Group Procurement Manager

Sharp & Carter; City of Melbourne; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Sharp & Carter is partnering with a large, privately owned asset-intensive Melbourne-based business to appoint a Senior Procurement leader. The role will build a procurement function from first principles across fleet, property, technology and services, establishing governance, strategy and supplier relationships.

You will lead end-to-end sourcing, drive cost savings, and embed procurement discipline while reporting to a senior executive.

Qualifications

• Leadership experience in procurement within a large, complex organisation.
• Experience operating in asset-intensive, operational environments.
• Background in corporate, structured procurement with exposure to ambiguous settings.
• Tertiary qualifications essential; postgraduate or professional procurement accreditation highly regarded.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead a Group procurement strategy across major categories.
• Own end-to-end strategic sourcing, including market analysis, negotiation, and contract award.
• Identify and deliver sustainable cost savings and value creation opportunities.
• Establish supplier governance, performance frameworks, and risk management processes.
• Build and manage strategic supplier relationships with focus on performance and ESG.
• Establish contract management frameworks to protect commercial interests.
• Partner with business leaders to understand demand and embed procurement discipline.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership across the organisation.
• Bring greater spend consistency from business units, prioritising stakeholder trust.
• Balance strategic outcomes with practical needs of a large, complex operation.
• Lead, coach, and develop a small procurement team.

Skills

Procurement leadership

Stakeholder management

Strategic sourcing

Negotiation

Team leadership

Education

Tertiary qualifications in a relevant field

Job description

The Organisation

Our client is a large, privately owned, asset-intensive business based in Melbourne, currently undergoing a significant period of transformation as it works to modernise the business while cementing its position as a leader in the field, both now and into the future. There is a real appetite to drive procurement transformation specifically, bringing greater visibility, control, and commercial value to the function and the wider business.

The organisation carries a substantial and complex spend base across fleet, fuel, property, technology, and professional services, with sustainability forming part of the broader business agenda. This appointment reflects a deliberate investment in strengthening procurement's role and influence across the business.

Responsibilities

• Developing and leading a Group procurement strategy largely from the ground up, spanning major categories including fleet, fuel, property, technology, and professional services
• Owning end-to-end strategic sourcing activity, including market analysis, negotiation, and contract award
• Identifying and delivering sustainable cost savings and value creation opportunities across the business
• Establishing supplier governance, performance frameworks, and risk management processes where limited infrastructure currently exists
• Building and managing strategic supplier relationships, with a focus on performance, continuity, and ESG considerations
• Establishing contract management frameworks that protect the business commercially while remaining practical to administer
• Partnering with business leaders to understand demand and embed better procurement discipline across the organisation
• Operating as a trusted advisor across the business, with genuine, regular exposure to senior leadership
• Progressively bringing greater consistency to spend currently managed at business-unit level, prioritising stakeholder trust and engagement ahead of centralisation
• Balancing strategic procurement outcomes with the practical needs of a large, complex, operational business
• Leading, coaching, and developing a small team, building capability in line with the function's maturity

To Be Successful

To be successful, you'll be a motivated Senior Procurement leader, excited by the prospect of joining a large, complex business within a function that's currently immature but backed by real appetite for change. You'll roll up your sleeves, build relationships, and drive engagement by being visible and present across the business, earning trust with operational teams and introducing them to new, more efficient ways of operating.

Driven, resilient, and pragmatic, you'll know when to push strategically and when to simply focus on what's fit for purpose given where the function is at today, just as comfortable holding your own with senior leadership as you are working through the detail on the ground.

Beyond that, you'll bring:

• Leadership experience within procurement in a large, complex organisation
• Experience operating in an asset-intensive, complex, and operationally driven environment
• A background in a more corporate, structured procurement environment, complemented by proven experience operating effectively in a private, less mature, and more ambiguous setting
• Tertiary qualifications essential; postgraduate or professional procurement accreditation highly regarded

Why This Opportunity

This appointment offers a rare opportunity to shape a procurement function largely from first principles, rather than inherit an existing structure. Category strategy, governance, and systems are still being established, providing significant scope for the right candidate to define how the function operates and delivers value over time.

The role reports directly to a senior executive who has been instrumental in driving this agenda across the business, and who is fully committed to supporting this appointment's success. The mandate, and the level of executive backing behind it, are already well established, providing a dynamic, influential, and hands-on leader with the platform to drive real impact within an environment that is ripe for it.

Beyond the immediate mandate, this is a long-term opportunity to build a career within the organisation, with direct exposure to the Executive Leadership Team and real scope to be a highly influential voice as the function, and the business, continues to evolve.