Associate Director International Procurement

<h2><strong>The role</strong></h2> <p>As an Associate Director, Procurement, you will report to the Procurement Director and own the strategy, performance, and people development for your category cluster. This is a 12-month fixed-term position. You will lead a team of Category Managers, set the direction for supplier relationships and commercial outcomes, and operate as the senior point of escalation across operational and strategic procurement challenges.</p> <p>This is a role for a procurement professional who is equally comfortable in a negotiation room with a strategic supplier, a governance forum with senior cross-functional leaders, and a development conversation with a direct report. You will act as a connector between your team's day-to-day work and the broader supply chain strategy and as a builder of capability, process, and relationships that outlast the current planning cycle.</p> <h2>&nbsp;</h2> <h2><strong>What you’ll do</strong></h2> <p><strong>Strategy &amp; Category Leadership</strong></p> <ul> <li>Define and own the multi-year category strategy for your cluster sourcing model, supplier segmentation, risk posture, and cost ambition and present that strategy coherently to Director-level stakeholders.</li> <li>Translate market intelligence (commodity dynamics, seasonality, geopolitical risk, supply constraints) into actionable procurement decisions and communicate them with clarity and confidence.</li> <li>Lead cross-category standardization and process improvement initiatives, identifying leverage across the broader portfolio where applicable.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Supplier Relationships &amp; Partnerships</strong></p> <ul> <li>Build and steward the most strategically important supplier relationships in your cluster, including joint investment plans, multi-year contracts, and structured partnership governance.</li> <li>Lead or oversee tender processes end-to-end — from strategy and data-pack through to award, contract, and supplier briefing at pace and to a high standard of documentation.</li> <li>Act as the senior escalation point for supply disruptions, quality issues, and commercial disputes, resolving with a mix of supplier accountability and operational pragmatism.</li> <li>Develop new or alternative suppliers to strengthen resilience and competitiveness across your category network.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Performance, Data &amp; Commercial Delivery</strong></p> <ul> <li>Take full commercial accountability for your cluster's cost performance, savings targets, and COGS variance — ensuring outcomes are tracked, explained, and acted upon.</li> <li>Drive a data-first culture within your team: category reviews, investment ca