A prominent US publication for chief information officers has detailed how new-generation procurement jobs have evolved in recent years to extend far beyond conventional cost-reducing efforts to become “a vital component of business development.”
CIOReviewmagazine has highlighted the multifaceted nature of contemporary procurement jobs this week, implicitly emphasising the multiple talents specialist procurement recruitment agencies seek in today’s candidates for these roles.
New-gen procurement professionals, while keeping a vigilant watch on spend analytics and company purchasing, also play a crucial role in finding and approving terms and circumstances to acquire goods or equipment from internal sources, typically through tendering.
The overall aim, however, is to benefit the customer: today’s practitioners work assiduously to achieve the highest quality products or facilities, keeping a vigilant eye on factors that can affect purchasing decisions ‘beneath the surface’, such as marginal profit, delivery and handling and price fluctuations.
In the current era of complex mass mergers and acquisitions, procurement teams have proven themselves more valuable than ever before, with practitioners demonstrating vital knowledge of contracts in negotiating strategies and novel methods of optimising purchasing power.
A top-performing procurement team will be able to visualise expenditure patterns at crucial points in different departments and company units, ensuring the process is running smoothly well before the merger or acquisition process formally begins.
However, there is more to new-gen procurement roles than processing point of sales (POS) and overseeing compliance with contracts. These practitioners are also charged with strengthening relations with suppliers and optimising shared advantages for all stakeholders.
The elevation of procurement to its current status as a vital guarantor of business development and organisational merger means that these practitioners have more than price savings metrics tucked up their sleeves to execute their work.
The article concludes:
“Procurement speeds up as business activities become more integral. Stakeholder teams have no choice and have to work with procurement, but that does not imply an adversary to the relationship.”