• To assist in the formulation and driving of a consistent approach towards all sourcing, purchasing and tendering activity within the business, ultimately ensuring that value for money is maximised and cost-savings are generated.
• To ensure all costs are forecasted and recorded in a timely and accurate manner.
• To manage an effective cost control environment at a company-wide level and throughout each project build-up process in order to eradicate any post-event cost surprises.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Continuously identify major procurement opportunities that will enhance profitability.
• Establish, harmonise, and maintain appropriate formalised purchasing policies, compliance, procedures and best practice across the business, including the training of project and event managers and any departmental budget holders or other staff who have responsibility for a significant volume of cost lines.
• Coordinate continuous improvement initiatives where necessary to ensure that costs are monitored, reviewed and controlled within budgetary constraints and in line with the company’s financial plan.
• Manage contract database and protocol for ongoing supplier appointment and management including the ongoing creation, rationalisation and management of preferred suppliers.
• Negotiate and execute contractual and Service Level Agreements (SLA) with all suppliers (existing as well as new) to ensure that value for money and excellent service levels are maintained and optimised across all categories of expenditure.
• Ensure payment terms are managed and optimised in favour of the company, including withholding of payment in instances of supplier underperformance, resulting in improved cash flow and a significant reduction in pre-event payments.
• Monitor suppliers’ performance in line with agreed KPIs, contractual obligations and SLAs, liaising with Accounting to ensure accurate alignment of payment (or non-payment as appropriate).
• Provide active benchmarking data and analysis to ensure the company achieves continued value and the lowest possible pricing across the entire supply chain.
• Utilise, and manage appropriate reporting and monitoring mechanisms that clearly highlight cost savings achieved by category/supplier and validate supplier performance and concerns.
• Assist Accounting with the annual budget process ensuring accurate costs are scrutinised and budgeted accordingly.
• Supervise the costings function of the tendering process, providing Ideation / Creative and the project team with accurate data on existing and new supplier costs, industry benchmarked costs and the company’s inventory and goods needs per project.
• Provide accurate forecasting data highlighting key variance analysis between actual and budget spend (by both supplier and cost category).
• Coordinate the process and efficiency improvements in the reconciliation of the procurement event forecasting model and the accounting system.
• Actively monitor the external business environment, including competitors and potential competitor products and services, and be fully aware of changes in the inflationary and purchasing environment.
• Provide support to team members and others.
• Undertake any necessary duties to ensure a first-class service is provided at all times.