Strategic Sourcing Manager - Director

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

 

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC MANUBANK, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

Role Description

Own a portfolio of vendors in a defined category. Partner with business stakeholders to define vendor requirements and outsourcing strategy. Engage with vendors through onboarding lifecycle, and advise vendors and business stakeholders on procurement standards to ensure speedy and accurate processing. Monitor spending and supplier delivery to optimize budgets and cost-reduction targets.

Role Objectives: Delivery

Own a portfolio of vendors across multiple categories. Partner with senior business stakeholders to challenge, inform and define vendor requirements and outsourcing strategy. Help business vet new commercial opportunities to assess cost effectiveness and viability of outsourcing strategy. Guide business leadership on available options. Oversee RFPs in covered categories to prepare short-listed candidates for business consideration. Ensure adherence to procurement standards at all stages of the process. Challenge vendor spend profile across categories under coverage to identify optimization opportunities. Partner with business leadership to understand cost objectives and design strategies to balance service delivery against cost efficiencies. Leverage performance MI and cost analyses to identify preferred suppliers and direct team members to centralize services with preferred suppliers wherever possible.

Role Objectives: Interpersonal

Form strong partnerships with senior business stakeholders to define outsourcing strategy, articulate business requirements and optimize vendor inventory. Foster relationships with executive teams at suppliers under coverage. Seek out opportunities to connect team members with key supplier contacts. Host and/or participate in industry roundtables and other forums to deepen relationships with current and prospective vendors and stay current on latest developments in the sourcing space. Leverage internal network of senior colleagues in key infrastructure functions including legal, risk management, HR, compliance and accounts payable to drive strong business outcomes with suppliers and remediate issues as needed. Promote collaboration between teams to do the same. Partner with counterparts in adjacent business areas or in other regions to share best practices and identify opportunities to drive economies of scale with cross-divisional suppliers.

Role Objectives: Expertise

Demonstrate a deep understanding of business requirements in the development and execution of third party supplier strategy. Educate business stakeholders on vendor capabilities as appropriate. Act as proxy for business stakeholders in dealings with vendor executives. Leverage awareness of internal teams, systems and procurement standards to drive improvements in supplier workflow and oversee delivery across all stages of the vendor lifecycle. Apply subject matter expertise to continuously curate list of vendors and preferred suppliers in covered category and partner with business leadership to explore and act upon optimization opportunities. Stay current on supplier landscape to inform RFAs / RFPs, purchasing and vendor negotiations. Leverage internal and external networks to drive optimal delivery against business requirements.

Qualifications and Skills

Recommended years of experience: 10

Additional Requirements

SMBC’s employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specifi