Group Procurement Manager

The Organisation
Our client is a large, privately owned, asset-intensive business based in Melbourne, currently undergoing a significant period of transformation as it works to modernise the business while cementing its position as a leader in the field, both now and into the future. There is a real appetite to drive procurement transformation specifically, bringing greater visibility, control, and commercial value to the function and the wider business.

The organisation carries a substantial and complex spend base across fleet, fuel, property, technology, and professional services, with sustainability forming part of the broader business agenda. This appointment reflects a deliberate investment in strengthening procurement's role and influence across the business.

Responsibilities
Reporting to a highly regarded, reputable leader, some of your key responsibilities will include:

• Developing and leading a Group procurement strategy largely from the ground up, spanning major categories including fleet, fuel, property, technology, and professional services
• Owning end-to-end strategic sourcing activity, including market analysis, negotiation, and contract award
• Identifying and delivering sustainable cost savings and value creation opportunities across the business
• Establishing supplier governance, performance frameworks, and risk management processes where limited infrastructure currently exists
• Building and managing strategic supplier relationships, with a focus on performance, continuity, and ESG considerations
• Establishing contract management frameworks that protect the business commercially while remaining practical to administer
• Partnering with business leaders to understand demand and embed better procurement discipline across the organisation
• Operating as a trusted advisor across the business, with genuine, regular exposure to senior leadership
• Progressively bringing greater consistency to spend currently managed at business-unit level, prioritising stakeholder trust and engagement ahead of centralisation
• Balancing strategic procurement outcomes with the practical needs of a large, complex, operational business
• Leading, coaching, and developing a small team, building capability in line with the function's maturity

To Be Successful
To be successful, you'll be a motivated Senior Procurement leader, excited by the prospect of joining a large, complex business within a function that's currently immature but backed by real appetite for change. You'll roll up your sleeves, build relationships, and drive engagement by being visible and present across the business, earning trust with operational teams and introducing them to new, more efficient ways of operating.

Driven, resilient, and pragmatic, you'll know when to push strategically and when to simply focus on what's fit for purpose given where the function is at today, just as comfortable holding your own with senior leadership as you are working through the detail on the ground.
Beyond that, you'll bring:

• Leadership experience within procurement in a large, complex organisation
• Experience operating in an asset-intensive, complex, and operationally driven environment
• A background in a more corporate, structured procurement environment, complemented by proven experience operating effectively in a private, less mature, and more ambiguous setting
• Tertiary qualifications essential; postgraduate or professional procurement accreditation highly regarded

Why This Opportunity
This appointment offers a rare opportunity to shape a procurement function largely from first principles, rather than inherit an existing structure. Category strategy, governance, and systems are still being established, providing significant scope for the right candidate to define how the function operates and delivers value over time.

The role reports directly to a senior executive who has been instrumental in driving this agenda across the business, and who is fully committed to supporting this appointment's success. The mandate, and the level of executive backing behind it, are already well established, providing a dynamic, influential, and hands-on leader with the platform to drive real impact within an environment that is ripe for it.

Beyond the immediate mandate, this is a long-term opportunity to build a career within the organisation, with direct exposure to the Executive Leadership Team and real scope to be a highly influential voice as the function, and the business, continues to evolve.

To Apply
To register your interest in this opportunity, please submit an up to date CV via the apply button, to Lewis Ironside at Sharp & Carter, who is exclusively managing this appointment.