Global Sourcing and Procurement Director

Mercy Ships

3d•$130,000 - $135,000•Remote

About The Position

Mercy Ships is a global faith-based charity that uses hospital ships to bring life-changing surgeries and transformational medical training to people in some of the most challenging contexts along the African coast. For over 40 years, Mercy Ships has been delivering lasting hope and healing through safe surgical care, while working alongside partners and stakeholders to strengthen local healthcare systems in more than 55 countries. Since the inception of this dream by founders Don and Deyon Stephens in 1978, Mercy Ships has served more than 2.7 million direct beneficiaries without regard for race, gender, or religion. In the Mercy Ships Global Supply Chain (GSC), our mission is to support life-changing surgery through precision logistics – ensuring every ship, every team, and every patient has exactly what they need, when they need it. The Global Supply Chain is committed to creating a unified and efficient value stream that seamlessly delivers essential supplies to Mercy Ships’ vessels, transforming the generosity of our partners into the tangible hope of surgical care for the people of Africa. The Mercy Ships Global Supply Chain does not just deliver cargo; we help create a future where our patients can experience physical healing and the transformative love of God. The Global Sourcing and Procurement Director will drive the strategic transformation of a fragmented, regional purchasing model into a unified, integrated global function. This role owns the global product catalog, vendor master, commercial execution, and GIK (Gifts-In-Kind) development, ensuring that every sourcing decision is synchronized to support the organization’s objectives. This is a function-building role: the Director will establish the enterprise procurement capability that currently does not exist, creating the authority, processes, and team structure needed to move Mercy Ships from reactive purchasing to proactive, category-led sourcing. As a key link between Programs, Finance, and Global Corporate Partnerships, the Director ensures that every partner and donor gift is stewarded to enable operational delivery at the lowest cost and optimal service level. As the primary voice for global sourcing, this position balances cost and service by managing tactical trade-offs while driving coordination across the European and North American supply chains. The Director must be both a decisive authority on commercial standards and a genuine partner to operational teams — enforcing enterprise discipline while enabling the regional teams to execute with confidence. Robust contingency planning and risk management skills are essential to ensure the upstream supply chain can adapt and deliver in the face of global dynamics.

Requirements

Demonstrated ability to negotiate high-value, global contracts within complex medical, maritime, or consumer goods sectors.
Proven change management capabilities, with the ability to influence regional stakeholders and establish centralized governance.
Deep understanding of regional regulations, international contract terms, and vendor performance management.
Analytical aptitude for conducting cost-benefit analysis and marketplace research while quantifying trade-offs and opportunities.
Excellent people management skills, capable of training and developing a collaborative, multi-cultural workforce.
Proficiency with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software (e.g., Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP, or Oracle) and familiarity with BI tools like Power BI or Tableau.
Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or a related field.
15+ years of progressive leadership experience in global sourcing or procurement in regional and international contexts.
Proven experience transitioning an organization from a regional purchasing model to a strategic, center-led sourcing model.
Extensive experience managing product life cycles and global product masters across multiple business units.
Ability to travel internationally to visit regional depots and key global suppliers.

Nice To Haves

Master’s Degree or relevant professional certifications (e.g., CPSM, CSCP).
Background in maritime, medical, or highly regulated supply chain environments.
Prior experience in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) or within NGOs/International Development firms specializing in global health or humanitarian aid.
Previous volunteer or work experience with Mercy Ships is considered a significant asset.
Excellent executive-level communication and presentation skills.
Strong emotional intelligence and the ability to navigate complex cross-cultural and regional relationships.
Ability to act as a decisive gatekeeper for enterprise standards while remaining an agile partner to operational teams.
Strong support for the organization's mission and vision, including adherence to the Code of Conduct.
Successful completion of Mercy Ships Entry Training within the first year of employment.

Responsibilities

Own the global product catalog and category management strategy for all goods and materials, utilizing 80/20 analysis to prioritize strategic sourcing and optimized spending on high-volume/high-value SKUs.
Map the buy for every major category against a defined sourcing strategy, determining which items require global contracts versus local execution.
Define and govern the procurement parameters that feed the replenishment model, ensuring sourcing windows align with global demand and inventory targets.
Lead the Product Life Cycle Management (PLCM) process and methodology, managing new product introductions, transitions, and exits driven by market availability, strategic sourcing, or customer requirements.
Transform the 12-month demand plan into an integrated procurement plan, leveraging Global Corporate Partnerships to develop the GIK procurement channel. Execute cost-optimized purchasing for all remaining needs.
Oversee all RFP and RFQ processes to ensure no significant purchase commitment is made without competitive global sourcing and a comprehensive marketplace audit.
Establish and enforce vendor performance standards across North American and European markets, holding suppliers accountable via quality scorecards and service level metrics.
Own the negotiation and execution of supplier Service Level Agreements (SLAs), focusing on reducing purchase costs through bulk buys/MOQ discounts, developing GIK, and reducing risk exposure.
Decide who owns commercial execution at the regional level, ensuring buying channel discipline and strict adherence to global sourcing standards and policies.
Define and enforce sourcing policies that dictate what flows through Global Supply Chain channels versus what constitutes a legitimate departmental one-time buy.
Exercise decision authority over all sourcing logic and channel selection, evaluating the cost-benefit of buy-vs-GIK, strategic-vs-spot, and planned-vs-emergency options to eliminate fragmented ad-hoc spend and consolidate purchases across the organization.
Coordinate with Global Corporate Partnerships to ensure GIK intake is an integrated, formal input to the sourcing strategy rather than a separate workstream.
Lead the Purchase Review in the monthly Programs & Operations Planning (P&OP) cycle, aligning purchases with demand/supply plans and financial budgets, in addition to communicating supplier risks to cross-functional partners.
Act as the primary steward for sourcing and procurement master data, overseeing data integrity, governance, and cleanliness to ensure regional cost analysis and vendor replenishment operates without error.
Track and report on category compliance, vendor performance, and GIK offset against bought spend to ensure organization-wide accountability.
Design and oversee emergency procurement protocols that allow for operational flexibility without bypassing critical commercial workstreams and controls.
Periodically audit category spend to identify and correct deviations from approved purchasing channels and global sourcing policies.
Build, develop, and lead the regional procurement managers and coordinators across North America and Europe, establishing a unified procurement team culture, shared standards, and a development path that grows capability over time.