POSITION SUMMARY
Industry: Technology, Telecommunications, Micro-Energy & Digital Infrastructure Distribution
Reports To: Chief Operating Officer
Function: Procurement, Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Management Level: Executive Leadership
The Vice President of Procurement is responsible for developing and executing the company's enterprise procurement, strategic sourcing, supplier management, and supply strategy across its technology, telecommunications, micro-energy, and digital infrastructure portfolio.
The VP of Procurement will build and lead a disciplined procurement organization that ensures competitive product cost, reliable supply, favorable commercial terms, strong supplier relationships, appropriate inventory availability, and effective management of supply-chain risk.
This executive will manage strategic relationships with manufacturers, OEMs, technology providers, distributors, and other supply partners while working closely with Sales, Product Management, Operations, Finance, Logistics, and executive leadership to align procurement decisions with customer demand, revenue objectives, gross-margin targets, inventory requirements, and working-capital goals.
The position requires a combination of strategic sourcing leadership, commercial negotiation expertise, technical market knowledge, financial discipline, supplier relationship management, and operational execution.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Enterprise Procurement Strategy
- Develop and execute the company's enterprise procurement and strategic sourcing strategy.
- Establish procurement priorities aligned with revenue growth, gross-margin objectives, inventory requirements, customer service levels, and working-capital targets.
- Develop category strategies across technology, telecommunications, micro-energy, data center, networking, connectivity, power, and digital infrastructure products.
- Establish sourcing strategies that balance cost, availability, quality, lead time, supplier concentration, and supply-chain risk.
- Identify opportunities to consolidate purchasing and leverage enterprise purchasing power.
- Establish procurement policies, approval authorities, controls, and operating procedures.
- Develop multi-year sourcing and supplier strategies supporting the company's growth objectives.
- Strategic Sourcing & Purchasing
Lead strategic sourcing and purchasing activities across product categories that may include:
- Telecommunications equipment and infrastructure
- Fiber optic and broadband products
- Wireless and 5G infrastructure
- Networking and connectivity
- Data center infrastructure
- Backup power and energy storage
- Batteries and battery systems
- Solar and renewable-energy components
- Microgrids and micro-energy systems
- UPS and power-conditioning systems
- Electrical infrastructure
- Cooling and thermal-management products
- Edge computing infrastructure
- Network security products
- Cloud and IT infrastructure
- IoT and connected infrastructure
Ensure sourcing strategies support both established product categories and emerging technologies.
- Supplier & Manufacturer Management
- Develop executive-level relationships with strategic manufacturers, OEMs, suppliers, and technology partners.
- Establish supplier segmentation based on strategic importance, spend, profitability, risk, and growth potential.
- Develop joint business plans with strategic suppliers.
- Conduct regular supplier business reviews.
- Establish supplier scorecards and performance standards.
- Monitor supplier quality, delivery performance, lead times, pricing, responsiveness, and commercial compliance.
- Develop corrective-action plans for underperforming suppliers.
- Identify alternative and secondary sources for strategically important products.
- Reduce unnecessary supplier concentration and single-source dependencies.
- Commercial Negotiations
Lead major supplier negotiations involving:
- Marketing development funds
Ensure supplier agreements improve the company's competitive position while appropriately protecting profitability and working capital.
- Cost & Gross-Margin Management
- Develop procurement strategies that improve product cost and gross-margin performance.
- Monitor purchase-price variance and supplier cost changes.
- Identify opportunities for cost reduction and cost avoidance.
- Partner with Sales and Finance to understand the impact of supplier pricing on customer profitability.
- Negotiate supplier programs that support competitive customer pricing while preserving margins.
- Establish processes for communicating supplier price changes throughout the organization.
- Analyze landed cost, including product cost, freight, duties, tariffs, storage, and other acquisition expenses.
- Inventory & Demand Alignment
Partner closely with Sales, Product Management, Finance, and Operations to align purchasing with:
- Safety-stock requirements
- Working-capital objectives
Establish purchasing disciplines that maximize product availability while minimizing excess, obsolete, and slow-moving inventory.
- Working Capital & Inventory Optimization
- Establish inventory investment strategies by product category and supplier.
- Improve inventory turns and working-capital efficiency.
- Reduce excess and obsolete inventory exposure.
- Negotiate supplier stocking programs, consignment arrangements, vendor-managed inventory, stock rotation, and return rights where appropriate.
- Develop strategies for long-lead-time and constrained products.
- Partner with Finance to establish inventory targets and purchasing budgets.
- Monitor purchase commitments and inventory liabilities.
- Supply-Chain Risk Management
Develop an enterprise supplier and procurement risk-management framework addressing:
- Manufacturer discontinuations
- Transportation disruptions
- Tariffs and trade restrictions
- Supplier financial stability
- Cybersecurity considerations
Develop contingency sourcing and business-continuity strategies for critical product categories.
- Micro-Energy & Power Infrastructure Procurement
Develop specialized sourcing capabilities supporting the company's micro-energy and distributed-power portfolio, including:
- Renewable-energy components
- Monitoring and energy-management technologies
Evaluate suppliers based on technology maturity, reliability, certifications, warranties, financial stability, product roadmaps, and lifecycle support.
Partner with technical leadership to ensure emerging energy technologies meet customer, regulatory, safety, and performance requirements.
- Technology & Product Lifecycle Management
- Monitor manufacturer product roadmaps and technology transitions.
- Identify end-of-life and end-of-sale risks.
- Coordinate sourcing strategies for new product introductions.
- Manage procurement implications of technology migrations.
- Establish transition plans for discontinued products.
- Partner with Product Management and Sales to evaluate new manufacturers and technologies.
- Ensure inventory exposure is managed during product transitions.
- Procurement Operations
Establish efficient procurement processes covering:
Develop standardized workflows and automation to increase procurement productivity and accuracy.
- Procurement Technology & Analytics
Leverage ERP, procurement, inventory-management, business-intelligence, and analytics platforms to improve procurement decision-making.
Develop executive dashboards covering:
Use analytics to identify opportunities for supplier consolidation, cost reduction, inventory optimization, and working-capital improvement.
- Cross-Functional Leadership
Partner closely with:
Sales - Align procurement with customer demand, pipeline, strategic opportunities, and competitive requirements.
Finance - Manage purchasing budgets, working capital, inventory investment, payment terms, rebates, and financial controls.
Operations & Logistics - Coordinate inventory availability, warehousing, transportation, fulfillment, and supplier performance.
Product Management - Develop category strategies, supplier portfolios, product roadmaps, and lifecycle plans.
Technical/Engineering Teams - Evaluate emerging technologies and supplier capabilities.
Legal - Negotiate and manage supplier contracts, commercial terms, risk, and compliance.
Executive Leadership - Provide strategic visibility into supplier markets, cost trends, supply risks, and procurement opportunities.
- Procurement Organization & Talent Development
- Build and lead a high-performance procurement organization.
- Establish clear organizational roles, responsibilities, and accountability.
- Recruit, develop, coach, and retain procurement professionals.
- Develop category-management and strategic-sourcing capabilities.
- Establish performance objectives and professional-development plans.
- Develop succession plans for key procurement positions.
- Create a culture emphasizing commercial discipline, accountability, collaboration, integrity, and continuous improvement.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
The VP of Procurement will be accountable for performance across several areas.
Financial Performance: Purchase-price variance; annual cost savings; cost avoidance; supplier rebates and incentives; gross-margin contribution; working-capital improvement.
Inventory Performance: Inventory turns; inventory days; excess and obsolete inventory; inventory availability; aged inventory; stock-out frequency.
Supplier Performance: On-time delivery; supplier fill rate; lead-time performance; quality; supplier responsiveness; contract compliance; supplier concentration.
Procurement Operations: Purchase-order accuracy; procurement cycle time; backorder resolution; purchasing productivity; percentage of spend under negotiated agreements.
Strategic Performance: Strategic sourcing initiatives completed; supplier consolidation; secondary-source development; new supplier qualification; contract coverage; supplier-risk reduction.
AUTHORITY & DECISION-MAKING
Within company-approved authority levels, the VP of Procurement will have responsibility for:
- Supplier performance management
- Procurement staffing and organizational design
- Purchasing policies and controls
- Inventory procurement recommendations
- Supplier risk-management programs
Material supplier contracts, inventory commitments, capital expenditures, exclusivity agreements, and other significant financial commitments remain subject to applicable executive and Board approval requirements.
REPORTING RELATIONSHIP
Reports To: Chief Operating Officer / Chief Administrative Officer / CEO, depending on organizational structure.
Key Executive Relationships: Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Revenue Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer, General Counsel, and senior Sales leadership.
Direct Reports May Include:
- Director of Strategic Sourcing
- Director of Category Management
- Supplier Relationship Managers
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Finance, Engineering, Operations, or related discipline.
- 12–15+ years of progressive procurement, sourcing, supply-chain, or category-management experience.
- 5+ years in senior procurement leadership.
- Demonstrated experience managing significant supplier spend and complex supplier portfolios.
- Strong experience negotiating commercial agreements with manufacturers, OEMs, and strategic suppliers.
- Experience with technology, telecommunications, electrical, energy, digital infrastructure, industrial distribution, or related markets.
- Demonstrated knowledge of inventory management, demand planning, and working-capital optimization.
- Strong financial and analytical capabilities.
- Experience with ERP, procurement, and business-intelligence systems.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and organizational change.
Preferred
- MBA or master's degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, or related discipline.
- CPSM, CSCP, CPM, or comparable professional certification.
- Experience within a technology or telecommunications distribution company.
- Experience sourcing data center and digital infrastructure products.
- Experience with distributed energy, battery storage, microgrids, or power infrastructure.
- Experience with global sourcing.
- Experience supporting high-growth or acquisition-driven organizations.
- Experience integrating procurement organizations following acquisitions.
CORE COMPETENCIES
Strategic Sourcing • Procurement Strategy • Supplier Relationship Management • Commercial Negotiation • Category Management • Technology Distribution • Telecommunications • Digital Infrastructure • Micro-Energy & Power Infrastructure • Inventory Optimization • Working Capital Management • Cost Reduction • Contract Negotiation • Supply-Chain Risk Management • Demand Planning • Procurement Analytics • Financial Acumen • Executive Leadership • Cross-Functional Leadership • Organizational Development
LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS
The VP of Procurement is expected to operate as a strategic commercial and operational leader, not simply as the executive responsible for purchasing.
The role must connect customer demand, sales forecasts, product strategy, supplier capabilities, inventory investment, working capital, gross margin, logistics, technology transitions, and supply-chain risk into an integrated procurement strategy.
The VP of Procurement must develop strong relationships with the company's most important suppliers while maintaining the commercial discipline necessary to ensure those relationships create measurable economic and strategic value for the company.
EXECUTIVE SUCCESS PROFILE
Success in this position will be demonstrated by the ability to:
- Improve product acquisition costs and gross-margin contribution.
- Increase supplier performance and accountability.
- Improve inventory availability while increasing inventory productivity.
- Reduce excess and obsolete inventory.
- Improve working-capital efficiency.
- Negotiate stronger supplier pricing, rebates, payment terms, and commercial protections.
- Reduce supply-chain and supplier-concentration risk.
- Develop strategic sourcing capabilities across telecommunications, technology, digital infrastructure, and micro-energy.
- Improve procurement analytics, controls, and forecasting.
- Build a scalable, high-performance procurement organization capable of supporting continued company growth.