[Hiring] Senior Director, IT/Tech Procurement @NielsenIQ

Role Description

This position will develop and execute Global Technology and IT Procurement strategies in close partnership with the Head of Procurement, CTO and CTO leadership team, Finance, Legal, Security and other key business stakeholders.

The role will have responsibility for developing category and sub-category strategies across the Technology portfolio, which may include:

• Enterprise software and SaaS
• Cloud and infrastructure
• IT professional services
• Telecommunications
• Hardware
• Data and analytics
• Emerging technologies including AI

This leader will manage complex global sourcing and negotiation initiatives, optimize the organization's technology spend and commercial models, and build strategic relationships with critical technology suppliers.

The position will go beyond traditional sourcing and contract negotiation by partnering with Technology leadership on:

• Demand management
• License and consumption optimization
• Supplier consolidation
• Application rationalization
• Commercial model optimization
• Technology roadmap decisions

The role will establish value creation targets, supplier performance measures and governance for strategic technology partners while proactively identifying opportunities to:

• Reduce cost
• Mitigate risk
• Improve contractual flexibility
• Enable innovation

Responsibilities

• Technology Category Strategy:
  • Develop and execute global category and sub-category strategies across the Technology and IT portfolio
  • Develop a holistic understanding of technology spend, demand, supplier landscape, contractual commitments and future technology requirements
  • Partner closely with the CTO organization and senior technology leaders to align sourcing strategies with the company's technology roadmap and business priorities
  • Identify opportunities for supplier consolidation, application rationalization, license optimization, demand management and alternative technology solutions
  • Analyze technology market trends, supplier economics, commercial models and industry benchmarks to inform sourcing and negotiation strategies
  • Challenge existing specifications, consumption levels, licensing models and supplier relationships to improve overall value
  • Develop and present category strategies and business cases to senior executive stakeholders
  • Lead competitive sourcing processes, including RFIs, RFPs and complex global technology negotiations
  • Develop multi-year sourcing strategies for strategic and high-spend technology suppliers
  • Ensure commercial options, risks, trade-offs and recommendations are clearly communicated to executive stakeholders
• Strategic Sourcing & Negotiation:
  • Develop comprehensive negotiation strategies for major technology agreements and renewals
  • Lead complex global negotiations involving software licensing, SaaS subscriptions, cloud consumption, professional services, infrastructure and other technology services
  • Evaluate supplier pricing models, discount structures, consumption commitments, renewal protections and commercial benchmarks
  • Negotiate contractual flexibility including volume adjustments, true-down rights, price protections, termination provisions and other mechanisms that align supplier commitments with business demand
  • Partner with Legal, Finance, Security, Privacy and Technology teams to ensure appropriate commercial and contractual protections
  • Ensure adherence to corporate approval and signing authorities
• Technology Supplier Management:
  • Establish strategic supplier management programs for critical technology partners
  • Conduct regular executive business reviews with key suppliers
  • Develop supplier scorecards and KPIs covering commercial performance, service delivery, innovation, risk and continuous improvement
  • Establish value creation and continuous improvement plans with strategic suppliers
  • Proactively develop alternative suppliers and competitive options to reduce dependency and strengthen commercial leverage
  • Partner with Technology leadership to assess emerging suppliers, technologies and commercial models
• Spend, Demand & Value Management:
  • Develop a detailed understanding of Technology spend, contracts, consumption and demand drivers
  • Identify and deliver measurable savings, cost avoidance and other forms of commercial value
  • Partner with technology owners to optimize software licenses, cloud consumption, subscription quantities and contracted services
  • Identify opportunities to eliminate redundant technology, consolidate suppliers and improve purchasing leverage
  • Establish mechanisms for measuring realized versus negotiated value
  • Support budgeting, forecasting and long-range planning for major technology categories and strategic supplier commitments
• Contract Lifecycle & Risk Management:
  • Ensure technology agreements comply with required corporate controls, including financial, security, privacy, sanctions, restricted-party and other compliance requirements
  • Monitor key contractual obligations, renewal dates, consumption commitments and commercial milestones
  • Ensure appropriate governance and adherence to global technology agreements
  • Identify and mitigate supplier concentration, financial, commercial, operational and contractual risks
  • Partner with stakeholders to proactively manage renewals and avoid unnecessary auto-renewals or unfavorable commercial commitments
• Leadership & Stakeholder Management:
  • Serve as a trusted procurement advisor to the CTO organization and other senior business leaders
  • Build strong relationships across Technology, Finance, Legal, Security, Privacy and business functions
  • Effectively communicate complex commercial issues and recommendations to executive stakeholders
  • Lead cross-functional teams through strategic sourcing and supplier initiatives
  • Organize and deploy resources effectively across global projects and priorities
  • Coach and develop procurement team members and foster strong commercial and technology procurement capabilities
  • Promote a fact-based, collaborative and commercially challenging procurement culture

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Technology, Supply Chain, Finance or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience
• 10+ years of progressive procurement experience, including significant experience in Technology/IT procurement within a complex global organization
• Demonstrated experience managing and negotiating large, complex technology agreements
• Strong knowledge of several major technology categories, ideally including enterprise software/SaaS, cloud infrastructure, IT services, data and analytics, hardware/networking and emerging technology/AI
• Strong understanding of technology commercial and licensing models, including subscription, consumption-based, enterprise licensing and professional services models
• Demonstrated ability to analyze technology spend, usage, licensing and supplier economics to identify optimization opportunities
• Experience leading complex competitive sourcing initiatives and executive-level supplier negotiations
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to develop business cases, evaluate total cost of ownership and translate commercial structures into financial impact
• Strong understanding of sourcing processes, contract structures and key commercial and legal considerations associated with technology agreements
• Proven ability to influence and challenge senior Technology and business stakeholders while maintaining strong collaborative relationships
• Demonstrated change-management and stakeholder-management capabilities in a global matrixed organization
• Strong executive communication and presentation skills
• Professional procurement qualification preferred
• Fluent in English

Benefits

• Flexible working environment
• Volunteer time off
• LinkedIn Learning
• Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)
• Comprehensive health insurance
• Industry-leading parental leave
• Life insurance
• Education support