Director, Procurement Technology Excellence

Role purpose The Director, Procurement Technology Excellence & Deployment leads the Procurement Technology team and is accountable for the effective operation, governance and evolution of Procurement’s technology platforms. The role owns Procurement-side platform operations, release and change governance, cross-platform integrity, vendor management and the supervised deployment of externally purchased technology and AI products. It co-leads the Procurement Technology Roadmap and ensures changes and deployments align with the agreed architecture and enterprise standards. For new deployments, the role provides Procurement Technology leadership, governance and delivery supervision through an appropriately resourced project or programme structure , with signed-off BAU capacity, clear priorities and an agreed delivery model. The role partners with the IT Business Partner from the point a potential new technology need or opportunity is identified. New software, SaaS, AI capabilities, material platform extensions, pilots and PoCs must follow applicable IT architecture, security, data, integration and technology governance. The role must not independently commit Procurement to a technology solution, initiate substantive supplier solution design, or enter into software/licensing commitments without appropriate IT involvement and approvals. Procurement Technology owns business/platform requirements and operational outcomes; technical architecture and engineering accountabilities remain with the relevant IT functions. Ensure continuous alignment with the IT business partner, Sourcing and Contracting Excellence and Procurement process owners. The role is consulted on new AI capabilities for Procurement. It is not accountable for AI governance or for the creation and deployment of internally built AI agents. Key accountabilities: 1. Team leadership and portfolio management • Lead the team, set priorities and ways of working, and allocate capacity across BAU, releases, controls, improvements and deployments. • Maintain a transparent portfolio of commitments, dependencies, risks and resources, protecting BAU stability when new initiatives start. • Build team capability, document critical knowledge, and support development and succession. • Report on delivery, platform health and capacity; escalate resource and priority conflicts with options. 2. BAU operations and platform ownership • Own the Procurement-side operating model for designated platforms, keeping them stable, controlled and scalable, with clear decision rights for configuration, releases, integrations and vendor support. • Oversee platform health, defects, technical debt, risks and lifecycle plans (upgrades, renewals, rationalisation, replacement). • Manage the change-request portfolio (prioritisation, impact assessment, testing, release coordination) in close collaboration with IT and process owners. • Ensure production changes have requirements, testing evidence, approvals and audit evidence. 3. Supervision of externally provided technology and AI deployments Each material deployment should have an approved business case, executive sponsor and business owner, defined success measures, a named project lead, a resourced cross-functional team, confirmed funding (including transition-to-BAU costs) and agreed governance. The role: • Provides leadership, oversight and design direction, and confirms the delivery model, governance and resources fit the scope. • Supervises delivery through stage gates, design reviews and readiness assessments, aligning the provider, IT, process owners and control functions. • Oversees key decisions on fit, configuration, integration, data, testing, cutover and go-live, challenging unnecessary customisation. • Recommends go, conditional-go or no-go and ensures transfer to a sustainable BAU owner. Resourcing boundary: The role is not expected to act as sponsor, programme manager, architect, analyst, tester, change lead and administrator at once; these activities sit with assigned resources. Material deployment commitments should not be added to BAU without assessing capacity, priorities and additional support. 4. Procurement Technology Roadmap • Co-lead the multi-year roadmap with Technology & Insights leadership and Procurement and IT stakeholders, sequencing platform, data, integration, automation and external AI capabilities. • Support investment cases, annual planning, vendor evaluations and lifecycle decisions, with clear status of each initiative (approved, funded, under evaluation, not prioritised). • Assess resource demand, IT dependencies and BAU ownership early; advise on resequencing, deferral or separate resourcing. 5. Architecture alignment and AI capability consultation • Act as Procurement technology domain lead with Enterprise, Solution, Data and Integration Architects; ensure changes, deployments and optimisation align with the target architecture and check existing platforms before adding solutions. • Flag architectural risks (duplication, conflicting data, unsupported customisation, fragile integrations) and long-term cost and technical-debt implications. • Be Consulted , not Accountable, on new AI capabilities: assess fit with the existing estate (complement, overlap, replace), dependencies, vendor, cost and roadmap impact, and advise on supportability, build-versus-buy and BAU readiness. 6. Optimisation and continuous improvement support • Provide platform and architecture expertise to initiatives led by Procurement Operations or process owners, helping decide between process change, existing functionality, configuration, integration or a new solution. • Support backlog prioritisation; ensure each initiative has a clear owner, outcome and operating model, and avoid unmanaged technical debt. 7. Vendor management • Lead operational governance with strategic technology providers: monitor performance, commitments, roadmaps and risks, and manage senior escalations.