Procurement & Vendor Manager

About the role

We are looking for a Procurement & Vendor Manager to establish and lead our procurement function. As our first dedicated procurement hire, you will bring structure, transparency and accountability to company-wide spending, ensuring every purchase is properly evaluated, commercially justified and approved by the appropriate stakeholders. You will develop standardised procurement processes, establish a central vendor register and lead commercial negotiations as the company's primary point of contact for vendors.

Key responsibilities

• Lead commercial negotiations: Take ownership of medium- to high-value procurement activities, while equipping colleagues to manage smaller purchases using consistent commercial principles.
• Establish procurement standards: Develop and implement procurement policies, spending thresholds, competitive quotation requirements, unit cost breakdowns and concise purchase justification memos.
• Manage the vendor lifecycle: Maintain a centralised vendor register covering contract expiry dates, notice periods, renewal owners, annual spend, exit complexity and vendor concentration risks.
• Define clear purchasing requirements: Translate business needs into objective evaluation criteria, distinguishing essential requirements from preferred features, while establishing budget parameters and measurable outcomes.
• Negotiate end-to-end commercial terms: Secure favourable and sustainable agreements covering pricing structures, termination rights, service levels, penalties, data ownership, renewal caps and payment terms.
• Monitor post-contract value: Review vendor agreements and actual usage after signing to assess ongoing business value, pricing competitiveness and opportunities to reduce unnecessary expenditure.
• Serve as the company's primary commercial representative in vendor negotiations, providing a consistent point of contact for external suppliers.
• Recommend against purchases or defer procurement where the business case, pricing or commercial terms do not justify proceeding, escalating recommendations directly to the relevant approvers.
• Establish clear timelines for Legal, Finance, IT and other stakeholders to provide the necessary input for procurement decisions.

About you

• At least 5 years of experience in procurement, commercial negotiations or a related field, with exposure to a comparable level of spending and commercial complexity.

• Proven ability to lead end-to-end procurement independently, from defining requirements and evaluating options through negotiation, approval and contract signing, rather than focusing solely on price negotiations.

• Strong analytical and questioning skills, with the ability to quickly understand unfamiliar product or service categories, identify commercial risks and uncover negotiation opportunities.

• Confidence in defending commercial positions under pressure, challenging assumptions and walking away from deals that do not meet business requirements.

• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the credibility to work effectively across IT, business teams, Finance and Legal, and the ability to coach colleagues on procurement best practices.

• A detail-oriented and systematic approach to repetitive but essential tasks, including quotation comparisons, contract follow-ups and renewal tracking.

• An established vendor network within fintech, brokerage, payments or related financial services sectors (nice to have).

• Experience in third-party risk management or vendor risk assessment (nice to have).

• A B2B sales background, with a strong understanding of supplier pricing strategies, negotiation tactics and commercial concessions (nice to have).