Senior Associate - Procurement & Value Creation

1st Executive Ltd; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading procurement consulting firm in London is seeking a Senior Associate - Procurement & Value Creation to join their team. This role involves leading procurement transformation initiatives and implementing strategic sourcing practices while integrating sustainability into procurement strategies. The ideal candidate will have strong experience in procurement, digital procurement tools, and stakeholder leadership. This is a full-time position with hybrid work options available.

Qualifications

• Experience in procurement transformation and delivery covering category management, strategic sourcing, and supplier relationship management.
• Proven results in delivering cash release and working capital improvement initiatives.
• Fluency with digital procurement tools and analytics.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end procurement transformation initiatives.
• Develop and execute category strategies across direct and indirect spend.
• Drive value creation in turnaround contexts to improve financial performance.
• Support digital procurement enablement through advanced tools and analytics.
• Integrate ESG considerations into procurement strategy.

Skills

Procurement transformation experience

Strategic sourcing

Contract management

Supplier relationship management

P2P improvements

Stakeholder leadership

Negotiation skills

Project management

Fluency with digital procurement tools

Data-driven decision making

Tools

Advanced Excel

Alteryx

Tableau

Job description

Senior Associate - Procurement & Value Creation

Location: London, UK (Hybrid / Flexible options possible)
Employment Type: Full-time

About the Role

We're seeking an experienced procurement professionals to join a growing value creation team focused on helping organisations transform their procurement functions into strategic drivers of cost, cash, sustainability, and resilience. The successful candidate will work across the full procurement value chain-from strategy and operating model design to category management, sourcing, supplier relationship management, and source-to-pay performance improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Lead end-to-end procurement transformation initiatives, including strategy development, target operating model design, process, governance, systems, and tools implementation.

Develop and execute category strategies across direct and indirect spend; manage competitive sourcing events, negotiations, supplier relationship and contract management to achieve measurable outcomes.

Drive rapid value creation in turnaround contexts by shaping and delivering cost-out, cash release and working capital improvement workstreams; align stakeholders and track benefits to financial performance.

Improve source-to-pay performance by diagnosing issues, streamlining procure-to-pay processes, strengthening controls and embedding data-driven performance management.

Support digital procurement enablement through the deployment of S2P platforms, analytics, automation and AI-enabled insights.

Integrate ESG and sustainability considerations into procurement strategy, including supplier selection and Scope 3 emissions considerations.

Lead client engagements and workstreams, craft executive-ready materials, coach and mentor junior team members, and contribute to business development and solution design.

What You'll Gain

• Experience across the full procurement lifecycle—from strategy and operating model to sourcing and performance improvement.

Exposure to advanced digital procurement ecosystems and analytics tools.

Hands‑on involvement with sustainability leadership and procurement ESG integration.

Scope to lead teams and grow as a people leader in a dynamic, collaborative environment.

Skills & Experience

Experience in procurement transformation and delivery covering category management, strategic sourcing, contract management, supplier relationship management, and P2P improvements.

Proven results delivering cost‑out, cash release and working capital improvement initiatives with tracked benefits.

Fluency with digital procurement tools and analytics (e.g., advanced Excel; familiarity with platforms such as Alteryx, Tableau, or similar).

Understanding of how to embed sustainability and ESG criteria into procurement strategies.

Strong stakeholder leadership, communication, negotiation and project management skills.

Comfortable leading multi‑workstream delivery in ambiguous, fast‑paced environments.

Who We're Looking For

We welcome applications from candidates with a rnge of procurement experience and a passion for turning procurement into a strategic engine for value creation and organisational resilience.