Head of Indirect Procurement

OCS; Ipswich; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

OCS UK & Ireland is seeking a Head of Indirect Procurement to lead strategic procurement across all indirect spend in the UK & Ireland. You will own the strategy, governance and performance of the Indirect function, reporting to the CPO and partnering with executives.

You will drive cost savings, risk mitigation and supplier innovation across Contingent Labour, IT & Fleet, delivering value in a large-scale, transformation-focused environment.

Qualifications

• Proven senior procurement leadership in a complex, multi-service organisation.
• Experience delivering significant cost reduction in M&A environments.
• Strong leadership and change management in large teams.
• Excellent commercial, financial and negotiation skills.
• Deep understanding of supply chain governance, risk and compliance.
• Ability to influence at executive/board level.
• Experience in large-scale transformation or integration programmes (e.g., M&A).
• Knowledge of sustainability, ESG and responsible procurement frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Provide strong functional leadership to the Indirect spend area, mentoring and upskilling the team.
• Develop and maintain a robust risk strategy with mitigation approaches.
• Drive procurement transformation focusing on margin improvement, risk reduction, supplier management and revenue generation.
• Lead innovation, automation, digitalisation and AI in procurement transformations.
• Build relationships with senior stakeholders to influence strategy and outcomes.
• Ensure effective SRM, supplier performance, value creation and supply chain resilience.
• Lead high-value sourcing programmes and complex contract renewals.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Strategic thinking

Governance & compliance

Education

MCIPS (or equivalent)

Job description

About The Role:

Reporting to the Chief Procurement Officer, the Head of Indirect Procurement leads the strategic and commercial delivery of procurement across all Indirect spend in the UK & Ireland. The role is accountable for the overall leadership, strategy, governance and performance of the Indirect Procurement function.

The role is responsible for defining and delivering the Indirect procurement strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and the broader procurement strategy, driving commercial value, mitigating risk, and enabling operational excellence across all spend categories.

As a member of the Procurement Leadership Team, the role works closely with executive stakeholders to ensure procurement is embedded as a strategic business partner across all business units. It acts as the senior procurement interface for Indirect Procurement, working closely with Exec colleagues and ensuring the procurement team delivers cost savings, risk mitigation, innovation and service improvements.

The role has line management responsibility for various Category Managers, managing over £280m of supply chain spend across various categories such as Contingent Labour, IT & Fleet.

Key Tasks & Responsibilities:

• Provide strong functional leadership to the Indirect spend area of the Procurement department, mentoring and upskilling the team.
• Create and maintain a comprehensive risk strategy, ensuring robust management and mitigation approaches.
• Support procurement transformation by increasing functional maturity, focusing on margin improvement, risk reduction, supplier management and revenue generation.
• Drive procurement transformation alongside the Procurement Leadership Team, championing innovation, automation, digitalisation and AI.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across the organisation to influence strategy and drive outcomes.
• Ensure effective Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), improving supplier performance, innovation, value creation and supply chain resilience.
• Lead and mentor teams on complex, high-value and high-risk sourcing initiatives, frameworks and contract renewals.
• Deliver cost reduction targets, margin improvement and revenue generation in a commercially focused environment.
• Develop high-value strategic supplier partnerships that deliver sustainable competitive advantage for the organisation.
• Lead high-value and complex sourcing programmes, frameworks, and commercial negotiations.
• Drive performance across core procurement deliverables, including supplier rationalisation, increasing spend under management, reducing supply chain risk and increasing preferred supplier spend.
• Ensure all sourcing and contracting activities meet internal governance, policy, audit and statutory compliance standards.
• Support major bids, mobilisations, contract transitions and client-facing opportunities.
• Ensure all Indirect procurement activity complies with procurement policy, governance frameworks and delegated authority.
• Monitor compliance with ethical practices and standards across the supply chain, taking appropriate action in the event of any breaches.
• Support ESG, sustainability and ethical sourcing objectives within Indirect categories.
• Comply with the CIPS Code of Conduct, maintaining the highest standards of integrity, promoting ethical business practices, and ensuring compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience:

Necessary

• Proven experience in a senior procurement leadership role within a complex, multi-service organisation with high spend.
• Demonstrable experience in delivering significant cost reduction within an M&A environment
• Strong leadership experience managing senior teams and organisational change.
• Excellent commercial, financial and negotiation skills.
• Deep understanding of supply chain management, risk, governance and compliance.
• Strong stakeholder management with the ability to influence at executive and board level.
• Experience driving performance improvement across large and complex spend portfolios.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including executive-level engagement.
• Ability to work under pressure, plan personal workload effectively and delegate appropriately.
• Excellent strategic planning capability.
• High level of integrity and dependability.
• Experience presenting to and influencing executive-level stakeholders.
• Experience working in large-scale transformation or integration programmes (e.g., M&A).
• Knowledge of sustainability, ESG and responsible procurement frameworks.

Desirable

• MCIPS qualification (or equivalent)
• Experience within Facilities Management/Construction/Engineering or outsourcing environments

Core Expectations:

• Exhibit strong leadership, integrity and accountability.
• Operate as a strategic thinker with a results-driven mindset and can-do attitude.
• Promote a high-performance, inclusive and collaborative culture.
• Be self-motivated and effective in a fast-paced environment.
• Support and embed the organisation’s TRUE values and sustainability objectives.
• Act as a role model for ethical procurement and corporate governance.
• Demonstrate flexibility in working arrangements to ensure a high level of service delivery.

Key performance indicators

• As agreed between you and your line manager on an annual basis.

Working Arrangements:

• Full time (37.5 hours per week) and such additional hours as are necessary for the proper fulfilment of the role.
• National role with travel dependent on businessneeds from time to time.

About The Company:

OCS UK & Ireland is a leading facilities management company with 50,000+ colleagues and a turnover in excess of £2bn. We deliver innovative, award-winning services within facilities management, hard services, cleaning, security and catering.
Our mission is to make people and places the best they can be for our colleagues, customers and the communities we serve.
Our commitment to doing business the right way is rooted in our TRUE values - Trust, Respect, Unity, and Empowerment.

We are an equal opportunities employer and rely on a diverse workforce with a broad range of knowledge, skills, and backgrounds to deliver our goals. We offer an inclusive and welcoming environment and actively encourage applications from all individuals regardless of race, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or age.