Assistant Director, Sourcing & Procurement

Northwestern Mutual Group; Milwaukee (WI); Hybrid; USD 108,000 - 162,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC is seeking an Assistant Director of Sourcing & Procurement to act as a trusted advisor on strategic sourcing, procurement services, vendor management, and regulatory compliance for technical services. You will lead negotiations, guide executive decisions, and mentor vendor managers while accelerating enterprise vendor programs.

The role covers professional services, labor, and IT categories, with a focus on infrastructure and software services,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology, Legal, or related field or equivalent experience.
• MBA or JD preferred.
• Eight+ years of leadership in financial services with sourcing/vendor management.

Responsibilities

• Partner with senior leaders to establish vendor strategies and execution plans for high-risk relationships.
• Advise executive stakeholders on using strategic vendors for innovation, efficiency and sound financial management.
• Identify sourcing opportunities across strategic vendor relationships and enterprise needs.
• Lead sophisticated, technology-focused contract negotiations.
• Lead cross-departmental projects, managing scope, risk, value, schedules and budgets.
• Research vendor-management trends and ensure regulatory and compliance expectations are addressed.
• Recommend and implement significant process, workflow, and system improvements.
• Provide leadership and mentoring to vendor managers throughout the lifecycle.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Tech communication

Stakeholder guidance

Excel & PowerPoint

Tech background

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business, IT, Legal or related field

MBA or JD preferred

Job description

About The Job

The Assistant Director of Sourcing & Procurement is a trusted advisor responsible for strategic sourcing, procurement services, vendor management, market insights and supporting vendor initiatives for technical professional services and labor. The role develops business and vendor strategies, leads complex negotiations, advances enterprise vendor-management practices, and supports regulatory and compliance requirements.

What You'll Do:

• Partner with senior leaders and enterprise teams to establish vendor strategies, goals, and execution plans for critical, high-risk, and strategic relationships.
• Advise executive relationship owners on using strategic vendors to achieve innovation, efficiency, and sound financial management.
• Identify sourcing opportunities across strategic vendor relationships and anticipated enterprise needs.
• Lead sophisticated, sensitive and technology focused contract negotiations
• Lead cross-departmental projects while managing scope, risk, business value, schedules, and budgets.
• Research vendor-management trends and help ensure applicable regulatory and compliance expectations are addressed.
• Recommend and implement significant process, workflow, organizational, and system improvements.
• Provide leadership and mentoring to vendor managers throughout the vendor-management lifecycle.

What You'll Bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology, Legal, or a related field preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum eight years of leadership experience in financial services, preferably involving sourcing, vendor management, or strategic vendor negotiations.
• Preferable technical acumen related to the delivery of infrastructure and software services
• Ability to build influential relationships, communicate a vision, persuade varied audiences, and guide senior‑leader decisions.
• Strong cross-functional leadership, financial analysis and modeling, research, analytical problem‑solving, planning, and organizational skills.
• Experience with contract development and execution; MBA or JD preferred.

Position focus

• Cover a broad professional services and labor portfolio, including but not limited to infrastructure, cloud services, data, architecture and risk groups throughout business functions.
• Operate as a category manager, consultant, and project leader across multiple concurrent initiatives.
• Develop sound contracts in partnership with Legal, Risk, Privacy, and Security.
• Partner with IT leadership to connect technology roadmaps with contract strategy and market capabilities.
• Create concise executive‑level PowerPoint stories that clearly frame issues and recommended direction.
• Potential to lead at least one direct report, with potential for future team growth.

Skills You’ll Have:

• Strategic, consultative approach supported by data and market intelligence.
• Strong communication and comfort discussing technology with business partners.
• Ability to ask probing questions, guide stakeholders, and manage numerous priorities.
• Strong Excel, PowerPoint storytelling and executive communication.
• Software/Infrastructure-category/background experience is preferred, but related sourcing-category experience may be transferable.

#LI-Hybrid

Compensation Range:

Pay Range - Start:

$108,160.00

Pay Range - End:

$162,240.00

Geographic Specific Pay Structure:

Structure 110:

$118,960.00 USD - $178,440.00 USD

Structure 115:

$124,400.00 USD - $186,600.00 USD

Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.