Associate Director, Strategic Sourcing (Professional Services and Corporate)

Janus Henderson Group; Denver (CO); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Generous holiday policies

Health and wellbeing benefits

Volunteer time

Professional development reimbursement

Parental leave

Employee events

Snacks and beverages

Job summary

Janus Henderson Group seeks an experienced procurement leader to drive strategic sourcing across Professional Services, Corporate Services, Marketing and HR spend. You will lead sourcing events, renewals, and negotiations while partnering with Legal, Risk and Finance to optimize cost and value.

The role requires strong analytical and stakeholder-management skills, with a track record of implementing governance, risk controls, and cost containment across complex, matrixed organizations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years in strategic sourcing, procurement, or related discipline.
• Experience managing spend across one or more of the following categories: Professional Services, Corporate Services, Marketing/Client Services, HR/Employee Services.
• Experience implementing or improving a contingent workforce strategy.
• Leading sourcing events and commercial negotiations with external suppliers.
• Strong commercial acumen for pricing models, fee structures, and proposals.
• Strong analytical skills to develop category strategies from data.
• Experience working with Legal, Finance, Risk, Compliance, HR, Facilities, Marketing and stakeholders in a matrixed organization.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, capable of managing multiple sourcing initiatives and renewals.
• Sound judgment, integrity, and discretion with confidential information.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category strategies across multiple spend areas.
• Lead sourcing events including RFIs, RFPs, RFQs and supplier evaluations.
• Own renewal planning with negotiation strategy and price mitigation.
• Partner with stakeholders to define requirements and ensure value for money.
• Support legal and professional services spend management, panel strategy, and cost containment.
• Manage spend categories across Professional Services, Corporate Services, Marketing/Client Services, and HR/Employee Services.
• Develop contingent workforce strategy including governance and onboarding.
• Analyze spend, contracts, supplier, and market data to identify savings and consolidation opportunities.
• Collaborate with Legal on contract negotiation strategy and supplier plans.
• Track sourcing pipeline, savings, avoided cost, renewal status, and stakeholder outcomes.
• Build relationships with suppliers and internal stakeholders as a trusted adviser.
• Contribute to procurement playbooks, governance standards, and sourcing workflows.
• Carry out other duties as assigned.

Skills

5+ years in strategic sourcing

Spend management across categories

Contingent workforce strategy

Sourcing events & negotiations

Commercial acumen

Analytical skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Organization

Integrity & professionalism

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in related field

Tools

Coupa

SAP Ariba

Jaggaer

Ivalua

Agiloft

Fieldglass

Job description

Why work for us?

A career at Janus Henderson is more than a job, it’s about investing in a brighter future together.

Our Mission at Janus Henderson is to help clients define and achieve superior financial outcomes through differentiated insights, disciplined investments, and world-class service. We will do this by protecting and growing our core business, amplifying our strengths and diversifying where we have the right.

Our Values are key to driving our success, and are at the heart of everything we do:

Clients Come First - Always | Execution Supersedes Intention | Together We Win | Diversity Improves Results | Truth Builds Trust

If our mission, values, and purpose align with your own, we would love to hear from you!

Your opportunity

• Develop and execute category strategies across professional services, corporate services, marketing and client services, and HR and employee services spend, aligned to business priorities, budget planning, risk requirements, and enterprise procurement objectives.
• Lead sourcing events, including RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, supplier evaluations, bid analysis, commercial negotiations, and recommendation papers for stakeholder decision-making.
• Own renewal planning for assigned categories, including early identification of upcoming renewals, consolidation opportunities, and negotiation strategy; mitigation of commercial risk and pricing increases.
• Partner with business stakeholders to define requirements, challenge scope where appropriate, and ensure sourcing activity supports value for money, appropriate service levels, and practical business outcomes.
• Support legal services and professional services spend management through panel strategy, rate benchmarking, alternative fee arrangements, scope discipline, and cost containment.
• Manage assigned spend categories, including Professional Services: consulting, legal, audit, tax, recruitment, and contingent labor; Corporate Services: facilities, travel, workplace, real estate, fleet, print, and office services; Marketing and Client Services: creative agencies, events, conferences, media, PR, sponsorships, and digital marketing; and HR and Employee Services: benefits, wellbeing, learning, relocation, payroll, and background screening.
• Develop and implement a contingent workforce strategy, including supplier rationalization, rate-card governance, worker classification controls, statement-of-work discipline, tenure management, onboarding processes, and reporting to improve cost, compliance, and operational outcomes.
• Analyze spend, contract, supplier, and market data to identify savings opportunities, supplier consolidation opportunities, demand management levers, and unmanaged or fragmented spend.
• Partner with Legal on contract negotiation strategy, fallback positions, and escalation points, while ensuring procurement leads the commercial strategy and supplier negotiation plan.
• Collaborate with Information Security, Data Privacy, Business Continuity, and other business teams to support appropriate due diligence, onboarding, monitoring, and exit planning.
• Track and report sourcing pipeline, savings delivery, avoided cost, contract risk improvements, renewal status, cycle times, and stakeholder outcomes.
• Build strong relationships with key suppliers and internal stakeholders, acting as a trusted commercial advisor and escalation point for assigned categories.
• Contribute to procurement playbooks, templates, governance standards, sourcing workflows, and continuous improvement initiatives that support a scalable global strategic sourcing model.
• Carry out other duties as assigned

What to expect when you join our firm

• Hybrid working and reasonable accommodations
• Generous Holiday policies
• Excellent Health and Wellbeing benefits including corporate membership to Wellhub
• Paid volunteer time to step away from your desk and into the community
• Support to grow through professional development courses, tuition/qualification reimbursement and more
• Maternal/paternal leave benefits and family services
• Unique employee events and programs including a 14er challenge
• Complimentary beverages, snacks and all employee Happy Hours

Must have skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Business, Finance, Law, Operations, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, vendor management, commercial negotiation, category management, or a related discipline.
• Experience managing spend across one or more of the following categories: Professional Services, including consulting, legal, audit, tax, recruitment, and contingent labor; Corporate Services, including facilities, travel, workplace, real estate, fleet, print, and office services; Marketing and Client Services, including creative agencies, events, conferences, media, PR, sponsorships, and digital marketing; and HR and Employee Services, including benefits, wellbeing, learning, relocation, payroll, and background screening.
• Demonstrated experience implementing or materially improving a contingent workforce strategy, including governance, supplier model design, commercial controls, compliance processes, stakeholder engagement, and measurable performance improvements.
• Demonstrated experience leading sourcing events and commercial negotiations with external suppliers.
• Strong commercial acumen, including the ability to analyze pricing models, fee structures, rate cards, statements of work, total cost of ownership, and supplier proposals.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to use spend, contract, supplier, and market data to develop category strategies and measure outcomes.
• Experience working with Legal, Finance, Risk, Compliance, HR, Facilities, Marketing, and business stakeholders in a matrixed organization.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills, with the ability to engage senior stakeholders and translate commercial issues into clear recommendations.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple sourcing initiatives, renewals, negotiations, and stakeholder priorities at the same time.
• Sound judgment, integrity, and professionalism when handling confidential business, supplier, financial, and commercial information.

Nice to have skills

• Experience in the financial services, asset management, investment management, or other regulated industries.
• Experience with law firm panel management, consulting spend, audit and tax advisory, contingent labor programs, corporate services, marketing services, client services, HR services, or global indirect spend categories.
• Familiarity with third-party risk management, outsourcing governance, operational resilience, privacy, information security, and regulatory due diligence processes.
• Experience using procurement, contract lifecycle management, spend analytics, or sourcing platforms such as Coupa, SAP Ariba, Jaggaer, Ivalua, Agiloft, or similar tools.
• Experience using a contingent labor management tool such as SAP Fieldglass or similar.
• Knowledge of procurement governance, supplier performance management, vendor code of conduct requirements, and sustainable or responsible sourcing practices.
• Professional qualification or certification such as CIPS, CPSM, CSCP, Lean Six Sigma, project management, or equivalent experience.

Supervisory responsibilities

• No

Potential for growth

• Mentoring
• Leadership development programs
• Regular training