Director of Procurement & Contract Services

Montana State University; Bozeman (MT); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Montana State University is seeking a strategic, collaborative Director of Procurement & Contract Services to oversee procurement, contracting, and Jaggaer governance. The role sets policy compliance with state law and Board of Regents guidelines, ensuring an efficient procure‑to‑pay path for campus stakeholders.

The Director leads cross‑functional teams, drives continuous improvement, and partners with Legal, IT, and Finance to advance a modern, integrated procurement culture at MSU.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 7 years of leadership in procurement.
• Experience in public procurement with RFPs/IFBs.
• Ability to lead through managers in a regulated environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead procurement and contracting while coordinating with accounts payable for a cohesive procure-to-pay experience.
• Maintain procurement delegation and ensure university compliance with laws, policies, and training.
• Communicate across departments, legal, IT, and external entities to align procurement goals.
• Provide unit oversight in coordination with the management team.
• Oversee contracts for goods and services and coordinate with Legal Counsel.
• Lead governance and long-term strategy for Jaggaer/SmartBuyMSU system enhancements.
• Drive improvements to reduce administrative burden and cycle times.
• Identify and mitigate procurement-related institutional risk.
• Liaise with OCHE on delegations, policy interpretation, and system initiatives.
• Identify strategic sourcing opportunities with university-wide value.

Skills

Procurement leadership

Strategic sourcing

Public procurement compliance

Contract management

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, public administration, law, or related field

Advanced degree or professional certification (MBA, J.D., CPPO, CPSM)

Tools

Jaggaer/SmartBuyMSU

Job description

Director of Procurement & Contract Services

Please see Special Instructions for more details.

*This position is not eligible for sponsorship.*

Position Information

Announcement Number

Announcement Number STAFF - VA - 27060

For questions regarding this position, please contact:

Working Title Director of Procurement & Contract Services

Brief Position Overview

Montana State University is seeking a strategic and collaborative leader to serve as Director of Procurement and Contract Services. This role provides executive oversight of the university’s procurement function, contracts for goods and services, and guides the strategic use of the university procure-to-pay system (Jaggaer), collaborating across Financial Services to ensure an efficient and all-inclusive process.
Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Financial Services, the Director is responsible for setting strategy, ensuring compliance with state law, Board of Regents policy, and university procedures, and delivering a seamless, customer-focused experience for campus stakeholders.

Position Number

Position Number 4C3504

Department

Department Procurement Services

Division

Division Office of VP for Administration & Finance

Appointment Type

Appointment Type Professional

Contract Term

Contract Term Fiscal Year

Semester

If other, specify From date

If other, specify End date

FLSA

FLSA Exempt

Union Affiliation

Union Affiliation Exempt from Collective Bargaining

FTE

FTE 1.0 FTE

Benefits Eligible

Salary Salary commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications.

Contract Type

Contract Type MUS

If other, please specify

Recruitment Type

Recruitment Type Open

General Statement

The Director develops, administers, and implements policies to assure compliance with state procurement law, and university purchasing policies, rules, and procedures. The Director liaises with the university faculty and staff, affiliate campuses of Montana State University, and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. The Director has the purchasing authority for MSU and its affiliated campuses.

The Director of Procurement and Contract Services provides strategic leadership and executive oversight for Montana State University’s procurement function, contracts for goods and services, and governs the university procure-to-pay system (Jaggaer), collaborating across Financial Services to ensure an efficient and all-inclusive process that is seamless to end users. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Financial Services, this role is responsible for establishing strategy, driving consistent and service-oriented operations, ensuring compliance with state law, Board of Regents policy, and university procedures, and advancing a modern, integrated, and institutionally responsive procure-to-pay model. At MSU, SmartBuyMSU (Jaggaer) serves as the university’s online platform for purchasing, contracting, receiving invoices, and issuing payments. This role has oversight of the system, including guiding necessary enhancements and upgrades. University Financial Services is charged with providing efficient, effective, and timely university-wide business services in compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

The Director sets direction for procurement, contracting, and strategic purchasing. They will accomplish this by aligning work across unit teams, establishing service standards and performance expectations, and ensuring that campus departments experience these functions as a coordinated service. They work closely with the Accounts Payable team to ensure they are included as a part of the improvements and changes to the system which affects the entire procure-to-pay lifecycle.

The role is expected to exercise sound judgment, solve complex problems, make defensible determinations in ambiguous situations, and balance compliance with responsiveness to the academic, research, and operational needs of the university.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead and integrate procurement and contracting while coordinating with accounts payable to deliver a cohesive, service-oriented procure-to-pay experience.
• Maintain Procurement Delegation from State Procurement Bureau, by ensuring the following: university compliance with Title 18 of the Montana Code Annotated, creation and maintenance of university procurement and contract management policy, university compliance with required training certification of procurement staff, proper tracking and retention of procurement and contract records in accordance with laws/rules/policies.
• Maintain clear lines of communication between departmental staff, the university staff and faculty (including affiliated campuses), University legal counsel, University Information Technology, and other units of the Montana University System, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, and vendors.
• Provide oversight of the unit in coordination with the management team in place.
• Oversee contracts for goods and services, including review of terms and conditions and coordination with Legal Counsel
• Lead governance, enhancements, and long-term strategy for the university’s procure-to-pay system (Jaggaer/SmartBuyMSU)
• Drive continuous improvement to reduce administrative burden, improve cycle times, and enhance the campus user experience
• Identify and mitigate institutional risk across the procure-to-pay lifecycle
• Liaise with the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education ( OCHE ) Chief Procurement Officer on delegations, policy interpretation, and system-level initiatives
• Identify strategic sourcing opportunities to provide university wide goods and services with greatest value

Required Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, public administration, law, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 7 years of progressive leadership experience in procurement
• Demonstrated experience in public procurement including preparing and analyzing RFPs and IFBs.
• Demonstrated experience in management and leadership
• Demonstrated ability to lead through managers, solve complex problems, and operate in a highly regulated environment

Preferred Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills

• Advanced degree or professional certification (e.g., MBA , J.D., CPPO , CPSM )
• Demonstrated experience in higher education environments with R1 research status
• Demonstrated experience negotiating contract terms and conditions
• Demonstrated experience with Jaggaer or similar procure-to-pay systems

The Successful Candidate Will

• Be a strategic and service-minded leader
• Have excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to quickly learn and apply organization/institution compliance policies and regulations
• Ability to balance compliance, risk, and effective delivery of services to faculty and staff across the