Senior Director, Sourcing & Procurement Ops at Northwestern Mutual

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Northwestern Mutual Logo
Not SpecifiedCompensation
Senior (5 to 8 years), Expert & Leadership (9+ years)Experience Level
Full TimeJob Type
UnknownVisa
Financial ServicesIndustries

Requirements

  • Bachelor's Degree with an emphasis in Business, Information Systems, Supply Chain Management, Accounting/Finance, Engineering or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience
  • Minimum of 10 years of work experience with a specific focus on strategic sourcing or procurement, supplier management, finance, supply chain management, or other related field
  • Minimum of 5 years of management experience
  • Minimum of 5 years of experience in leading the development and management of category plans or sourcing strategies
  • Proven ability to build strong relationships with business partners at all levels

Responsibilities

  • Build strong relationships with business partners at all levels to implement procurement best practices and increase the influence of Sourcing & Procurement within business teams
  • Direct management of people leaders and individual contributors aligned to Procurement Operations and Procurement/Finance Centers of Excellence (COE)
  • Perform constant evaluation of procurement processes across market research, planning/forecasting, strategic sourcing, contracting, third party risk management, and supplier governance for ongoing synergies, efficiencies, and improvements
  • Understand procurement best practices to provide process and system recommendations to sourcing and procurement leaders
  • Set a long-term strategic approach to enrich and maintain accurate and robust procurement data and information
  • Set a long-term vision to execute and transform the value realized from procurement's ability to conduct data analytics and data visualization practices
  • Expand Procurement’s capabilities around reporting to influence business decisions and improve supplier-based ROI
  • Create, update, and maintain strategic roadmaps for S&P’s data/analytics strategies to drive project prioritization and create alignment across all procurement and finance functions
  • Develop and maintain S&P reporting dashboards to represent NM supplier spend, demand, supplier utilization, performance, and risks
  • Develop and maintain S&P’s measurements and reporting surrounding the function’s savings and value contributions
  • Develop a strong execution strategy for team members, business partners, and the broader function
  • Define and direct performance objectives and career path/building opportunities for each member of the team
  • Oversee day-to-day management of a broad portfolio of Procurement systems, tools, and programs
  • Evaluate opportunities to streamline the performance and administration of all procurement systems and tools
  • Influence leadership on best practices, process changes, market inputs, etc
  • Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for procurement operations performance
  • Oversee procurement operational units (i.e., Sales/Use Tax and others) to ensure performance, delivery, and value
  • Consistently work with procurement stakeholders and partners across the company to ensure the team’s success and address changing requirements/needs for compliance, risk, audit, and regulatory standards
  • Support procurement’s compliance with company policies, ethical standards, and regulatory requirements
  • Establish and lead ongoing initiatives to improve procurement agility, speed, transparency, and partnership with company stakeholders, leaders, and business owners

Skills

Key technologies and capabilities for this role

Procurement OperationsStrategic SourcingContractingThird Party Risk ManagementSupplier GovernanceProcurement TechnologyData AnalyticsAI StrategyReportingProcess OptimizationPeople ManagementStakeholder Management

Questions & Answers

Common questions about this position

What is the salary or compensation for this Senior Director role?

This information is not specified in the job description.

Is this position remote or does it require office work?

This information is not specified in the job description.

What key skills are required for the Senior Director of Procurement Operations?

Key skills include building strong relationships with business partners, direct management of people leaders and individual contributors, evaluating and improving procurement processes, understanding procurement best practices, and developing data analytics and reporting strategies.

What does the team structure look like for this role?

The role involves direct management of people leaders and individual contributors aligned to Procurement Operations and Procurement/Finance Centers of Excellence (COE).

What makes a strong candidate for this Senior Director position?

A strong candidate has experience leading procurement operations, optimizing processes for efficiency and compliance, driving data and AI strategies, and defining performance objectives and career paths for team members.

Northwestern Mutual

Provides financial security services, and wealth management

About Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual offers personalized financial planning, life insurance, and investment services, leveraging leading-edge technology to manage over $125 billion in client assets for more than 4.5 million clients.

Milwaukee, WisconsinHeadquarters
1856Year Founded
N/ACompany Stage
Consulting, Fintech, Financial ServicesIndustries
10,001+Employees

Benefits

Growing your Career
Compensation & Time Off
Insurance plans
Health Savings Account
Wellness programs & resources
401(k) plan and cash balance contributions

Risks

Fintech platforms like Carefull challenge traditional financial advisory services.
Internal competition may arise from Wellthi's focus on the Black community.
Customer dissatisfaction may grow due to increased retirement age expectations.

Differentiation

Northwestern Mutual maintains the highest financial strength ratings in the industry.
The company launched 'The Great Realization' campaign to refocus customer priorities.
Northwestern Mutual offers a unique Long-Term Advantage product with life insurance benefits.

Upsides

The aging population increases demand for retirement planning and long-term care solutions.
Partnerships with tech firms enhance Northwestern Mutual's data analytics capabilities.
Digital transformation in insurance leads to more personalized customer experiences.

Land your dream remote job 3x faster with AI