EMEA Strategic Sourcing Manager – Professional Services

Microsoft

16d ago

Job
Full-time
Expert Level
Construction & Surveying
Dublin

AI generated summary

You must have a relevant Bachelor's degree, 10+ years in construction procurement, strong commercial acumen, and excellent communication skills, along with integrity and relationship-building abilities.
You will develop sourcing strategies, manage supplier relationships, negotiate contracts, ensure compliance, and collaborate with cross-functional teams on complex purchasing categories.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Quantity Surveying or other related construction qualification AND
10+ years post graduate experience in construction supply chain and/or construction procurement specifically with large complex capital projects.
Strong commercial understanding and experience of driving and developing key contractual components of categories (General Contractor, Civil Works Contracting, Architect / Engineer, Commissioning, Project Management, Cost Management and other construction services suppliers).
Knowledge of Datacenter industry preferable and / or mission critical experience and experience managing a variety of project delivery methods – ability to collaborate with a project team in defining risk and developing the appropriate contracting and compensation approaches.
Ability to work independently and within a matrixed environment; a self-starter and quick learner of Microsoft systems and processes.
Experienced in the set up and management of category management plans to capture the long term business strategies for the General Contractor and Associated Sub-Categories. Strong analytical and presentation skills to succinctly report status in the achievement of OKR’s.
Strong verbal and written communication skills for executive communication; ability to articulate points of view with executive management and stakeholders.
Ability to implement new processes and get buy in from a cross functional team.
High integrity – must be ethical and strong value based individual focused on fairness and maintaining confidentiality.
Be a high performer – be able to fit the Microsoft “culture” by effectively multi-tasking and managing priorities; have a “sense of urgency” regarding issue resolution.
Understand the importance of relationships inside the company and with our supply chain partners.
These requirements include, but are not limited to, the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Responsibilities

Sourcing
Defines, maintains, and executes on sourcing strategies for one or more complex projects and/or purchasing opportunities to ensure optimal cost and sufficient continuity of supply and/or service, collects relevant internal and industry data to understand business requirements, benchmarks data against relevant markets, and shares industry and category expertise across stakeholder teams to develop and execute sourcing strategies.
Integrates business specifications for complex purchasing areas into request for information (RFI) and/or request for proposal (RFP) processes. Collaborates cross-functionally to define and manage supplier scorecard criteria (e.g., key performance indicators [KPIs], Service Level Agreements [SLAs]), coordinates supplier performance reviews, and drives corrective actions. Actively partners with suppliers to identify and drive continuous improvement and risk management opportunities by evaluating procedural, operational, and/or environmental factors, analyzing root causes of issues, sharing insights with key stakeholders, and influencing the adoption of needed improvements.
Manages contract and price negotiation activities for a single purchasing category cross-functionally and ensures that both price and capacity needs are met while also reflecting Microsoft's cross functional engagements with suppliers. Identifies cost reduction opportunities and works closely with suppliers to drive cost competitiveness.
Compliance
Applies an end-to-end understanding of the tradeoffs between Microsoft and key suppliers to drive business impact by influencing senior managers cross-functionally, or cross-regionally to apply market intelligence and adopt practices that enable execution with consistency, accuracy, quality, and timeliness of delivery. Manages supplier scorecard process, leads strategic business reviews, educates stakeholders on policy compliance, analyzes root causes of issues, and influences change internally and/or externally to address issues.
Ensures adherence to policy, educates stakeholders and suppliers on policy compliance, and manages the remediation and resolution of sourcing issues. Identifies opportunities to adapt policy as needed to mitigate risk and better enable suppliers to meet business requirements.
Ensures consistency, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of deliverables, and ensures Procurement stakeholders are aware of Service Level Agreement (SLA) and/or defined milestones and deliverables terms. Communicates delay to Procurement stakeholders, and independently proposes and executes contingency measures.
Procurement and Contracts
Processes or supports stakeholder procurement requests for complex purchasing categories via engagement and/or leveraging workflow process or technology, where applicable in support of product and service requirements. Manages the resolution of escalated pricing issues raised by other sourcing personnel.
Executes contracts and complies with established control processes to ensure delivery and execution on contracts in alignment with business requirements. Identifies risks and roadblocks to contract execution and drives action internally and/or externally to resolve and/or escalate, as appropriate. Monitors the impact of change orders to the underlying business case, and partners cross-functionally to adjust impact models.
Develops coherent sourcing strategies for early enabling works scopes across multiple geographies in EMEA building deep market knowledge through a network of sources in the industry. Accountable to lead engagement with potential supply chain and lead the onboarding process in collaboration with our partner teams in Land Development, Engineering and Construction.
Stakeholder Collaboration
Develops pricing and negotiation strategies for one or more complex purchasing categories, ensures that strategies clearly articulate the tradeoffs, roles, and responsibilities across parties, and gains senior executive support for strategies both internally and externally. Identifies negotiation setbacks and takes action to mitigate contract disagreements.
Drives early business engagements for complex business areas or purchasing categories with cross-functional leadership including product design, quality, and business teams, to define and drive action on supply solutions and strategies, business requirements, optimal sourcing spend, and priorities. Shares expertise in advising cross-functional teams on sourcing decisions.
Collaborates with suppliers, serves as contact point between suppliers and multiple Microsoft accounts across one or more complex purchasing categories, developing and executing supplier account plans detailing priorities and focus for the supplier relationship for the upcoming period.

FAQs

What is the primary responsibility of the EMEA Strategic Sourcing Manager – Professional Services?

The primary responsibility is to lead the sourcing of construction consultancy services in support of Microsoft’s datacenter build program across the EMEA region.

What qualifications are required for this position?

A Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Quantity Surveying or a related construction qualification, along with 10+ years of experience in construction supply chain and/or procurement for large complex capital projects are required.

Is knowledge of the datacenter industry necessary for this role?

Yes, knowledge of the datacenter industry is preferable, along with experience in managing various project delivery methods.

What kind of projects will the Strategic Sourcing Manager be involved in?

The manager will be involved in complex, multi-disciplinary, multi-billion, multi-year datacenter construction and lease projects.

What skills are necessary to excel in this role?

Strong analytical and presentation skills, verbal and written communication abilities, as well as the capability to work independently and within a matrixed environment are necessary to excel in this role.

Will the Strategic Sourcing Manager need to collaborate with suppliers?

Yes, the role involves actively collaborating with suppliers, serving as a contact point, and developing supplier account plans.

Is cross-functional collaboration important in this position?

Yes, driving early business engagements and collaborating with cross-functional leadership is a key aspect of the role.

Are there specific software or systems knowledge required for this position?

The ability to quickly learn Microsoft systems and processes is important for the role.

Is there a focus on compliance in this position?

Yes, ensuring adherence to policy, educating stakeholders on compliance, and managing sourcing issues are critical components of the job.

What is the emphasis placed on integrity and values for this role?

High integrity is essential, as the individual must be ethical, focused on fairness, and maintain confidentiality.

Does this position involve contract negotiation?

Yes, managing contract and price negotiation activities is a key responsibility of the Strategic Sourcing Manager.

What measures does Microsoft have in place for security screenings for this role?

This position requires passing the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

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