Director, Procurement

Procure-to-Pay Leadership & Continuous Improvement 

• Own and continuously improve the end-to-end purchase-to-pay (P2P) process within our Zip procurement environment 

• Identify and implement automation opportunities and AI-driven enhancements across the procurement lifecycle to reduce friction and increase speed 

• Iterate on current procurement policies, approval frameworks, and purchasing workflows that balance operational agility with financial controls 

• Oversee cross-departmental P2P operations, ensuring consistent process adherence and a high-quality and efficient purchasing experience for business stakeholders 

• Work in close partnership with Legal, Privacy, Cybersecurity, GRC, and Finance to ensure procurement processes reflect current compliance requirements and risk standards 

• Train all Outreachers on process standards and serve as the internal subject matter expert on procurement best practices 

• Identify opportunities to scale the function in alignment with organizational growth, including evolving tooling, workflows, and team capacity 

• Serve as a visible and credible partner to senior leadership, advocating for procurement as a strategic business enabler 

Vendor Management & Risk Mitigation 

• Lead vendor relationship management and negotiating strategy on behalf of business partners 

• Maintain due diligence policies and procedures to ensure vendors meet contractual, regulatory, and ethical requirements while assisting GRC, Privacy and security teams maintain critical documentation for related audits and compliance requirements 

• Drive risk-based decision making across procurement actions, ensuring appropriate scrutiny is applied to vendor onboarding and ongoing relationships while balancing for speed/efficiency 

Financial Partnership 

• Collaborate with the Corporate Controller on budgeting, forecasting, and transparency while improving reporting to support data-driven decision making across the business 

• Identify cost-saving opportunities without sacrificing speed or quality 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal department leaders and stakeholders across Accounting, Legal, Finance, IT, and Security 

• Partner with Accounting and FP&A for cash management and implement policies and processes to maximize vendor cash position 

• Perform cost analysis and set appropriate benchmarks; work closely with Controllership & FP&A to align financial goals with procurement planning 

Software & Technology Vendor Negotiation 

• Bring proven expertise in negotiating software and technology contracts, including SaaS agreements, enterprise licensing, and multi-year commitments 

• Experience negotiating with sub-processors and technology vendors who operate within or alongside our core platform, ensuring contractual terms align with Privacy, Security, and GRC requirements 

• Familiarity with marketplace and cloud infrastructure partners such as AWS, GCP, and Azure, including an understanding of committed spend programs, enterprise discount structures, and co-sell or reseller arrangements 

• Ability to assess total cost of ownership and ancillary costs associated with software purchasing, including implementation, integration, and ongoing utilization costs 

• 7+ years in Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, or Vendor Management 

• Experience in SaaS, technology, software, or high-growth startup environments strongly preferred 

• Software and SaaS contract negotiation expertise, including experience with sub-processors and cloud marketplace partners (AWS, GCP, Azure) 

• Experience with tools currently utilized by the team (e.g., Zip, Coupa) or can quickly adapt to them; direct Zip experience strongly preferred 

• Previous people leadership experience  

• Ability to balance speed with governance 

• Process design and operational scaling 

• Continuous improvement mindset — comfortable evolving existing systems 

• Collaborative communicator across technical and non-technical teams 

• Data-driven but pragmatic 

• A high level of independence as demonstrated through clear problem-solving and communication skills and the delivery of high-quality work