Senior Strategic Procurement Lead

As a Senior Strategic Procurement Lead, you will play a pivotal advisory and delivery role, collaborating closely with business units as a trusted procurement partner to plan, source, contract, and manage suppliers to maximise organisational value. You’ll drive category strategies, lead complex sourcing activity, and embed robust contract and supplier performance frameworks that enhance capability, challenge thinking, uplift governance, and strengthen commercial outcomes.

In this role, you will enable efficient and resilient service operations through proactive commercial planning and strong business engagement. You’ll optimise supplier arrangements to support uninterrupted delivery of essential water services, while championing continuous improvement, innovation, sustainability, and value creation. You will also be accountable for executing category and sourcing strategies, achieving value‑for‑money outcomes, and ensuring compliance with internal procurement governance and the Victorian Government Purchasing Board (VGPB) framework.

Key accountabilities include:

• Owning and updating category strategies, including market analysis, supplier mapping, and commercial model recommendations.
• Leading end‑to‑end sourcing events, including RFx development, evaluation, manage complex commercial conversations and negotiations, and award recommendations.
• Supporting contract development, governance structures, and supplier performance management.
• Implementing Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) frameworks to drive performance, continuous improvement, and strategic value.
• Providing expert commercial advice across the procurement lifecycle and engaging early with stakeholders to shape strategy and requirements.
• Embedding sustainability, social procurement, and innovation opportunities into category strategies and sourcing activity.
• Preparing governance documentation and reporting on category performance, pipeline, risks, and benefits.

You’re a commercially minded procurement professional with strong strategic, analytical, and stakeholder-engagement capabilities. Backed up by a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Engineering, Supply Chain Management, or other related field, you bring deep experience in end-to-end sourcing, contract development, and supplier management within complex or regulated environments.

The following key skills, knowledge and experience will ensure your success in the role:

• A strong understanding of strategic sourcing, category management, contract lifecycle management, and contemporary procurement practices.
• A minimum of 5+ years’ experience in procurement, commercial advisory, category management, or similar strategic roles, preferably within government/utility organisations.
• Proven capability in developing and executing sourcing strategies, conducting market analysis, and negotiating commercially sound outcomes.
• Strong contract development and negotiation skills, including risk allocation and scope definition in collaboration with Legal.
• Demonstrated SRM experience, including governance frameworks, performance monitoring, and issue resolution.
• Well‑developed commercial and analytical skills, including cost modelling and total cost of ownership assessment.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder‑management and influencing skills, with the ability to guide cross‑functional decision-making.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast‑paced environment while maintaining high governance standards.