Director of Procurement & Spend Management (Group)

Company: SAMY Alliance

Reporting to: Group CFO

Location: Europe preferred (flexible)

Scope: Global (18 countries, 55+ markets)

Role Purpose

SAMY is seeking a senior Director of Procurement & Spend Management to design, build, and lead a global procurement function at Group level.

The role will be responsible for establishing a structured, scalable approach to procurement across the organization, covering all major spend categories, while integrating and providing strategic direction to the existing Order-to-Pay (OTP) capability within the broader Finance function.

Reporting directly to the Group CFO, this position combines function-building responsibilities, senior commercial leadership, and strong governance, supporting SAMY’s international growth, margin profile, and operational complexity, within a context of both organic expansion and ongoing growth through acquisitions.

Scope & Organization

• Direct report: Head of OTP (Global)

  • OTP Americas Lead reports to the Head of OTP

• Existing organization: An OTP capability with defined ownership and processes, to be further structured and developed within a global procurement framework

• Indirect reports: Local Finance / OTP stakeholders across all countries

• Future evolution: As the procurement function develops, the role may be supported by additional dedicated procurement resources, reflecting its global scope and strategic relevance

• Geographical scope: Group-wide responsibility across 18 countries and more than 55 markets, within a decentralized organization combining organic growth and frequent post-merger integration challenges

Key Responsibilities

1. Group Procurement Build-Out (Primary Focus)

   • Design and implement a Group-wide procurement operating model, currently non-existent at Group level, suitable for a complex, international, fast-growing organization with ongoing M&A activity.

   • Define procurement policies, sourcing processes, and governance standards across regions and business units.

   • Establish category and supplier strategies across the Group’s most relevant spend areas.

   • Support post-merger integration by embedding procurement standards and practices into newly acquired companies.

2. Strategic Supplier & Category Management

   • Lead and support complex supplier negotiations at global and regional level.

   • Structure and manage long-term supplier relationships across business-critical spend categories with direct impact on service delivery and gross margin, as well as operational and capital expenditure.

   • Coordinate volume aggregation and sourcing initiatives across markets to improve economic and operational efficiency.

   • Act as a senior internal reference point for supplier-related decision-making, and as a trusted advisor to business teams in selected client-facing negotiations and pitch structuring where procurement-led supplier strategies and commercial frameworks are critical to value creation

3. Order-to-Pay (OTP) Integration & Governance

   • Integrate the existing OTP capability within the broader Procurement & Spend Management function.

   • Provide structure, strategic direction, and global alignment to OTP processes, controls, and governance.

   • Oversee supplier onboarding, modifications, deactivations, and payment governance, delegating day-to-day operations to the Head of OTP.

   • Act as an escalation point for exceptions, sensitive supplier situations, and structural improvements.

4. Processes, Systems & Data

   • Define end-to-end spend processes from sourcing and contracting through to payment execution.

   • Lead the selection and deployment of procurement and supplier management tools, in coordination with Finance and IT.

   • Establish meaningful KPIs related to spend visibility, supplier performance, and risk management.

5. Executive & Cross-Functional Leadership

   • Partner closely with Finance, Treasury, Legal, IT, and Business leadership.

   • Provide structured challenge and guidance on procurement and spend-related decisions.

   • Balance commercial flexibility with financial discipline and control.

   • Represent the procurement function at Executive level.

Success Indicators (12–18 Months)

• A fully operational global procurement function in place, with clear ownership, processes, governance, and the appropriate supporting IT and data infrastructure to enable scalability, visibility, and control across regions and entities.

• Measurable improvement in Group gross margins, driven by more structured and economically optimized supplier relationships in business-critical spend categories.

• Improved cost discipline across the organization, with procurement-related costs growing at a structurally lower rate than overall business growth, while supporting continued expansion.

• Increased visibility and control over Group-wide spend, enabling better forecasting, prioritization, and decision-making.

• A clearly designed and scalable procurement integration framework, enabling the efficient and timely onboarding of newly acquired companies into the Group’s global processes.

• Strong alignment between Procurement, Finance, and Business teams.

Candidate Profile

• 15+ years of experience in Procurement, Strategic Sourcing, Spend Management, or equivalent senior commercial roles within complex, international organizations.

• Proven track record of building or transforming procurement functions, particularly in environments where structure had to be created from scratch.

  • Experience operating in fast-growing organizations, including exposure to acquisition-driven growth and post-merger integration, is considered a strong plus.

  • Hands-on exposure to the design and rollout of procurement technology platforms, with direct involvement in implementation activities or project leadership as executive sponsor in complex, multi-country environments, is also highly valued.

• Strong background in service industries characterized by complex, intermediary-based supplier ecosystems, ideally within media, advertising or digital.

• Significant experience leading high-volume, multi-country supplier negotiations with material economic impact.

• Solid financial acumen, with a clear understanding of gross margin drivers, payment terms, working capital implications, and payables governance.

• Experience leading global teams, combining direct management responsibility with strong functional leadership over local stakeholders.

• Comfortable operating in decentralized, multicultural environments, balancing global standards with local execution realities.

• Willingness to engage in high-stakes, in-person negotiations with strategic suppliers globally, requiring occasional travel.

Academic Background & Technical Expertise

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Engineering, or a related field; postgraduate education (MBA, Executive MBA, or equivalent) is a strong plus.

• Strong understanding of procurement operating models, category management, supplier strategy, and commercial negotiation in international contexts.

• Ability to operate effectively at the intersection of Procurement and Finance, working closely with CFO-level stakeholders.

• Experience working with ERP, procurement, supplier management, and spend analytics tools in complex organizations (tool-agnostic; focus on governance and usage rather than configuration).

Personal Attributes

• Executive presence and credibility with senior internal and external stakeholders.

• Commercially sophisticated, discreet, and pragmatic, with a strong results orientation.

• Able to navigate ambiguity and complexity while building structure, consistency, and momentum.

• Strong judgment, autonomy, and a clear sense of ownership and accountability.

• Strong alignment with SAMY’s leadership values, demonstrating high standards of ownership, collaboration, resilience under pressure, and the ability to lead by example at senior level.