PROCUREMENT MANAGER - STRATEGIC SOURCING MANAGER

Location: Oakland
Job ID: 86150

Job Posting

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UC OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

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Department Overview
The Business Resource Center (BRC) provides high quality, customer focused financial and administrative services to UCOP departments. The BRC supports UCOP's mission by delivering efficient, compliant, and service oriented procurement, accounts payable, travel, entertainment, and supplier management services. This position leads the Local Procurement team, which partners closely with UCOP divisions, systemwide procurement, and external suppliers to ensure timely, cost effective, and policy compliant acquisition of goods and services. The team supports UCOP's strategic initiatives by developing sourcing strategies, managing supplier relationships, and ensuring procurement activities align with organizational goals.

Position Summary
This position manages the UCOP Procurement Team and receives assignments in the form of objectives, determining how to use resources to meet schedules and goals. Provides guidance and manages procurement staff in executing strategic sourcing, contract management, and procurement compliance activities for UCOP departments in accordance with UC policy, BRC operational standards, and divisional objectives. Ensures that UCOP department clients receive timely, accurate, and consultative procurement support throughout the sourcing and contracting lifecycle. Establishes and models a customer-focused culture within the team, ensuring that client needs are understood, prioritized, and addressed with professionalism and urgency. Work is reviewed and measured based on meeting objectives, schedules, and service delivery standards. Follows established UC procurement policies and BRC processes in identifying strategic sourcing solutions, managing contract risk, ensuring policy compliance, and driving continuous improvement in client service outcomes. Please note this is a Hybrid position based in Oakland, CA.

Key Responsibilities

40% Leadership of UCOP Local Procurement Leads the Local Procurement team in developing and implementing strategic sourcing strategies that meet UCOP needs, leverage spend, and produce best in class supplier contracts. Develops a UCOP Strategic Procurement Plan aligned with BRC, UCOP, and UC Systemwide Procurement strategic initiatives. Oversees analysis of spend, bidding, awards, supplier performance, customer satisfaction, and other benchmark information for all commodities and service categories. Partners with internal clients to understand business requirements, forecast procurement needs, and identify opportunities for cost savings, supplier consolidation, and process improvements. Ensures sourcing strategies incorporate risk mitigation, sustainability, supplier diversity, and compliance with UC policies and regulatory requirements. Represents UCOP in systemwide sourcing initiatives where appropriate, ensuring UCOP needs are communicated and UCOP benefits from systemwide agreements. Develops and manages SLA's for various procurement activities and looks for opportunities to reduce turnaround time. Incorporates client satisfaction benchmarks alongside turnaround time targets; tracks and reports performance regularly to BRC leadership and UCOP stakeholders with a commitment to continuous service improvement informed by client feedback. Documents processes and workflows using established tools. Document processes, workflows, and service standards using BRC's established tools, including Nintex Process Manager, SharePoint, the UCOP LMS, and process mapping resources; ensures documentation is current, accessible to staff, and supports consistent client-facing service delivery.

25% Strategic Sourcing Operations & Contract Management Manages administration of UCOP specific sourcing contracts, ensuring favorable pricing, terms, and service levels. Utilizes UC Systemwide Procurement agreements appropriately, ensuring the Local Procurement team and UCOP departments benefit from systemwide contracts while recognizing that administration of those agreements is performed by Systemwide Procurement. Utilizes pre-negotiated group purchasing contracts with suppliers through public sector cooperative contracts. Oversees development and management of RFQs, RFPs, and other competitive solicitations for UCOP needs, including specifications, evaluation criteria, and negotiation strategies. Oversees RFP evaluations in accordance with UC established 'best value' criteria. Conducts or oversees complex negotiations using proven negotiation methods and analytical techniques. Ensures procurement activities follow UC policy, legal requirements, and ethical standards. Ensures all UCOP contracts include required UC provisions, including Article 5, supplier diversity and small business participation language; monitors compliance and works with clients and suppliers to remediate gaps. Guides and advises staff to partner with internal experts (legal, risk, IT) to navigate complex contract negotiations. Maintains clear and proactive communication with UCOP department clients throughout the sourcing and contracting process, ensuring expectations are set early, status updates are timely, and outcomes are communicated transparently.

15% Team Leadership, Development, and Performance Management Leads the UCOP Procurement team, comprising 13 professional procurement staff; directly supervises 6 professional staff and one Procurement Supervisor, the latter of whom manages a sub-team of 5 purchasing professionals. Regularly and systemically evaluates workload of staff and rebalances as needed. Fosters a team culture of service excellence and continuous learning; models and reinforces BRC's service standards, applies structured frameworks (e.g., ACT/HEAR) to client engagement, and champions a growth mindset through ongoing coaching and professional development initiatives. Provides coaching, mentorship, and professional development opportunities to build a high performing, service oriented team. Screens applications, interviews candidates, and makes or recommends hiring decisions. Conducts performance evaluations, assigns work, and ensures staff are trained in UC policies, procurement systems, and best practices. Serves as an escalation point for operational issues and client concerns. Ensures internal controls, quality standards, and departmental procedures are current and consistently followed.

10% Stakeholder Engagement & Cross Functional Collaboration Builds strong relationships with UCOP departments to understand needs, improve service delivery, and promote adoption of strategic sourcing practices. Collaborates with systemwide procurement, BRC leadership, and other UC locations to share best practices and align sourcing strategies. Supports change management efforts related to new procurement processes, systems, and strategic initiatives. Communicates sourcing outcomes, savings, and performance metrics to leadership and stakeholders. Serves as a senior point of contact for complex or sensitive client escalations involving procurement matters; exercises sound judgment to resolve issues equitably, maintains client trust, and communicates outcomes transparently to BRC leadership. Leads or supports client orientation and onboarding activities to familiarize UCOP departments with BRC procurement processes, tools, and policy requirements; contributes to centralized training resources and the BRC Client Orientation program.

10% Continuous Improvement & Data Driven Decision Making Oversees spend analytics, supplier performance metrics, and procurement reporting to identify trends, opportunities, and risks. Identifies and pursues cost-saving or revenue generating initiatives. Evaluates procurement processes and recommends improvements to enhance efficiency, compliance, and with particular focus on reducing friction for UCOP clients and improving the end-to-end service experience. Stays current on industry trends, emerging technologies, and regulatory changes affecting procurement. Applies structured process improvement methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma) to identify inefficiencies, reduce waste, and drive measurable gains in procurement cycle times, compliance rates, and service quality; leads or participates in formal improvement projects as needed.

Experience
Required Qualifications

Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in similar roles

Skills and Abilities
Required Qualifications

Demonstrated expertise in complex contract negotiation, including the ability to structure multi-party agreements, analyze total cost of ownership, apply best-value evaluation criteria, and develop strategies that protect UCOP's interests while maintaining productive supplier relationships.

Ability to lead and facilitate cross-functional workgroups involving UCOP divisions, systemwide procurement, legal, IT, risk, and external suppliers; skilled at building consensus, managing competing priorities, and driving workgroups to clear decisions and accountable outcomes.

Experience applying cost modeling and financial analysis techniques to procurement decisions, including spend analysis, total cost of ownership (TCO) modeling, price reasonableness assessments, and bid comparisons that support defensible award recommendations.

Demonstrated commitment to service excellence in a client-facing environment; ability to build trust with UCOP department clients, manage expectations effectively, de-escalate sensitive situations, and deliver responsive, solution-oriented support consistent with BRC's service standards.

Strong knowledge of public sector sourcing policies and procurement best practices, including competitive solicitation methods (RFQ, RFP, IFB), sole source justification, cooperative contracting, and supplier diversity requirements; experience with electronic sourcing systems and procurement platforms used in higher education or comparable public sector environments.

Strong organizational and project management skills, including the ability to manage multiple concurrent sourcing projects, facilitate productive meetings with diverse stakeholders, set clear agendas and action items, and drive decisions in ambiguous or politically complex environments.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to prepare clear procurement documentation, present sourcing recommendations to executive audiences, translate complex policy or contract terms for non-procurement clients, and actively listen to surface underlying client needs.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and collaboration platforms including SharePoint and Teams; experience using data analysis and reporting features in Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, dashboards) to support spend analytics and procurement reporting.

Ability to leverage AI tools and emerging technologies to enhance procurement efficiency, supplier research, spend analysis, and documentation quality; demonstrated curiosity and willingness to adopt and integrate new technologies into sourcing workflows.

Demonstrated ability to develop and manage service level agreements (SLAs), track performance against defined metrics, and use data-driven insights to identify opportunities for turnaround time reduction and continuous process improvement.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with Oracle-based procurement systems (e.g., Oracle, or equivalent ERP platforms); familiarity with UC's financial and procurement systems environment preferred.

Working knowledge of UC procurement policies and UC Business and Finance Bulletins (e.g., BUS-79, BFB G-28); understanding of applicable regulatory requirements including Article 5, supplier diversity and small business participation provisions.

Education
Required Qualifications

Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training

Travel Requirements
5% Occasional travel to campuses or to trainings (very limited)

Job Title
Strategic Sourcing Manager 1

Job Code
005920

Salary Grade
Grade 25

Payscale:
$145,000 - $165,000

The University of California, Office of the President, is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience. The full salary range shows the growth potential for this position and the pay scale is the budgeted salary or hourly range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position.

Benefits: For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University visit: Benefits of Belonging

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please note this is a Hybrid position based in Oakland, CA.

HOW TO APPLY

Please be prepared to attach a cover letter and resume with your application.

APPLICATION REVIEW DATE

The first review date for this job is JUNE 15, 2026. The position will be open until filled.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

Background Check Process: Successful completion of a background check is required for this critical position. Background check process at UCOP

Smoke Free Work Environment: The University of California, Office of the President, is smoke & tobacco-free as of January 1, 2014. UC Smoke & Tobacco Free Policy

As a condition of employment, you will be required to comply with the University of California Policy on Vaccination Programs, as may be amended or revised from time to time. Federal, state, or local public health directives may impose additional requirements.

As a condition of employment, the finalist will be required to disclose if they are subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct, are currently being investigated for misconduct, left a position during an investigation for alleged misconduct, or have filed an appeal with a previous employer.

• 'Misconduct' means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer.
  • UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
  • UC Anti-Discrimination Policy for Employees, Students and Third Parties
  • APM - 035: Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination in Employment

EEO STATEMENT

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

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