guide future‑state design decisions. Establish a culture of continuous improvement, leveraging Lean, process excellence, and data‑driven performance insights. Define and track process performance metrics to monitor efficiency, effectiveness, and user experience. Ensure process designs are digitally enabled, scalable, and aligned with future‑state technology roadmaps.
Enable External Value & Supplier Excellence: Advance Strategic Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) frameworks to deepen collaboration, innovation, and value realization with key suppliers. Oversee supplier performance management, development programs, and continuous improvement initiatives. Champion small business engagement strategies, including program design, governance, reporting, and stakeholder alignment. Embed sustainability, ESG, and responsible sourcing considerations into supplier governance, performance, and development models. Partner with category leaders and business stakeholders to move Procurement from transactional execution to strategic value creation.
Capability Building & Change Leadership: Design and execute a Procurement capability‑building strategy, covering skills, behaviors, tools, and career pathways. Develop structured learning, enablement, and knowledge‑sharing programs across the function. Lead enterprise‑level change management efforts tied to process, technology, and operating model transformations. Act as a thought leader and coach, raising the overall maturity and confidence of procurement professionals. Reinforce a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous learning.
Performance, Insight & Value Governance: Define the enterprise performance framework for Procurement and S2P, including value, risk, compliance, supplier performance, and maturity indicators. Establish standards for KPIs, scorecards, and management insights required to enable effective governance, SRM, supplier excellence, and leadership decision‑making. Act as the business owner of “what must be measured and why,” ensuring metrics align to strategy and external value objectives. Partner with the S2P Process, Controls & Analytics Director on how insights are produced and governed, without owning operational reporting or analytics execution. Partner with the User Orchestration, AI & Innovation Director to ensure insights influence behavior, adoption, and decision flow, without owning experience design or technology enablement. Use performance insights to shape priorities, maturity roadmaps, capability investments, and continuous improvement agendas.
People Leadership & Stakeholder Influence: Lead and develop a team of three managers across: Process Design & Excellence Small Business Engagement Capability Building & Change Management Set clear objectives, empower leaders, and create strong cross‑functional collaboration. Act as a trusted advisor to senior Procurement and enterprise leaders. Represent the CoE in executive forums, SteerCos, and cross‑functional governance bodies. Lead complex negotiations and influence outcomes across senior stakeholders, balancing competing priorities related to governance, risk, capability investment, and business impact.