Director of Procurement

DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT
FINANCE OPERATIONS

Join a fast-paced, innovative, data-driven start up named 2021 Best Tech Start ups In Chicago, that is changing the Supply Chain industry through real time tracking and end-to-end visibility.

The Director of Procurement supports the organization by ensuring that pricing and procurement strategies are effective and meet the needs of the growing business.  The role will be tasked with working with department leads to understand requirements and ensuring they are fulfilled in a manner that allows for the best outcome, both operationally and financially.  The role will help implement and enforce the use of a procurement systems and procedures.  It will have a key role in relationships with vendors including negotiating contracts and pricing.  It will also serve as a critical function in the company’s FP&A and budget management process, having a direct impact on the company’s financial goals and results.

This position will report to the VP of Finance and will be responsible for ensuring measurability, communication of how FourKites is tracking against spending goals, communicating to business stakeholders as a consultant, and creating a strategy for the next phase of growth. 

Position Responsibilities & Essential functions

• Develop global procurement strategies by implementing and enhancing processes, technologies and policies.
• Maintaining strategic sourcing relationships and developing strong partnerships.
• Analyzing historical spend and demand drivers to identify and communicate actionable improvements to the business leaders. 
• Conducting market research, as well as creating cost estimates and forecasts.
• Working closely with FP&A partners to align financial goals with procurement planning
• Analyzing and calculating costs while developing cost reduction strategies in alignment with business objectives.
• Creates collaborative partnerships with business stakeholders to plan and execute procurement activities.
• Manages and assists Business partners in the selection of vendors through request for proposal processes.
• Negotiates with vendors to minimize spend; ensures that vendor contract rates are at or below market values.
• Audit vendor spend against forecasts, procurement governance and policy, and business needs.
• Structures SLAs for vendor agreements in concert with business stakeholders and procurement policy.
• Lead implementation and ongoing manage of eProcurement platform, including platform managed,, workflow design and management, supplier setup and maintenance, and change management. 
• Proactively seek innovative ways to improve the procurement processes, cycle times, and customer service levels.
• Provide on-going training support to users, and stakeholders on procurement policy, and procedures.

Qualifications & Job Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related field
• Minimum of 8 years of related experience with purchasing within a technology or software company
• Excellent communication, project management skills, and problem-solving skills. 
• Established track record of developing and managing vendor relationships
• Experience negotiating with new and existing suppliers 
• Strong ability to collaborate across organizations to influence and drive change 
• Knowledge of the strategic sourcing, procurement lifecycle and procurement best practices, methods and tools
• Experience interacting with senior level executives 

Named one of Forbes’ Next Billion-Dollar Startups, FourKites is on a mission to transform the world’s supply chains with the most powerful technology on the planet. With a customer base that includes 18 of the top-20 food and beverage companies and nine of the top-10 CPG companies, the company combines the largest network of real-time logistics data with machine learning to help its customers lower costs, improve on-time performance and strengthen end-customer relationships. We are a customer-obsessed organization, wholeheartedly committed to helping our customers succeed and drive long-term value. 

The empathy we exhibit with our customers applies internally, as well. At FourKites, a positive work culture is a priority, and team members benefit from structured employee development plans, mentorship and training programs, quarterly review and promotions processes, affinity group memberships and competitive benefits packages. Click here to learn more about our team and our corporate values.