Global Procurement Director

Arcadis is the world's leading company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets.

We are more than 36,000 people, in over 70 countries, dedicated to improving quality of life. Everyone has an important role to play. With the power of many curious minds, together we can solve the world’s most complex challenges and deliver more impact together.

Role description:

Arcadis continues to focus on accelerating a planet-positive future, making deliberate choices toward projects, processes, and innovative solutions. We have clear plans for operational efficiencies, driving successful standardization and automation in alignment with our strategic ambitions.

As part of this strategy, we are seeking a highly skilled and result-driven Global Procurement Officer who is experienced in leading transformations in complex multinational environments, particularly its procurement function on a global scale. The successful candidate will be instrumental in boosting the transition to future-proof our procurement organization, meeting Arcadis’ strategic growth and sustainability (Net Zero) ambitions, and societal developments, and being at the forefront of industry change.

The Global Procurement Officer will play a critical role in driving operational excellence, and innovation, and supporting the organization's overall strategic objectives.

This person will support the overall Delivery team objectives, and provide critical procurement support to the other Delivery-enabling functions: Tech, Information Security, Travel, and Workplace. This leader will create a positive and engaged culture to support learning, development, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

This is a global role, and can be based in any country where we have an operating entity, preference US / Canada / Europe. The Global Procurement Officer will report to the Chief Delivery Officer who is an ELT member.

We will accept applications for this role until October 1, 2024.

Role accountabilities:

• Develop, optimize, and implement the global procurement strategy, category management, policies, and procedures to bolster and future-proof sourcing, purchasing, and supplier management processes.
• Drive implementation and maintenance of robust procurement systems, tools, and innovative technologies to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and enhance data visibility and reporting.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, such as Operations, Finance, Legal, and Quality Assurance, to align procurement activities with organizational goals and objectives. This involves actively participating in cross-functional meetings, providing procurement expertise, and ensuring procurement processes integrate seamlessly with other functions.
• Showcase the value of procurement to internal customers with the value of strong category and (supply partner) relationship management.
• Enable internal and external collaboration with relevant organizations, industry groups, and suppliers on value-based procurement practices, aligned with Arcadis’ sustainability and human rights ambitions (including Net Zero 2035) to drive sustainable procurement transformation, and innovation and optimize our societal impacts.
• Strengthen Supplier Relationship Management so that throughout the business strong relationships with key suppliers are being established, structured, and maintained globally leading to shared value creation. This includes collaboration and innovation, next to contract negotiations, managing supplier performance, resolving conflicts, and ensuring compliance with contractual obligations and quality standards.
• Drive cost-saving initiatives from a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) perspective by optimizing spend and process-related costs, improving conditions, optimizing operations, and consolidating suppliers when beneficial.
• Drive Risk Management and Compliance to Identify and mitigate procurement-related risks globally, including supply chain disruptions, compliance violations, and ethical sourcing concerns. Ensure compliance with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards, and implement risk management strategies to safeguard the organization's reputation and minimize operational disruptions.
• Reporting and Analytics: Develop and maintain procurement-related reports and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track and communicate the performance of global procurement activities. Utilize data analytics to identify trends, monitor supplier performance, and make data-driven decisions to improve procurement effectiveness and efficiency.
• Stay updated on industry best practices, market conditions, and regulatory changes related to procurement, and leverage this knowledge to drive innovation and best-in-class procurement practices within the organization.
• Support ongoing global Oracle ERP implementation.
• Empowering and building trust in a geographically dispersed procurement team. Truly global player and approach. Connecting regions and functions through regular inspirational meetings.
• Mentor and develop procurement team members, providing guidance, coaching, and support to enhance their skills and capabilities.
  
  

Decision Rights:

The Global Procurement Officer develops and socializes a strategic procurement vision to future-proof Arcadis supply management globally. He/she owns the development and implementation of the procurement strategy, policies, procedures, and guidelines, warranting alignment with Arcadis’ strategic ambitions and operations, Arcadis’ sustainability targets, risk identification and mitigation, compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, while driving process improvements across the organization.

The Global Procurement Officer proposes and influences the selection and implementation of procurement technology solutions. He/she assesses the organization's technology needs, provides input on system requirements, and influences decisions on adopting new tools or upgrading existing systems.

The Global Procurement Officer directly manages the procurement team and decision-making for centralized spending (including indirect spending and project related) in collaboration with internal business stakeholders. This includes amongst others strategic sourcing decisions, new business models, and supplier relation management.

Mindful of the high number of projects Arcadis is involved with on a yearly basis (30k), selected projects can get direct procurement involvement and part of the spend and Supplier Relation Management is decentralized. The Global Procurement Officer provides guardrails and ensures optimized process compliance for the decentralized procurement spend, through the operational infrastructure. This infrastructure needs to be optimized in a global, robust, user-friendly, and compliant way, including but not limited to the Source-to-Pay infrastructure, category strategy guidance, and preferred supplier lists. Cross-functional collaboration and communication are vital here.

Reporting and analytics cover both centralized and decentralized spending.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Master's degree in a relevant discipline like Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in leading transformations in global procurement, strategic sourcing, or supply chain management, under a large matrix organization.
• Strategic thinker, pragmatic, engaging and collaborating with multidisciplinary stakeholders while being able to show and communicate procurement value internally and externally on both executive and operational levels (showing strategic partner opportunities).
• Strong leadership, coaching, and people management skills, with the ability to motivate and develop a high-performing, remotely working procurement team.
• Strong knowledge of procurement processes, technologies, innovations, best practices, and industry (sustainability) trends with the ability to effectuate those in (new) business models.
• Project management qualification or recognized course attendance (PMP, Six Sigma, Change Management training and certification desired).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with the ability to effectively analyze data and make data-driven procurement decisions.
• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally as required.
• People management: Creating high-performing teams, communicating vision and purpose, engaging others, and ensuring aligned objectives. Caring for employee wellbeing and recognizing and celebrating success.
• Driving innovation: Involved in generating and driving innovation, engaging with clients on new business models and revenue streams, and working with alliances and ecosystems to deliver the best outcomes.
• Leading transformation: Ability to bring people on a journey to the unknown, creating a sense of stability and security in uncertain times, avoiding change fatigue.
• Data and technology: Adopting data-driven decision-making, leveraging data to create and demonstrate value. Tech savvy and comfortable and curious about technologies.
  
  

Aligned to the Arcadis Leadership model we seek Arcadians with a strong fit to our leadership success profile, to build and drive our culture of inclusion, accountability, human-centricity, and sustainability. Successful Arcadians will possess strong learning agility, combined with a balanced mix of being curious, driving success, and igniting passion.

Why Arcadis?

We can only achieve our goals when everyone is empowered to be their best. We believe everyone's contribution matters. It’s why we are pioneering a skills-based approach, where you can harness your unique experience and expertise to carve your career path and maximize the impact we can make together.

You’ll do meaningful work, and no matter what role, you’ll be helping to deliver sustainable solutions for a more prosperous planet. Make your mark, on your career, your colleagues, your clients, your life and the world around you.

Together, we can create a lasting legacy.

Join Arcadis. Create a Legacy.

Our Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We want you to be able to bring your best self to work every day, which is why we take equality and inclusion seriously and hold ourselves to account for our actions. Our ambition is to be an employer of choice and provide a great place to work for all our people.