Associate Vice President of Procurement

Description

The Associate Vice President of Procurement serves as a trusted campus leader to oversee the strategic direction and operational efficiency of purchasing programs and staff for the entire university system which includes the Norman, Health Sciences Center, and Tulsa Campuses. This position is critical to ensuring strong departmental and community relationships leading to operational excellence and cost control university wide. 

The Associate Vice President of Procurement represents the university in negotiations and awarding contracts with authority to obligate physical and financial resources. Scope includes development and execution of effective sourcing strategies, best value supplier selection, and delivery of procurement and strategic sourcing objectives. The responsibility covers an annual spend of $450 million dollars and 8,000 purchase orders across three campuses.

Responsibilities

 

•           Collaboratively maintain procurement operations and execute purchasing strategy for the university that includes standard procurement practices across all campuses where possible; supports the academic and research missions of the university; implements system-wide agreements to maximize hard and soft dollar savings and mitigates non-compliant procurement activities.
•           Establish short and long-term goals and its objectives toward meeting them, as well as key performance indicators for all levels of procurement activities that indicate progress toward performance goals.
•       Promote exceptional customer service by maintaining active dialogues with departments regarding purchasing policies and procedures, providing training to keep departments current in all aspects of procurement operations, and soliciting feedback from customers regarding existing services.
•       Maintain the highest level of customer satisfaction by enhancing the range and quality of procurement services to university departments; researching and implementing new, robust information technologies to automate and expedite purchasing and warehousing procedures.
•       Develop strong, positive relationships with academic and administrative units to improve the procurement process and reduce the administrative burden surrounding procurement.
•       Maintain a records and property management program in accordance with Oklahoma Law, Board of Regents’ Policy, and standard business practices.
•       Ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability through coordination and preparation of the annual departmental budget, authorize the expenditure of funds, and exercise fiscal management for areas under direct supervision.
•       Lead and develop a staff of 30 employees, including administrators, attorneys, buyers, and support staff.
•       Submit timely, accurate, easy-to-understand documents and reports to the Board of Regents throughout the year.

Success Factors

• Best Practices & Innovation – A leader who can leverage their operational/technical experience, tested/proved in prior role(s), thereby applying those concepts while developing innovative practices.
•          Relationship Builder – Effectively builds relationships of trust and mutual respect with an emphasis on internal stakeholders.
•        Performance and Impact - Success aligning and strengthening procurement operations with an emphasis on qualitative and quantitative metrics and understanding of university operations.
•        Communication – Excellent communication skills (both written and oral) that develop a culture of trust and respect.
•          Collegiality – Possess exceptional collaboration skills with an ability to partner effectively with others in a complex organization in the pursuit of common goals.
•        Problem solving-- Proven ability to evaluate the costs, risks, and benefits associated with alternative actions when committing to an initiative and/or course of action.
•           Leading and Managing Change—Strong abilities to effectively shift from current to desired state, demonstrating value to both the institution and users of the procurement system.
•           Integrity—Maintains highest levels of personal and professional integrity through leading by example.

 

Qualifications

Professional Qualifications:

Minimum:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, accounting, or related field.
• 7 to 10 years of progressively responsible experi