Assistant Director/Senior Assistant Director, Procurement Operations

Nanyang Technological University; Singapore; On-site; SGD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore) seeks a seasoned Procurement Lead to drive day‑to‑day operations, category strategy and supplier governance across multiple categories, especially Lab equipment and Consumables. You will partner with senior stakeholders to deliver cost-effective, compliant procurement in a dynamic higher education environment.

The role requires hands-on leadership, strong commercial acumen and proven ability to lead diverse teams, build supplier relationships, and

Qualifications

• Minimum 10-12 years of relevant procurement experience.
• At least 5 years in a leadership role managing procurement teams.
• Experience in public sector, higher education, research institutions or large complex organizations is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day procurement operations across all categories, with emphasis on Lab equipment and Consumables.
• Oversee governance, supplier performance, and compliance with policies and regulations.
• Drive category management, supplier relationship management, and continuous cost/performance improvements.
• Collaborate with academic, research and administrative units to align sourcing strategy with institutional goals.
• Deploy spend analytics, e-sourcing, auctions and contract management tools to optimize procurement.

Skills

Procurement Leadership

Stakeholder Engagement

Category Management

Supplier Relationship Management

Governance & Compliance

Tools

Spend Analytics

e-Sourcing

RFx Process

Contract Management Systems

Job description

We are seeking a seasoned procurement leader who combines strong operational discipline with strategic thinking. The ideal candidate is hands-on, commercially astute, customer-focused and capable of leading diverse procurement teams while partnering effectively with senior stakeholders. The candidate should possess a broad procurement background across multiple categories and be comfortable operating in a dynamic and complex higher education environment. The incumbent is responsible for leading and overseeing the University's day-to-day procurement operations across all procurement categories particularly in Lab equipment and Consumables. As a Procurement Lead, the incumbent will provide strategic and operational leadership to procurement teams, ensuring the efficient, compliant, and cost-effective acquisition of goods and services. The role is accountable for procurement governance, category management, stakeholder engagement, supplier relationship management, staff development, and continuous process improvement. The incumbent will lead teams supporting academic, research and administrative units, drive procurement excellence, and ensure procurement activities are conducted in accordance with policies, regulatory requirements, and best practices.

Processes Perform thorough analysis of spending and partnership with stakeholders, and development of overall sourcing strategy/category management plan. Leading and embedding transformation projects, developing & deploying processes & systems, and proactively managing governance & compliance. Supplier Relationship Management: Pro-actively develops and manages key stakeholders and suppliers, develops relationships, establishes KPIs/SLAs and classification of vendors, performance tracking, and communicates feedback. Conduct market research, analyze industry trends and evolving technology to proactively identify supply base issues to minimize risk, protect continuity of supply, utilize emerging opportunities, and ensure appropriate goods/ services are being acquired at competitive prices. Manage complex Request for Proposals (RFPs), Requests for Quotation (RFQs), Requests for Information (RFIs) and drive the supplier negotiation process using lowest bid, lowest cost per quality point or best value analyses. Execute procurement tender process including development and spearhead of tender roadmap to meet NTU deliverables. Delivering regular updates to the management with detailed status reporting. People Work collaboratively with suppliers and customers to identify and execute continuous cost and performance improvement strategies. Lead, oversee and manage the purchasing and strategic sourcing function in NTU including but not limited to daily management, leadership and support to team. Driving effective teamwork, collaboration, and close dialogue with all interfacing functions to ensure a seamless efficient approach to information exchange and process flows to other areas within the procurement function. System Use purchasing tools such as spend analytics, e-sourcing, auctions and contract management while adhering to strategic sourcing standards/ policies.

Qualifications/Skills Minimum 10-12 years of relevant procurement experience. At least 5 years in a leadership role managing procurement teams. Experience in public sector, higher education, research institutions, healthcare, statutory boards or large complex organisations is preferred. Demonstrated experience in strategic sourcing, contract management and procurement governance.

Hiring Institution: NTU

A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and Graduate colleges. It also has a medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, established jointly with Imperial College London. NTU is also home to world-class autonomous institutes – the National Institute of Education, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Earth Observatory of Singapore, and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering – and various leading research centres such as the Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) and Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N). Ranked amongst the world’s top universities by QS, NTU has also been named the world’s top young university for the past seven years. The University’s main campus is frequently listed among the Top 15 most beautiful university campuses in the world and has 57 Green Mark-certified (equivalent to LEED-certified) buildings, of which 95% are certified Green Mark Platinum. Apart from its main campus, NTU also has a campus in Novena, Singapore’s healthcare district. Under the NTU Smart Campus vision, the University harnesses the power of digital technology and tech-enabled solutions to support better learning and living experiences, the discovery of new knowledge, and the sustainability of resources.