Procurement can be broadly separated into 3 parts, firstly category management; i.e. what you are going to spend and how you’re going to spend it. Then a category manager would hand off to a sourcing team where they would set up a supply to be handed off to a supplier relationship management team who will make sure a supplier maintains key performance indicators as per the quality and supply agreements. In smaller companies, one person could be all 3 roles. However, no matter the size of the company, you will work cross departmentally, with finance, IT, supply chain, quality control and assurance, project management, material science and numerous more. The procurement manager may also be involved in the strategic sourcing aspect of the business depending on their specific area of management.
Of note, there is a difference between a Purchasing manager and a procurement manager, the former would place a PO based on a contract set up by the latter. Both work closely in tandem. Procurement as a department guides the purchasing process, i.e. putting the research into what we need to complete a campaign and how to get it for the right price. With that said, procurement is not the same as purchasing, procurement are given the freedom to engage with suppliers to set up contracts and make deals, while typically someone more junior will action the transaction or purchase of those deals.
All of the aforementioned tasks and concerns are applicable to two areas of procurement which are direct and indirect. Direct procurement is spending on services, goods, and materials that drive profit, performance, and competitive advantage. Whereas indirect procurement is expenditure on the maintenance, goods, and services needed for day-to-day operations, which do not directly contribute to a company's bottom line.
So before discussing the career path, its important to cover the scope of the procurement Quality arena. There is a delicate balancing act between the Strategic relationships with vendors and suppliers and this is most evident in the events where things go wrong.
So, the career path is very simple. You will either chance your arm at getting an internship after university or during a placement in a procurement department, preferably in a household named company like Pfizer or Coke or Google. Failing that, you can try a specific degree in procurement or supply chain and apply from there. Failing that, you can either apply outside you target area and look for supply chain or logistics positions and transition across to procurement gaining experience along the way. If this also does not work, try applying abroad or in a different county or province. Lets assume you did the above and got in. You are now and intern, the bottom rung on the ladder and want a permanent job - you are a contractor with no security and after a month can be thrown to the wind. The next thing you need to do is get along well with the team, be personable and interactive but virtually not be pushy or try hard to avoid stepping on toes. All going well, when your contract or placement comes near an end, you will have your eye already on a permanent or contract position slightly higher than your current post. So we want you to grab a specialist position, or a junior associate position, or a junior analyst position. This is an extremely solid foundation to start from and you have many options to pursue based on the information from the start of this video. Basically you can route your goals based on team dynamics, i.e. people leaving for you to backfill into their places, or your interests and personal career progression desires. So once you are a specialist, after some decent good luck and hard work, or sheer years built up of experience, you can progress onto a senior specialist in procurement. Best to get the toe in as much as possible to see what you like and what you're good at. Excel skills, outlook skills and PowerPoint skills are something you can brush up on today that will help. After a senior specialist, you can progress to a manager. So from senior manager, the next steps are associate director, director, senior director, executive director, associate vice president, vice president, senior vice president, executive vice president and then the mother queen bee, chief executive in procurement before CEO.
Personally, I find procurement a great field to be in. I really enjoy the vendor relationship side of the business and find the workload and tasks mentally challenging. If you want to comment below what your concerns are about the career path or future video suggestions, please do let me know. Many thanks all and see you in the next one.
I have made a video on alternative jobs for academics, including procurement previously here: [ Ссылка ]
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#Procurement
What is a Procurement Manager & the Career Path
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