Lead, Procurement, Marketing & Places, NA

This procurement leadership role strengthens Procurement's partnership with the North America geography and reports to the Director, Procurement, Marketing & Places, North America. It partners across Marketing and Places Procurement, Procurement Operations, Finance, Legal, the managed service provider and Marketing stakeholders. The role develops and implements category strategies that deliver value, manage risk and advance business priorities, with a focus on media spend in North America.

• Build trusted stakeholder relationships and align priorities and sequencing of incoming work based on business requirements, value and risk.
• Use operational and market knowledge to evaluate supplier capabilities, challenge assumptions, identify execution risks and recommend practical solutions.
• Analyse spend, markets, suppliers and operations to uncover value opportunities and support fact-based decisions.
• Provide direction to Procurement Operations and the procurement managed service provider to support high-quality sourcing and contracting execution.
• Develop concise, executive-ready materials that clearly communicate strategies, recommendations, risks, decisions and outcomes.
• Partner with Marketing and Places Procurement teams to bring knowledge and insights from across geographies into North America category strategies.
• Adopt and scale effective procurement practices, tools and ways of working across North America media spend.
• Build deep partnerships with North America stakeholders to develop and implement category strategies that deliver value, manage risk and advance business priorities.
• Connect with Marketing and Places Procurement teams across geographies, bringing market, supplier and operational insights together to drive stronger decisions for media spend in North America.

• Bachelor's degree in business, procurement or a related field; any suitable combination of education, experience and training will be accepted.
• 6+ years of relevant experience in marketing procurement, category management, sourcing or a closely related field.
• Deep marketing procurement expertise, with a focus on media.
• Strong business acumen and a category leadership mindset.
• Experience using supplier, market, spend and operational insights to shape category strategies, identify opportunities and manage business risk.
• Experience partnering with Media Agencies and Marketing Operations teams to build performance frameworks, supplier governance programmes and business reviews that drive accountability, optimise media investment and deliver measurable value.
• Working knowledge of strategic sourcing, including requests for information, quotation and proposal (RFx), supplier evaluation, negotiations and contracting; success centres on strategic category development and stakeholder engagement rather than executing sourcing work.
• Ability to build strong stakeholder partnerships and turn business needs, market intelligence and supplier capabilities into relevant category strategies and measurable outcomes.
• Ability to engage stakeholders, clarify requirements, influence decisions and move work forward across a matrixed organisation.
• Strong communication with clarity, ability to navigate ambiguity with sound judgement and lead effectively through influence across internal teams and external partners.