Position Summary
Reporting to the AVP, Procurement Services, the Associate Director is responsible for the strategic sourcing, review, negotiation, reporting, and administration of goods and services to address the University's goods and services needs.
Responsibilities
Strategic:
- Lead the identification, review, development, and negotiation of university-wide Purchasing Agreements (UwPA's), Department Select Agreements (DSA’s), and other strategic sourcing opportunities with a focus on services-based commodities in support of the University’s mission and activities by its stakeholders.
- Work in close partnership with the Office of the General Counsel, Risk Management, and University leadership.
- Work with AVP and University colleagues on effective incorporation of new terms and conditions in university contracts to support evolving compliance requirements.
- Identify and help develop additional tools to work in conjunction with new terms and conditions to promote compliance.
- Collaborate and coordinate with AVPs, Senior Management, and colleagues to review and negotiate agreements covering global activity or activity in a specific country in support of university programs.
- Assist and advise university departments in obtaining the best total value considering quality, service and cost on a timely basis.
- Develop effective working relationships with suppliers to negotiate the best possible value, ensure the quality of goods and/or services purchased, and fully meet the needs of stakeholders.
- Survey and benchmark market conditions and trends, keeping abreast of new industry developments and products, and effectively communicating this information both within the Purchasing team and to the broader University purchasing community.
- Oversee the management of the university’s Jaggaer Contracts Module including but not limited to, coordinating updates, implementation of contract templates/libraries, and applicable change management to roll out new contracts, features, or process improvements.
- Perform data gathering, analyses, and reporting to support university Purchasing goals and objectives.
- Develop and deliver reports and presentation materials.
- Manages the efforts of cross-functional teams to understand university-wide requirements, and develops, selects, awards, negotiates, and implements selection(s), including writing and evaluating Requests for Proposals (RFPs).
Transactional:
- Responsible for the collection of documentation that provides compliance and completeness of university Purchase Order requirements and prepares for review by Procurement management:
- Track the status of all related transactions and agreements in the process.
- In conjunction with the customer, ensure that all Terms & Conditions are complete and accurate.
- Interact with the offices of Risk Management and the Office of the General Counsel; Ensure full compliance of all related transactions with university Purchasing policies as well as federal and other applicable regulations.
- Facilitate, review, and track customer and/or supplier requests for modifications to university-accepted standard terms and conditions.
- Review and manage Procurement systems review queues relative to outstanding customer requests and escalate as required.
- Review and manage expected and/or agreed deadlines and prioritize accordingly; Develop, negotiate, award, and administer contracts, purchase orders, and change orders that take maximum advantage of the University’s spending leverage.
- Process Purchase Requisitions/Change Orders/Contracts utilizing purchasing systems and convert them to appropriate Purchase Order.
- Review procurement options with stakeholder(s) based on requisition and Change Order submission to facilitate improved cost, service, and delivery opportunities.
Training, Communications, and Education:
- Assist the AVP in the ongoing development and refinement of related materials supporting the strategic sourcing process (i.e. user guides, on-site training, forms, etc.):
- Conduct education, communication, and training activities to promote increased competency within the University community.
- Represent the Purchasing Department at customer and supplier meetings.
- Assist in the ongoing development and refinement of the Purchasing website.
- Participate in the ongoing development of training and web-based documentation relative to purchasing and sourcing activities.
- Responsible for driving continuous improvements in related Purchasing processes.
- Assist in developing performance metrics related to the University’s strategic sourcing program.
Perform other related duties and special projects, as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
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Bachelor's degree required plus a minimum of five years' experience in a purchasing/contract management area, including a significant amount of that experience in domestic and international strategic sourcing, supply chain, logistics, and any related activities.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree preferred.
- Experience with automated purchasing systems and Oracle/PeopleSoft.
- Additional experience with agreements addressing global activity or activity in certain countries or areas of the world.
Other Requirements
- Experience with Jaggaer as it relates to goods, services, and contract applications.
- Experience with the development and review of varied contracts.
- Must have a general understanding of the laws, rules, and regulations related to UCC as well as Uniform Guidance.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Access, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is required, along with a demonstrated ability to prepare reports, summaries, and analyses and present findings and recommendations.
- Demonstrated ability to collect and analyze data and evaluate information required.
- Must be detail-oriented with strong organizational and problem-solving skills and have the ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
- Must be able to manage high transaction volumes on an ongoing basis effectively.
- Must be a self-starter and capable of operating with minimal supervision.
- Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills, including active listening skills, plus the ability to collaborate with a diverse group of university administrators, characterized by strong consensus-building and relationship-building skills, are essential.
- Must be able to negotiate issues and resolve problems.
- In addition, the successful candidate must be able to work well with all levels of management, both internally and externally, demonstrating flexibility and reflecting sound judgment.
- Must have a passion for excellent customer service and commitment to exceptional quality.
Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran
Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.
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