Senior Manager of Direct Procurement

Summary

The “Senior Manager of Direct Procurement” is a key leader in the development and transformation of the company’s relatively-new Procurement & Supply Chain (P&SC) organization. Reporting to the VP of Supply Chain and Facilities, this leadership role plays a critical part in establishing and scaling a modern, data-driven procurement function that supports operational reliability, cost efficiency, and supply continuity across the company’s waste management, recycling, and environmental services businesses.

This leader will shape sourcing strategy for, and drive value from, nine figures of annual deployed spend in direct procurement categories, including trucks, support vehicles, fleet equipment, heavy equipment, parts and maintenance supplies, fuels, vehicle repair and maintenance services, refuse containers and carts, operational materials, and other direct inputs that are critical to daily operations. This leadership role is also focused on helping craft and deploy the company’s new, multi-year Procurement Transformation, a series of process, tool, and other improvements that are elevating P&SC’s impact at Athens Services. The successful candidate will bring both deep strategic sourcing expertise and strong operational partnering skills, serving as a catalyst for significant cost savings, supplier performance improvement, operational reliability, and internal process optimization in a newly-empowered procurement environment.

Job Description

Strategic Leadership & Procurement Transformation

• Bring experience to Athens in scoping, launching, and leading Procurement Transformation at companies-at-scale
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to Athens senior executives on spend deployment and cost management strategies
• Provide both consultative strategic leadership and hands-on problem-solving leadership to all constituencies, including Athens senior leadership, peers across spending departments, the Direct Procurement team, and key suppliers

Sourcing Strategy and Execution for Direct Categories

• Develop and lead category strategies for direct spend areas such as trucks, support vehicles, fleet equipment, heavy equipment, parts and maintenance supplies, fuels, vehicle repair and maintenance services, refuse containers and carts, operational materials, and other direct inputs.
• Manage the full sourcing lifecycle including market analysis, supplier discovery, competitive sourcing, negotiation, supplier selection, contract creation, purchasing, and strategic supplier relationship management.
• Identify category-specific opportunities to discover new suppliers, use competitive sourcing to achieve best-in-class pricing, leverage purchasing scale, and contract to improve vendor performance.

Operational Excellence & Governance

• Drive optimization and implementation of improved Source-to-Pay (S2P) processes and tools to standardize procurement operations and improve sourcing event and savings visibility across spending departments.
• Utilize data analytics, procurement technology, and reporting tools to improve procurement performance and enable data-driven decision making.
• Ensure sourcing and supplier relationships support operational safety, environmental compliance, and regulatory standards including DOT, EPA, and OSHA requirements.

Change Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a strategic partner to key spending departments, with a focus on the leadership teams in Fleet Management, Operations, Maintenance, and Recycling
• Guide spending department through the transition to centralized procurement and improved, standardized sourcing practices.
• Manage relationships with key strategic suppliers, ensuring strong supplier performance, delivery reliability, cost competitiveness, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Communicate sourcing strategies, savings results, and supplier performance insights to executive leadership.

Required Qualifications:

• High School Diploma or G.E.D. equivalent
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Microsoft Office proficient (including Teams, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook)
• Proven ability of effectively managing internal customer and supplier relationships
• Interact effectively with individuals from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds
• Ability to travel often to various areas across Southern California, with occasional business travel domestically
• Ability to perform physical requirements of the position with or without reasonable accommodations

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or related field; advanced degree (MBA) or certification (CPSM, CIPS, PMP, or similar) preferred.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in procurement, strategic sourcing, or supply chain, including leadership over and demonstrated achievement in procurement transformation.  Expertise in direct spend categories, as defined above, is preferred.
• Demonstrated success leading change management and procurement transformation initiatives, ideally in complex, distributed organizations.
• Experience within waste management, logistics, utilities, manufacturing, or industrial services sector is preferred.
• Proven ability to influence at all levels, lead cross-functional teams, and deliver quantifiable business results.
• Strong analytical, financial, and strategic negotiation skills.
• Proficiency in ERP and sourcing systems (Oracle, Coupa, SAP, Workday) and data analytics tools.

Salary: $120,000 - $160,000

Benefits: