Procurement Manager

Procurement Manager About Us The Company: Dotdigital is a thriving global community of passionate, dedicated professionals, committed to the collective success of the organization and its clients. Our core principles of innovation, teamwork, and client-focused solutions drive us to approach challenges with a growth mindset and take ownership of our work. At Dotdigital, collaboration and curiosity pave the way for meaningful connections and learning opportunities with diverse peers. Our work environment encourages knowledge sharing, fosters exploration, and cherishes creative ideas that guide us towards our shared vision of empowering businesses through marketing automation and engagement. The Product: Dotdigital is an all-in-one customer experience and data platform (CXDP) that empowers marketing teams to exceed customer expectations with highly personalized cross-channel journeys. With Dotdigital, marketers can seamlessly unify, enrich, and segment customer data. Breaking down data siloes, Dotdigital streamlines decision-making and paves the way for marketing creativity that delivers customer engagement at scale. With powerful AI capabilities, Dotdigital makes it easy to automate deeply personalized experiences across web, email, SMS, WhatsApp, chat, push, social, ads, and more. About the Role Dotdigital is creating a dedicated Procurement Manager role to bring our global supplier base under a single, well-governed framework. The framework and operating model are in place: your job is to deliver them, run them well, and keep making them better. It is a role of real breadth, covering a substantial portfolio of SaaS, cloud and infrastructure agreements negotiated with vendors worldwide, with direct access to senior leadership. This role can be based in the UK or South Africa. You will report to the Head of Legal and work in close partnership with Finance, Technology and the teams across the business who buy, so that purchasing decisions are commercially sharp, properly governed and soundly documented. Our supplier portfolio has two distinct halves: a small number of high-value SaaS and infrastructure agreements that warrant close and continuous management, and a longer tail of smaller subscriptions that still needs proper oversight. Your task is to secure the right terms, pricing and flexibility on the first, and to keep the second controlled proportionately. The remit reaches beyond technology into our wider supplier base, including professional services, facilities and events, and across the full supplier lifecycle from sourcing and due diligence through contracting and renewal to exit. Responsibilities Strategic Delivery & Leadership Deliver and evolve Dotdigital’s procurement strategy, embedding it across the organisation Extend the procurement process to incorporate all vendor spend (consulting, facilities, events and other non-software spend) Operate and refine the operating model: which contracts get hands-on negotiation, which get lighter-touch monitoring, and which are delegated to individual purchasers Advise senior leadership directly on vendor strategy for major platform decisions Define KPIs that hold up to scrutiny: savings measured against a realistic baseline rather than the list price, set alongside control and compliance measures such as due diligence completion, adoption of standard terms, and cycle time by risk tier Process & Policy Delivery Maintain and tune procurement policy and approval thresholds suited to a SaaS business Own the supplier lifecycle end to end, from sourcing and due diligence through onboarding, contracting, approval, execution, ongoing management and renewal to exit, with a defined owner and a defined standard at each stage Run a renewal and exit strategy built on contractual notice periods, tracking cancel-by dates rather than renewal dates, supported by a negotiation playbook for the agreements that matter Embed and maintain a category framework with named owners and clear accountabilities Build data protection terms and SOC 2 / ISO 27001 assurance into every material negotiation from the outset Co-design the vendor assessment process with Legal, Information Security and Privacy, so due diligence happens once, at the right depth, and is evidenced Bring newly acquired entities into the group procurement framework on a defined timetable Use automation and AI, including agentic AI, to take manual effort out of the procurement cycle, so that your time goes into negotiation, supplier relationships and value rather than administration Contracting, Risk & Compliance Work within Legal’s contract templates and playbooks: lead the negotiation on standard terms, and escalate non-standard positions and material legal risk to Legal against clear, agreed criteria Operate a risk-tiered review model, so that higher-value or higher-risk engagements route to Legal, Information Security and Privacy against defined thresholds Own counterparty due diligence as a mandatory gate before onboarding Operationalise the Supplier Code of Conduct by issuing it as standard, tracking acceptance and holding the evidence, and embed our compliance requirements into supplier onboarding Assess vendor AI terms with Legal and Privacy Keep four decisions distinct in the operating model, working with Legal and Finance: commercial approval, budget approval, legal review, and authority to sign, and operate within the delegated authority and signatory matrix Own the supplier and contract register as the single source of truth for terms, obligations, notice periods and expiry dates, to a standard that withstands external audit and supports our ISO 27001 / SOC 2 supplier management controls Incorporate environmental management and sustainability considerations into supplier evaluation and onboarding processes, including assessment of ISO 14001 certification or equivalent environmental management practices where appropriate. Supplier & Stakeholder Management Own relationships with Dotdigital’s largest platform vendors and be the person their commercial team deals with directly, credible enough with vendor account teams to get a straight answer on roadmap and pricing flexibility; not just a name on a contract Negotiate pricing, terms, and multi-year commitments with full visibility of actual usage and roadmap Bring Legal, Information Security and Privacy into vendor conversations early enough that their findings shape the negotiations rather than arrive after terms are agreed Manage the long-tail subscription base efficiently, without treating it like the priority contracts Spot duplication and overlap across the tool estate (e.g. two subscriptions doing much the same job) and make the case for consolidation where it stands up Cost Management & Value Creation Deliver measurable savings on major contracts through negotiation, not discount-chasing Benchmark pricing using external data where useful, grounded in Dotdigital’s own usage Apply total cost of ownership thinking to build-vs-buy and vendor consolidation decisions Make sure commercial outcomes are protected contractually, through price increase caps, benchmarking rights, service credits and exit assistance, so that the value agreed at signature survives the life of the contract Report savings outcomes in terms the leadership team can understand and trust About You Desirable Qualifications Degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Commerce, or related field CIPS, CPSM, or equivalent Experience Substantial procurement experience, typically six years or more, including specific and direct exposure to SaaS, cloud and technology vendor contracts Experience negotiating complex, high-value contracts, and confidence working within an established template and playbook framework Working familiarity with the compliance backdrop to supplier contracting: data protection, information security assurance, sanctions screening, anti-bribery and modern slavery Exposure to AI-enabled procurement, and ideally agentic AI, applied to real workflows such as intake, triage, data extraction or renewal tracking. Desirable rather than essential Competencies A track record of negotiating SaaS/cloud contracts directly with vendor commercial teams, not through intermediary partners or platforms Strong stakeholder management up to C-level Comfortable operating and improving established structure, playbooks and processes, and bringing colleagues with you as you do it Numerate and analytical, able to interrogate a vendor’s pricing model rather than take a benchmark report at face value Willing to challenge constructively, internal stakeholders as well as vendors, and to hold a position when it is the right one for the business Sound judgement on risk: able to tell the difference between a term that is merely unusual and one that is genuinely unacceptable, and to escalate accordingly Discreet with commercially sensitive pricing and contract information Interview Process 15min Screening Call with Team Talent 45 min 1st Stage Interview with the Head of Legal via Zoom Written Task 60 min Final Stage Interview with the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Legal. Some of Our Global Benefits Commission & bonus opportunities Annual leave that increases with service + option to buy more Additional paid wellbeing days + annual wellbeing reward Christmas office shutdown (extra time off) Enhanced parental leave & family support policies Employee recognition & reward schemes Referral bonuses & long-service rewards Authenticity in Our Hiring Process At Dotdigital, we believe in genuine conversations and authentic expertise. While AI can be a valuable and legitimate tool in many contexts, we ask candidates not to use AI-generated content or live AI assistance at any stage of our recruitment process, including applications, assessments, and interviews. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us keep our hiring process fair, transparent, and focused on real human insight. DEI commitment As an equal opportunities employer we are committed to equality in all its practices with regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation. If you have any additional requirements or adjustments to assist an application then please don't hesitate to contact us and advise us how we can best support you. Legal statement No agencies/recruiters please. We are only accepting applications directly from the applicants. If you are a recruiter, please refrain from reaching out to our staff about this position. Anything contrary will be treated as unsolicited approach under the applicable data protection law. Department Finance Locations Cape Town, London Bridge Remote status Hybrid Cape Town London Bridge Workplace & Culture It all started in a pub in Croydon, UK – we even have the original tables and stools in our London Bridge HQ. Today, we’re a growing global business with 350+ employees and counting. So if you’re interested in becoming part of the dotfamily there may be an opportunity for you. About Dotdigital Dotdigital is a thriving global community of passionate, dedicated professionals, committed to the collective success of the organization and its clients. Our core principles of innovation, teamwork, and client-focused solutions drive us to approach challenges with a growth mindset and take ownership of our work. Founded in 1999 Co-workers 400+ Applicant tracking system by Teamtailor