Strategic Sourcing Advisor - 12 month contract

Linklaters; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Linklaters is seeking a senior Sourcing professional to lead procurement efforts within the Finance team in London. You will collaborate with internal stakeholders to define requirements, develop category plans, and drive competitive tender processes ensuring compliance and value.

The role emphasizes ESG, DE&I, and responsible sourcing across HR, technology and professional services contracts while safeguarding risk and data protection considerations.

Qualifications

• 5+ years in sourcing, procurement or category management, ideally in legal services.

Responsibilities

• Execute sourcing activities in line with policy and governance.
• Advise stakeholders on sourcing strategy and opportunities.
• Draft and evaluate sourcing approaches, timelines and route-to-market.
• Conduct supplier evaluations, negotiations and due diligence.
• Support contract lifecycle management and renewals.

Skills

Sourcing

Procurement

Category management

Negotiations

Stakeholder management

Risk management

Contract lifecycle

Education

CIPS qualification preferred

Tools

SaaS contracts

Cloud agreements

Job description

Purpose

Purpose Executes sourcing strategies and manages supplier relationships to align with Firm goals, ensuring cost efficiency and compliance, supports streamlined procurement processes while collaborating on sustainability initiatives.

Your key responsibilities

Executes sourcing activities in line with the Firm’s Sourcing Policy, governance frameworks and applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. Partners with internal stakeholders to understand business requirements, advise on appropriate sourcing strategies and support sourcing initiatives. Contributes to the development of category plans by providing market insights and analysing spend to identify sourcing opportunities to inform the category strategy. Drafts sourcing approach and recommendation proposals including setting out the proposed sourcing strategy, route to market and high‑level sourcing timeline for review and approval by the Head of Sourcing. Manages competitive sourcing processes including the preparation of tender documentation, evaluation of supplier proposals and facilitation of stakeholder evaluation and scoring. Undertakes commercial negotiations with suppliers to ensure the appropriate level of contractual protections, service levels, risk mitigation and commercial value. Initiates and coordinates supplier due diligence engaging relevant stakeholders (E.g. Legal & Risk, Information Security and Data Protection), to manage supplier onboarding and ensure rigorous risk management. Supports contract lifecycle management, to ensure timely renewals, preventing service disruptions, ensuring compliance with the Sourcing Policy. Maintains accurate and auditable sourcing documentation to support governance and compliance requirements. Facilitates and executes responsible sourcing strategies at the category level, integrating Carbon, ESG, and DE&I initiatives within the supply chain to ensure ethical and sustainable practices. Explores opportunities for process improvements in procurement activities.

Your experience

6 years’+ experience in sourcing, procurement or category management, preferably within the Legal sector. Experience negotiating HR systems contracts, including SaaS and cloud‑based software agreements, with a strong understanding of commercial terms, service levels, data protection, security and supplier risk considerations. Strong understanding of the HR category, including rewards and benefits, payroll and recruitment, with the ability to understand category specific requirements, supplier markets and stakeholder priorities. Familiarity sourcing or negotiating commercial terms for Technology and/or Professional Services contracts is highly desirable. Skilled at collaborating with stakeholders to define procurement requirements, evaluate supplier proposals and recommend preferred options to meet business needs. Ability to build relationships and communicate with suppliers to discuss pricing, terms and conditions, and identify potential areas for improvement or further collaboration.

Qualifications

CIPS qualification would be preferred but is not essential.

The Team

You will be welcomed into the Finance team as a valued and integral member of the group. The Finance function is a globally diverse team of professionals dedicated to ensuring the firm’s financial health, enabling strategic decision‑making, and delivering accurate, timely financial insight and control. In this role, you will collaborate closely with both the local team and the broader Finance network, with strong support and a shared commitment to excellence. Our culture emphasises teamwork, integrity, and continuous improvement. Working alongside stakeholders across the business, the Finance team is responsible for a wide range of activities including budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, compliance, and strategic planning. The team plays a critical role in safeguarding the firm’s financial stability and driving value through data‑led insight and financial stewardship. This role offers a variety of responsibilities and projects, providing opportunities for development, cross‑functional exposure, and professional growth. We are excited to expand our team with individuals who are detail‑oriented, commercially aware, and passionate about contributing to the firm’s success through sound financial management and collaboration.

Linklaters

Linklaters is a global law firm, providing legal services in 20 countries and through 30 offices. Linklaters is a people business. Being best in class in the eyes of our clients means that our people must be exceptional. We look not only for brilliant minds, but for people who will thrive in our environment: people who love working collaboratively and demonstrate the innovative, efficient, agile, entrepreneurial, and responsible mind‑set we aim to bring to every interaction. Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere. We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.

What sets us apart

At Linklaters We offer a truly global work experience and the opportunity to be involved in strategic projects that drive innovation and shape the future of our business We belong to a firm that embodies its corporate social, environment, and governance responsibility commitments We remain focused on talent and having the best people which will result in a diverse workforce Having got the best people, we want them to feel included, valued and respected so they can perform at their best We advocate speak‑up culture to empower our people in sharing their voices and an open‑door policy to ensure they are listened to We invest in custom‑fit career paths for our people in line with their talents and aspirations We provide agile working solutions to meet the changing needs of our people and our business We are committed to people first relationships based on mutual trust, respect, and appreciation We support the health and wellbeing of our people, providing a safe space to talk about emotions and mental health with access to expert advice as needed We invest in developing leaders of the future who demonstrate emotional intelligence and a passion to discover, coach and develop the talents of others

Technical Skills

This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive. It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.

Eligibility, Diversity and Screening

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits, we will conduct pre‑engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and references from previous employers. Your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks which will be initiated following your consent.

As a responsible business, it is important that we represent the diversity of our people, our clients and our communities. We know that diversity makes us a better law firm and helps us attract the best talent, drive innovation with diversity of thought, and deliver the best experience to everyone who comes into contact with us. We recruit on the basis of merit, irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race or ethnicity, marital status, religion, sex, sexual orientation or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Selection decisions, and the reasons for those decisions, are recorded at each stage of the selection process. Selection criteria and, where appropriate, technical skills tests are in place to measure an individual’s ability for the safe and effective performance of a job. Those involved in recruitment and selection decisions and processes are also provided with guidance on diversity issues. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the selection process, please talk to a member of the recruitment team so that any required adjustments can be made in advance. Specific experience requirements advertised on a role do not intend to preclude applications from candidates who may have more or less experience. Our intention is only to indicate a guideline as to the necessary skills for the role as described.