Head of Procurement

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC•Philadelphia, PA

About The Position

The Head of Procurement is responsible for leading the firm’s enterprise procurement and strategic sourcing function, ensuring that third-party goods and services are acquired in a cost-effective, disciplined, transparent, and risk-conscious manner. This executive will develop and execute the firm’s procurement strategy, establish sourcing and vendor management standards, lead major contract negotiations, improve visibility into third-party spend, and partner with business leaders to optimize the firm’s vendor portfolio. The Head of Procurement will work closely with partners across corporate departments, including but not limited to Legal, Compliance, Information Security, Technology, Risk, and senior business leadership to balance commercial objectives with regulatory, operational, cybersecurity, privacy, and reputational considerations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, economics, or a related discipline; advanced degree or relevant professional certification preferred.
Typically, 10+ years of progressive experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, vendor management, finance, or related functions
Experience leading procurement within financial services, wealth management, or asset management
Demonstrated experience negotiating complex, high-value commercial agreements.
Strong understanding of technology and professional-services procurement.
Experience with third-party risk management and vendor governance frameworks.
Demonstrated ability to analyze enterprise spend and translate findings into measurable financial results.
Experience establishing or transforming procurement processes, systems, and governance is highly desirable.
Strong executive communication, negotiation, analytical, and stakeholder-management skills.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead an enterprise-wide procurement and strategic sourcing strategy aligned with the firm’s financial and operating objectives.
Establish procurement policies, governance standards, approval processes, and sourcing methodologies.
Serve as a strategic advisor to senior leadership on major purchasing decisions, vendor relationships, contract structures, and opportunities for cost optimization.
Balance financial discipline, business responsiveness, risk management, and effective stakeholder experience.
Establish measurable procurement objectives and regularly report results to executive leadership.
Lead strategic sourcing initiatives across major spend categories, including technology, market data, professional services, consulting, telecommunications, marketing, operations, and other corporate services.
Analyze enterprise spend to identify consolidation opportunities, pricing improvements, demand-management opportunities, and areas of unmanaged or fragmented spend.
Lead competitive RFP, RFI, and RFQ processes for significant purchases and vendor relationships.
Develop appropriate preferred vendor and strategic-supplier programs.
Lead or support negotiations for significant vendor agreements, renewals, pricing arrangements, and commercial terms.
Partner closely with Legal, Technology, Risk, Finance, and business stakeholders throughout the contracting process.
Improve contract economics through pricing benchmarks, volume leverage, service-level commitments, renewal management, and disciplined negotiation.
Establish processes for monitoring contract expiration dates, renewal deadlines, commitments, and commercial obligations.
Develop a consistent framework for vendor selection, onboarding, performance management, renewal, and termination.
Partner with the firm’s risk and control functions to ensure appropriate third-party due diligence and oversight.
Establish supplier performance standards and scorecards for significant vendors.
Conduct periodic business reviews with strategic suppliers and internal stakeholders.
Support business continuity and resiliency planning for critical third parties.
Establish reliable reporting on third-party spend, savings, contract commitments, supplier concentration, and procurement activity.
Develop annual savings and value-creation targets in partnership with Finance and business leaders.
Track realized savings and distinguish between negotiated savings, cost avoidance, demand reduction, and actual P&L impact.
Support budgeting and forecasting by improving visibility into contractual commitments and expected vendor expenditures.
Identify opportunities to simplify the vendor landscape and reduce duplicative products and services.
Ensure procurement activities operate within the firm’s established financial controls, delegation-of-authority framework, and applicable policies.
Partner with Legal, Compliance, Information Security, Privacy, and Enterprise Risk Management to integrate appropriate controls into the procurement lifecycle.
Support regulatory examinations, internal audits, and other reviews involving procurement and third-party relationships.
Promote consistent adherence to procurement standards while developing practical processes that enable the business to operate efficiently.
Evaluate and implement procurement technologies and tools that improve sourcing, contracting, spend analytics, vendor management, and reporting.
Develop accurate procurement data and management dashboards.
Automate manual workflows and improve integration among procurement, accounts payable, finance, contract management, and third-party risk processes.
Operate as a highly collaborative enterprise leader and build productive relationships across the firm.
Influence senior stakeholders without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Translate financial and commercial analysis into clear recommendations for senior leadership.
Navigate competing business, financial, technology, legal, and risk considerations.
Build credibility with business leaders by communicating effectively and combining commercial discipline with an understanding of their operational needs.