Corporate Planning & Management, Global Procurement (Strategic Sourcing Manager), Software/SaaS, Associate, Dallas

Corporate Planning & Management - Global Procurement -Strategic Sourcing Manager, Software/SaaS (Associate)

The Corporate Planning & Management (CPM) Division unifies Finance & Planning, Spend Management, Operational Risk and Resilience, and CPM Engineering teams to deliver business planning and analytics, expense management, third party risk management, and governance strategies across the firm. CPM have 5 operating pillars.

Finance & Planning supports the execution of the firm's strategic objectives through the management of the planning process, firmwide reporting and analytics and insights into the firm's business plans and budgets. They develop consistent framework for revenue division projections creating transparency, accountability and efficiency around projections. This pillar also includes the CF&O, EO and Engineering divisional CFOs, who are strategic finance advisors helping the firm and the non-revenue divisions achieve commercial financial opportunities. Product Finance is responsible for the overall governance and proactive management of the firm's non-compensation expenses. Global Procurement encompasses the functions responsible for managing all aspects of the firm's spend with third parties - advising commercial agreements and driving operating efficiency. Departments include Strategic Sourcing, Procure to Pay, Integrated Travel and Expense, Infrastructure and Transformation and Sustainable Operations. Operational Risk & Resilience drives firmwide Operational Risk programs along with second line teams and implements required changes within CPM. The Corporate Insurance & Advisory team in this pillar identifies, procures, and manages corporate insurance needs for the firm and its investing businesses. The CPM Engineering team provides engineering solutions that enable the firm to manage third-party spend, data and automation, plan budgets, forecast financial scenarios, allocate expenses and support corporate decision making in-line with the firm's strategic objectives.

Role Overview

Professionals in CPM have an analytical mindset, exhibit intellectual curiosity and are from diverse academic backgrounds. This role sits within the Global Procurement pillar.

The Strategic Sourcing team within Global Procurement is responsible for driving the execution of strategic priorities, including firm's operational efficiency targets, as it relates to the Firm's relationships with vendors. We partner with a wide range of stakeholders across the firm as we support spend categories across Technology, Professional Services, Legal, Corporate Workplace, Human Resources, and Marketing, among others. As a result, we are actively involved in the entirety of the vendor relationship lifecycle - from procurement to payment.

The Strategic Sourcing professional is a highly commercial role that requires extensive internal and external interfacing with a number of constituents, implementation of best practices and sound judgement to arrive at the right outcomes for the firm.

This role will sit within the Technology category, where we partner with Engineering leadership as well as other stakeholders across the firm on all artificial intelligence (AI), software/SaaS, cloud compute, hardware, storage, telecommunications, multi-media, and co-location engagements. This role will report into the Software category leader.

Job responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Lead/participate in contract and commercial negotiations for technology-related products and services globally, with focus on software agreements, including both internally-hosted as well as vendor-hosted arrangements (SaaS/PaaS), while following vendor engagement model and adhering to firm's vendor-related policies and practices.
• Collaborate with various risk management partners, such as Legal, Finance, Information Security, Compliance, and others to ensure firm's vendor management policies and procedures are adhered to.
• Create financial analysis of pending transactions, including review of vendor financial viability as well as total cost of ownership and return on investment analyses. May involve interfacing with outside research companies to create benchmarking models and identify cost savings opportunities.
• Serve as an advisor to the business/technology groups in the areas of licensing and commercial/contractual/vendor risks, among others.
• Lead/participate in license audits and certifications, in collaboration with other groups including end users, technology, legal, and others.
• Liaise across Engineering leadership, business and relationship managers to identify and escalate vendor/client sensitivities, commercial and relationship opportunities.
• Responsible for tracking of and reporting on strategic vendor management activities, spend and other trends of strategic vendors, understanding impact across firm/business units.

Basic Qualifications:

• Education: Relevant Bachelor's degree or equivalent qualification with an excellent academic record; CPSM certification or MBA a plus
• Strategic Sourcing Expertise: Proven track record (2-4 years) in strategic sourcing, category management, and contract negotiation, specifically within the technology domain.
• Financial Acumen: Strong understanding of financial analysis, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), business case development, and budget management. Ability to quantify and articulate financial impact.
• Negotiation & Influence: Strong negotiation skills with a demonstrated ability to achieve favorable commercial outcomes while maintaining strong supplier relationships. Ability to influence senior stakeholders across technical and business functions.
• Stakeholder Management: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal), with the ability to build rapport and effectively collaborate with diverse internal teams (technical, legal, business, risk) and external suppliers.
• Project Management: Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple complex sourcing initiatives simultaneously, meet deadlines, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.
• Cloud & Software Sourcing: Experience sourcing cloud-based services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and enterprise software, with an understanding of various licensing models, consumption-based pricing, and API integration considerations.
• Data & IP Acumen: Familiarity with data governance, data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA), data security best practices, and intellectual property considerations specifically as they relate to AI models, training data, and algorithms.
• Technical Translation: Ability to understand technical requirements from engineers and data scientists and translate them into commercially viable sourcing strategies and contractual terms.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Commercial and contract negotiation experience focused on software/SaaS licensing contracts
• Prior experience with the SAP Spend Management suite of products, including Ariba
• Prior experience in the financial services industry or other highly regulated environments
• Prior commercial experience with well-known enterprise vendors
• Prior technical experience or in-depth understanding of technical concepts