Sr Manager, Procurement Center of Excellence

Pilot Company•Knoxville, TN

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Procurement Center of Excellence (CoE) is a strategic leadership role responsible for building and overseeing the enterprise procurement enablement engine. This role drives measurable procurement impact by establishing best‑in‑class contract management practices, sourcing project governance, spend and category analytics, and a robust catalog of tools, templates, and intelligence that enable buyers to perform at a higher level. The Senior Manager acts as a force multiplier for the procurement organization—standardizing how work is done, ensuring sourcing initiatives are effectively managed and measured, and translating data and market intelligence into actionable insights for leadership and category teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field
8–12+ years of progressive procurement, finance, accounting, or related experience
Demonstrated experience leading enterprise‑level initiatives, PMO‑style governance, or centers of excellence
Strong analytical capability with experience in spend analysis, reporting, and executive‑level insights
Proven ability to design scalable processes, tools, and frameworks
Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication skills
Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree (MBA or equivalent)
Experience with procurement analytics platforms, contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools, and sourcing suites
Prior people leadership or CoE build‑out experience
Professional certifications (e.g., CPSM, CPM, CIPS, CFP, PMP)

Responsibilities

Define and implement a procurement impact measurement framework, including savings, cost avoidance, value creation, and risk mitigation metrics.
Establish governance standards for sourcing and contracting activities to ensure consistency, compliance, and transparency.
Partner with Procurement leadership and Finance to align reporting methodologies and validate results.
Design and lead a sourcing project management framework, including intake, prioritization, milestone tracking, and post‑award validation.
Ensure sourcing initiatives are executed with discipline, on time, and with clear accountability.
Provide portfolio‑level visibility into sourcing pipeline health, capacity, and outcomes.
Oversee contract management standards, templates, and playbooks to improve cycle time, risk management, and value realization.
Partner with Legal and category teams to ensure contracts are leveraged effectively post‑award.
Drive continuous improvement in contract compliance and lifecycle management practices.
Lead the development of enterprise‑level spend reporting and analytics capabilities.
Translate spend and category data into insights that inform sourcing strategies, demand management, and supplier decisions.
Establish recurring executive‑level dashboards and ad hoc analytical support for leadership.
Build and maintain a centralized catalog of procurement tools, templates, guides, and best practices.
Standardize sourcing, contracting, and supplier management artifacts to improve quality and efficiency.
Continuously assess buyer needs and evolve resources to increase effectiveness and consistency across the organization.
Develop a scalable approach to category research, supplier intelligence, and market trend analysis.
Ensure category and sourcing teams have access to relevant insights to support negotiations and strategic decisions.
Curate internal and external intelligence sources to support long‑term procurement planning.
Serve as a trusted advisor to Procurement leadership, category managers, and functional stakeholders.
Influence without authority to drive adoption of standards and processes.
Lead, mentor, and potentially manage CoE team members as the function matures.