Strategic Sourcing and Procurement Executive
Job Description
Purpose of the Role
1. Supplier Strategy & Selection
- To ensure that IFS consistently procures from the optimal supplier base, at the most competitive price and under commercially advantageous terms, through effective supplier selection, negotiation and ongoing supplier optimisation.
- To be accountable for what the Group buys, from whom, at what price and on what terms, ensuring sustainable cost advantage, supply continuity and working capital efficiency. This includes establishing and maintaining a high-performing supplier ecosystem, leading all strategic sourcing and commercial negotiations and continuously optimising supplier competitiveness, relevance and risk across all categories and regions.
1. Supplier Strategy & Selection
- Define and continuously optimise the Group’s supplier landscape across all categories and regions, ensuring that IFS procures from a competitive, reliable and risk-balanced supplier base.
- Maintain approved supplier panels, eliminate single-source dependencies in critical categories and ensure suppliers are capable of operating in remote and complex environments.
- Lead all strategic supplier selection decisions, determining the appropriate balance between local and international sourcing based on cost, risk and operational requirements.
- Drive supplier consolidation where scale advantages exist, while ensuring diversification where supply or geographic risk is elevated, and continuously reassess supplier competitiveness and relevance over time.
- Be directly accountable for the price competitiveness of IFS across all major spend categories, ensuring the business consistently procures at or below market benchmarks.
- Establish pricing visibility across regions and suppliers, supported by benchmarking and should-cost modelling, and leverage Group scale to secure optimal pricing outcomes.
- Lead or oversee all strategic supplier negotiations and commercial resets, ensuring sustained cost advantage.
- Drive standardisation of products and specifications to reduce cost variability and eliminate regional price inconsistencies.
- Own and define the commercial structure of all supplier contracts, ensuring that pricing mechanisms, rebates, payment terms and risk allocation are aligned to Group profitability and cash objectives.
- Ensure all contracts are commercially robust, protect margin and provide sufficient flexibility to support operational requirements while reducing exposure to volatility.
- Approve all strategic supplier agreements and high-value sourcing decisions, ensuring alignment with sourcing strategy, risk frameworks and financial targets.
- Drive procurement’s contribution to working capital by optimising supplier payment terms and ensuring alignment between negotiated terms and actual payment practices.
- Influence sourcing decisions to ensure appropriate consideration of cash flow impact, inventory implications and capital efficiency.
- Work closely with Finance and Supply Chain to ensure that procurement structures support improved cash conversion without compromising supply continuity.
- Define clear, outcome-driven strategies for all major spend categories, including food and consumables, capex and equipment, and services. Each category strategy must articulate the preferred supplier model, pricing approach, contracting framework and sourcing mix between local and international markets.
- Ensure that category strategies are consistently applied across regions and aligned to operational requirements, margin targets and growth plans.
- Establish and enforce a disciplined procurement governance framework, including supplier approval processes, pricing guardrails, contracting standards and Levels of Authority.
- Ensure that all procurement activity across the Group is conducted within approved supplier and pricing frameworks, eliminating maverick spend. Monitor compliance at a Group level, ensuring adherence to policy without becoming involved in transactional execution.
- Define and maintain clear performance expectations for suppliers, including cost, quality, service and delivery standards.
- Provide strategic oversight of supplier performance across key categories, ensuring that suppliers remain commercially competitive and operationally fit-for-purpose over time.
- Intervene where necessary to address underperformance, drive renegotiation or replace suppliers, ensuring the ongoing optimisation of the supplier base.
- Identify and proactively manage sourcing-related risks across the supply base, including supplier concentration, geographic exposure, logistics dependencies and financial stability.
- Ensure that appropriate mitigation strategies are in place, including alternative suppliers and contingency sourcing approaches, particularly for critical categories and remote operations.
- Maintain a sourcing model that prioritises continuity of supply without compromising cost efficiency.
- Embed localisation and ESG considerations into sourcing strategy and supplier selection, supporting the Group’s commitments to local procurement and sustainable practices.
- Ensure that sourcing decisions appropriately balance cost, risk and local economic impact, enabling the business to achieve its localisation targets without introducing undue commercial or operational risk.
- Ensure the availability and integrity of procurement data across the Group, including spend, pricing, supplier performance and realised savings.
- Use this data to strengthen negotiation positions, support supplier selection decisions and identify cost optimisation opportunities.
- Establish procurement as a commercially driven, insight-led function where decisions are consistently supported by accurate and actionable data.
- Be responsible for building a cohesive, high-performing procurement function across the Group, despite the decentralised operating model. This includes defining:
- clear roles and responsibilities across group, regional and cluster levels.
- capability requirements for each level.
- talent pipelines and succession plans. - Actively develop procurement capability by:
- embedding best practices and standard methodologies.
- driving training and upskilling initiatives.
- creating a culture of accountability and performance. - Ensure that procurement is recognised across the Business as a strategic partner, not just a support function.
- Lead and develop staff within the context of the applicable labour legislation.
- Monitor staff performance and provide regular feedback, including informal and formal staff appraisals.
- Coach and support staff where necessary to achieve objectives.
- Manage staff administration issues, including leave, time management and interaction with the wider business.
- Manage and deliver on succession plans to enable the development of a future generation of leaders and specialists and ensure optimal turnover and retention levels are maintained.
- Champion staff training and development through the utilisation of available training opportunities or contributing to the development of new training solutions in collaboration with national training specialists.
- Take ownership and accountability for tasks and activities and demonstrate effective self-management in terms of planning and prioritising, and self-development.
- Follow through to ensure that quality and productivity standards of work are consistently and accurately maintained.
- Inform relevant parties in the event of tasks or deadlines not met, the potential risks thereof and provide appropriate resolution.
- Support and drive the business core values.
- Manage colleagues and client’s expectations and communicate appropriately.
- Demonstrate willingness to help others and “go the extra mile” to meet team targets and objectives.
- Champion training and development of self and others through utilising available training opportunities.
- Participate in and drive regular performance appraisals and ensure that own targets and goals are clear and achievable.
- Degree in Supply Chain, Commerce, Finance or related field
- 10 to 15 years’ experience in sourcing, procurement or commercial leadership
- Proven track record in:
- Strategic sourcing transformation
- Multi-country procurement environments
- Cost optimisation and supplier management - Experience in remote operations / FMCG / facilities management advantageous
- Valid drivers' licence
- Willingness to travel to the sites across Sub-Saharan Africa.