Supplier Risk & Qualification Manager

Supplier Risk & Qualification Manager

Location: Netherlands - Hybrid

Hours per week: 38

Start: ASAP

Office attendance: Flexible, ideally around 1 day per week in the office

Role Purpose

Lead the day-to-day management of Supplier Risk & Qualification activities to ensure suppliers are assessed, approved and monitored in line with company policies and risk appetite.

Based in Europe, the role engages with stakeholders across North America, Europe and APAC, oversees Supplier Risk & Qualification operations delivered through the Global Shared Service Centre in Manila, and ensures consistent application of supplier onboarding, due diligence and risk-management processes.

The objective is to support business operations while protecting the organisation from regulatory, financial, operational and reputational risks.

Role Description

• Lead end-to-end supplier qualification and risk-assessment processes, including escalation management, due diligence, risk reviews, approvals and documentation in line with policies.
• Act as the final escalation point for high-risk or complex supplier cases, coordinating with cross-functional experts such as Legal, Compliance, Information Security and ESG to ensure timely resolution.
• Manage and develop the Supplier Risk & Qualification team within the Global Shared Services Centre, ensuring workload balance, performance tracking and continuous capability building.
• Partner with Procurement, business stakeholders and subject-matter experts to support supplier onboarding, manage escalations and provide insights and reporting for governance forums.
• Drive implementation and continuous improvement of risk-based workflows, tools and methodologies, identifying opportunities for automation, simplification and improved user adoption.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory and internal requirements, support audits, monitor KPIs and service levels, and oversee ongoing supplier-risk monitoring and reassessment programmes.

Qualifications & Experience

• 5+ years' experience in supplier risk management, supplier qualification, procurement operations, third-party risk management, compliance or a related discipline.
• Experience leading operational teams within a Shared Service Centre or Global Business Services environment.
• Strong understanding of supplier onboarding, due diligence, risk assessment and governance processes.
• Experience working with enterprise procurement and supplier-management systems.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Procurement, Risk Management, Finance, Law or equivalent professional experience.
• Strong risk-assessment and problem-solving capability.
• Excellent stakeholder-management and communication skills.
• Data-driven mindset with strong analytical and reporting capabilities.
• Ability to balance risk-management requirements with operational efficiency and business needs.

Management Experience

Management is a key element of this assignment.

The successful candidate will be supporting a Manila-based team and will need to be comfortable managing operational and people-performance matters.

We are particularly interested in candidates who demonstrate:

• Strong performance-management capability
• Experience managing managers or senior team members
• High emotional resilience
• Clear boundaries
• An evidence-led management approach
• Confidence handling difficult conversations
• Strong probing and questioning skills
• The ability to distinguish between coordination and genuine leadership
• A leadership style that is effective without micromanaging
• Strong operational awareness around SLAs, resourcing, escalations and performance
• Experience or a strong understanding of Shared Service Centre operating models