Procurement Strategy and Delivery Planning
- Support Director of Operations in translating corporate and delivery requirements into sourcing strategies aligned with development timelines, operational requirements, approved budgets, and stakeholder expectations
- Partner closely with Account Leads and other operational departments to understand requirements and ensure procurement activities support overall project delivery objectives
- Lead planning of procurement activities required to establish Account projects, covering design, construction, fit out, technology, operations, staffing support services, curriculum providers, and specialist educational requirements
- Contribute to development of scalable procurement approaches that can support multiple across different stages of design, build, launch, and operations
- Act as primary procurement liaison between Account and Central Procurement, ensuring procurement activities align with enterprise policies, governance requirements, delegated authorities, and approved processes
Procurement Execution and Supplier Management
- Lead end-to-end procurement processes, incl. market engagement, procurement documentation, sourcing, due diligence, tendering, evaluation, negotiation, contract award, and supplier onboarding
- Monitor supplier performance and contract compliance, identifying risks, issues, and opportunities for improvement and escalating significant matters through appropriate governance channels
- Proactively manage contract management and administration, ensuring contractual obligations, deliverables, payments, and renewals/terminations are effectively managed and communicated throughout contract lifecycle
- Manage strategic supplier relationships, promoting high standards of quality, service delivery, responsiveness, and value for money
- Coordinate procurement dependencies across multiple workstreams to help maintain delivery schedules and operational readiness milestones
Technology-Enabled Procurement Enhancement
- Support continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen procurement capability, processes, and stakeholder experience across portfolio
- Contribute to development of procurement policies and procedures, reporting, dashboards, and management information to support leadership oversight and decision-making
- Leverage market intelligence, supplier insights, and spend analysis to identify opportunities for operational improvement and enhanced value engineering
- Promote use of digital procurement platforms, data analytics, and AI-enabled tools to improve procurement effectiveness and decision-making
Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree (B.A.) or equivalent in Business Administration or a relevant discipline
- Master's degree in a relevant discipline preferred
Experience
- 10+ years of progressive work experience in procurement, of which a minimum 4 years were spent in a Senior Manager role or higher
- Minimum of 5 years of experience working in procurement in the UAE
- Demonstrated experience supporting operational readiness and launch of complex entities (e.g., schools, healthcare, large facilities, or multi-site operations)
- Experience managing multi-stakeholder environments, incl. external and internal
- CIPS certified or working towards certification
Preferred
- Experience working in or with government entities and public sector organizations preferred
- Experience working in high-quality K-12 school environments preferred
