Director of Procurement

First Business Bank; Des Plaines (IL); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

First Business Bank is seeking a Director of Procurement to lead strategic sourcing and oversee the end-to-end procure-to-pay process. This senior, individual contributor role partners with Finance, Legal, IT, and Operations to optimize supplier performance, reduce costs, and strengthen internal controls.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in procurement leadership within financial services, proven cost-savings achievements, and the ability to scale P2P operations across a

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, finance, or related field required.
• 7+ years in procurement/strategic sourcing roles with leadership experience.
• Experience in financial services procurement and regulatory considerations.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic sourcing and supplier negotiations across key spend areas.
• Oversee end-to-end procure-to-pay processes and vendor/payable integrations.
• Develop and monitor KPIs, cost savings, and risk controls in procurement.

Skills

Strategic sourcing

Vendor management

Procurement leadership

P2P processes

Cost savings

Financial controls

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Job description

Join us today as the Director of Procurement!

First Business Bank is aTop Workplaces USA company, learn morehere.

At the heart of First Business Bank, we believe success comes down to putting people first. Our people are our priority — they embody ambition, experience, and client focus. The result is extremely engaged employees who provide unmatched client satisfaction. With comprehensive total rewards to support our team members, a commitment to valuing each other’s differences, and a focus on improving our communities, we are confident you’ll find the experience is your advantage. We’re delighted you’re considering joining us!

Work Model:

Remote, requiring one day at our Madison, WI headquarters each month.

Position Overview

The Director of Procurement provides centralized oversight of the Company’s end-to-end procurement-to-payment process. This includes establishing sourcing and vendor strategies aligned with business needs, financial objectives and risk appetite. This is a senior level, individual contributor role with the primary responsibility of building a procure to pay process with an annual spend of approximately $30 million across approximately 300 vendors that can scale as the company grows.

The individual will be expected to foster strong cross-functional collaboration with Finance, Legal, IT, Operations, and business leaders. The position reports to the Chief Risk Officer, with a functional or dotted-line relationship to the Chief Accounting Officer for financial controls, accounts payable integration, and budgeting.

Essential responsibilities for this role include:

• Strategic Sourcing and Procurement (50%). Develop and lead the company’s strategic sourcing program across key categories of spend through disciplined, transparent, competitive and risk informed processes.
  • Establish and document sourcing standards, including business-case requirements, competitive-bid expectations, exception protocols, and delegated approval authorities.
  • Oversee supplier proposals, bid processes, pricing and business term negotiations.
  • Identify and deliver measurable opportunities for cost savings, cost avoidance, demand management, supplier consolidation, contract optimization, and process efficiency.
  • Coordinate periodic vendor evaluations, risk review and issue resolutions in partnership with Compliance through the lifecycle of the contract.
• Accounts Payable and Finance Coordination (30%). The role is responsible for ensuring that procurement and payment processes are efficient, appropriately controlled, supported by complete and accurate records, and executed in accordance with delegated authority.
  • Own and continuously improve the end-to-end P2P process, including requisitioning, vendor payment data maintenance, invoicing, approvals, payment workflows, and the integration of P2P systems.
  • Partner with finance to identify and eliminate bottlenecks, reduce manual work, and improve data quality across purchasing and Accounts Payable processes using key performance indicators.
  • Support Finance and business leaders in vendor-spend forecasting, budget preparation, and accrual identification.
  • Design and monitor controls over vendor creation and changes, purchasing authority, invoice approval, employee expense process, sponsorships process, and documentation standards.
• Reporting and Analytics (10%). Establish transparent, decision-useful reporting and performance analytics that enable management of enterprise spend, procurement value, supplier performance, process efficiency, control compliance, and material issues.
  • Develop recurring reporting appropriate to the Company’s governance structure and the significance of procurement, supplier, and P2P matters. Provide trend analysis and actionable recommendations to management.
  • Monitor timely completion of due diligence and periodic reviews; document and elevate overdue items, exceptions, residual risks, control deficiencies, contractual concerns, and significant supplier issues.
  • Establish operational metrics, technology strategy, and staffing models to support efficient, scalable P2P operations.
  • Demonstrate cost savings in procurement program through optimization of vendors, improved contract terms, and reduction of process waste.
• Governance and Risk Management (10%). Administer a risk-based procurement governance framework in partnership with vendor owners, Finance, Legal, Risk and Compliance, Information Security, Information Technology, Operations and business leaders.
  • Define roles and responsibilities for vendor owners, service owners, approvers, Accounts Payable, and oversight functions.
  • Design and maintain controls related to vendor management, purchasing, approvals, and payments.
  • Support regulatory examinations, internal and external audits, and remediation of findings relating to procurement, contracting, and procure-to-pay (“P2P”) processes.

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain management, business administration, finance, accounting, risk management, or a related field.
• 7+ years of progressively responsible experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, supplier management, third-party risk management, procure-to-pay, finance operations, or a related discipline.
• 2+ years of leadership, program ownership, or cross-functional transformation experience.
• Experience in financial services or related field required.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex sourcing initiatives and commercial negotiations.

  Ability to both 1) assess and understand the in depth processes, and 2) oversee assess the program management of the following areas:

  • Strategic sourcing, category management, competitive bidding, commercial negotiation, and supplier-performance management.
  • Third-party risk-management principles and banking regulatory expectations.
  • Contract lifecycle management and ability to identify matters requiring Legal or specialist review.
  • P2P processes, Accounts Payable workflows, internal controls, delegated authority, and segregation of duties.
  • Financial and spend analysis, budgeting, and cost-benefit analysis.