Head of Group Procurement

Role Profile

This is an interim role, based near Chelmsford and will require 2-3 days a week in the office. For further details, please apply with your CV using the link.

My client, an industrial manufacturing group, is looking to hire a Group Procurement Director to lead a reset and transformation of the procurement function during a critical period of business turnaround. The role will focus on stabilising supply, improving cost competitiveness, strengthening governance, and rebuilding procurement capability to support the company’s return to sustainable, profitable growth. Acting as a key member of the leadership team, the Procurement Director will drive rapid, disciplined change while embedding responsible and ethical sourcing practices.

• Diagnose current procurement performance, risks, and capability gaps, and develop a clear recovery roadmap aligned to the company’s turnaround objectives.
• Reposition procurement as a commercially focused, value-protecting function that supports cash flow, margin improvement, and operational continuity.
• Establish clear priorities, success measures, and performance metrics to track recovery progress, cost savings, risk reduction, and supplier performance.

• Deliver rapid and sustainable cost reduction across direct and indirect spend while protecting quality, service, and continuity of supply.
• Improve working capital through better commercial terms, inventory collaboration, and disciplined supplier management.
• Identify and mitigate supply chain risks, including supplier financial health, capacity constraints, ethical exposure, and environmental risk.

• Implement strong procurement governance, policies, and controls to restore discipline, transparency, and compliance.
• Simplify and standardise sourcing, contracting, and supplier management processes to improve speed, consistency, and accountability.
• Introduce or strengthen procurement systems, data, and reporting to enable fact-based decision-making.

• Assess, restructure, and rebuild the procurement organisation to ensure the right capability is in place for turnaround and future growth.
• Set clear accountabilities, performance expectations, and succession plans across the function.
• Lead, coach, and develop the team to create a resilient, delivery-focused culture with a clear sense of ownership.

• Work closely with executive leadership and functional heads across Finance, Operations, IT, and Sustainability to align procurement activity with turnaround priorities.
• Act as a trusted commercial partner, providing insight into supply markets, cost drivers, and recovery opportunities.

• Stabilise and rationalise the supplier base to improve performance, resilience, and cost competitiveness.
• Renegotiate and reset key supplier relationships and high-value contracts, ensuring clear commitments around pricing, service, risk, ethical conduct, and environmental standards.
• Drive supplier accountability through strengthened performance management and governance.

• Ensure procurement activity meets all relevant legal, regulatory, and environmental requirements during the turnaround period.
• Embed ethical sourcing standards and responsible procurement practices while balancing the immediate demands of recovery.
• Increase supply chain transparency to reduce risk and protect the organisation’s reputation.

• Proven experience leading procurement in a turnaround, restructuring, or underperforming business environment, ideally within manufacturing or asset-intensive sectors.
• Track record of delivering rapid cost reduction, cash improvement, and risk mitigation in complex supply chains.
• Strong background in procurement transformation, governance implementation, and operating model redesign.
• Demonstrated ability to reset supplier relationships and negotiate complex, high-impact commercial agreements.
• Highly developed commercial judgement, analytical capability, and senior stakeholder influence.
• Experience using procurement systems and data to…