Head Of Services Procurement

Description:

The Head of Services Procurement is a senior leadership role responsible for building and leading the group’s professional and business services procurement capability. The postholder will establish category strategy across a broad portfolio including Consulting, Contingent Labour, Marketing, Facilities, Travel, Recruitment Services, Learning and Development, Subscriptions, Print, and Other Professional Fees. The role will implement a structured, intelligence-led category capability.

In the early phase this will be a transformation role as much as a steady-state leadership role. The postholder joins at the point of Procurement transformation and will shape their own team within an agreed cost envelope, build category programmes where few or none currently exist, and deliver measurable commercial impact from day one of full operation.

The role is one of five direct Chief Procurement Officer reports and sits at the centre of the function’s commercial delivery.

Context

Procurement is at the start of a transformation, moving from a business unit-aligned, transaction-heavy model to a category-led, strategically capable operation. The Services category is the largest and presents the greatest commercial opportunity in the spend portfolio, spanning a wide range of indirect spend including professional services, workforce, marketing, and corporate costs.

The postholder will be supported by category managers in the UK and from the India Procurement capability centre.

The primary delivery expectation in 2026 is establishing the category foundation, including strategy, supplier frameworks, pipeline visibility, and team structure. P&L savings delivery will be a key measure.

Key Responsibilities

Category Strategy and Delivery

Own and execute category strategy across the full Services portfolio, prioritising categories with the greatest near-term commercial opportunity
In partnership with business stakeholders, build living category plans from the ground up where none exist, including market analysis, supply base segmentation, demand profiling, route-to-market selection, and savings identification
Lead sourcing events and negotiations for strategic and high-value contracts, using the group’s eSourcing tooling as standard practice
Establish preferred supplier frameworks, normalised rate cards, and volume discount structures across the portfolio, with Consulting as the priority category in the first six months
Drive competitive tension into renewal cycles and new spend commitments, moving from single-source and incumbent renewal to structured market engagement
Develop a category pipeline that gives Finance and the business forward visibility of upcoming sourcing activity and projected savings

Savings and Commercial Outcomes

Build and maintain the Services category savings pipeline, reported to Finance on an agreed cadence
Establish monthly MI collection and quarterly NPS-style sentiment tracking across the Consulting and key professional services supply base
Identify and quantify both price and quantity levers within the category, including rate reduction, volume aggregation, scope discipline, and demand management
Significantly contribute to the group’s committed savings target, with category performance measured once the function reaches its target operating state

People and Team Leadership

Lead and develop the UK category team
Partner with the Head of India Procurement to align India-based sourcing resource to the Services pillar over time
Act as a coaching presence for the team, modelling high-quality commercial practice and category methodology
Contribute to the broader Procurement leadership team, sharing category intelligence and supporting cross-functional savings opportunities

Stakeholder and Supplier Management

Build trusted relationships with senior business stakeholders, up to and include C-level, across relevant business unit leadership teams and act as a trusted advisor
Represent Procurement credibly and commercially, changing the perception of the function from transactional order-taker to strategic commercial partner
Partner with in-business Vendor Performance teams to support the management of key supplier relationships at a senior level, particularly across priority categories

Operating Model and Governance

Contribute to the development of procurement standards, methodology, and governance frameworks as the function builds out
Ensure category activity aligns to the system of record and eSourcing tooling as defined by the operating model
Support compliance with third-party risk management, contract management, and regulatory requirements as they apply to the Services portfolio
Support the development of company-wide vendor management minimum standards
Partner with the TPRM team to ensure appropriate onboarding due diligence and ongoing monitoring of vendors

Person Specification

Essential Experience

Significant experience in senior procurement or category management roles, with a track record of building and running commercial category programmes, not just inheriting them
Deep expertise in at least two of the core Services categories, including Consulting, Professional Services, HR or Workforce, Marketing, or Facilities
Demonstrable record of building and delivering P&L savings in a complex, matrixed organisation
Experience leading sourcing events and negotiations for high-value, multi-year contracts
People leadership experience developing and managing a team
Comfortable operating at the start of a transformation journey, able to create structure where little exists today

Desirable Experience

Experience in a regulated environment, such as financial services or insurance
Familiarity with eSourcing platforms and digital sourcing methodology
Knowledge of contingent labour commercial frameworks and the procurement–HR interface
Experience working with offshore or nearshore sourcing teams as an extension of the UK operation
Exposure to spend analytics tooling and category data management

Behaviours and Attributes

Commercial in instinct, focused on outcomes and value rather than process compliance
Inquisitive and keen to embrace new technology and maximise AI utilisation
Credible at senior stakeholder level, able to challenge, influence, and build trust simultaneously
Resilient and self-directing, comfortable operating with ambiguity
High standards of analysis and output, modelling what good looks like
Collaborative across the leadership team and with business partners
Pragmatic about sequencing, understanding that a broad category portfolio requires prioritisation