Global Head of Procurement - #1780064

Description

WTW’s Global Head of Procurement is a senior executive role responsible for overseeing the Procurement strategy and operations across all areas of the organisation and partnering with WTW’s senior leadership to execute the defined strategy. This position ensures WTW’s Procurement strategy and practices align with the overall organisation’s objectives, sharing insightful data to support decision-making, fostering innovation (including automation and AI opportunities), and supporting sustainable supply chain practices.

This role, which reports directly to WTW’s Chief Financial Officer and is a member of the Finance Leadership Team, involves overseeing WTW’s global business travel function, supplier sourcing, procurement operations, and supplier risk management.

This role requires a holistic view and management of WTW’s circa USD 2 billion of global supplier spend, with the goals of supporting revenue growth, optimizing price points and demand management in support of margin improvement, and credit term optimization in support of free cash flow goals. This role leads WTW’s supplier risk management, which requires balancing the priorities of WTW’s internal teams and the supplier base to ensure decisions are made in a risk-managed and compliant manner.

Qualifications

• Develop WTW’s global Procurement strategy with internal expertise and external insights that align with the company’s overall goals and objectives.
• Design and implement the Procurement team structure, systems, operating model, and processes to support delivering the strategy in an operationally efficient, cost-conscious, and risk-managed way.
• Oversee the Sourcing function, including strategic supplier management and associated category planning, through to supplier risk management & commercial/balance of trade-focused activities.
• Oversee the Global Business Travel function, ranging from shaping the global travel strategy to travel risk management.
• Drive WTW’s Supplier risk management program, including addressing regulatory requirements.
• Drive WTW’s Sustainability program in relation to Global Travel and Supplier emissions, meeting external commitments, and compliance with all regulatory requirements.
• Support Compliance and control activities within Procurement operations, ranging from travel and entertainment and supplier invoice management and payment controls, through to addressing regulatory requirements.
• Support activities to drive strong data management and governance, including the use of data to support optimal decision-making.
• Sponsor automation and AI initiatives to improve operational efficiency, support better stakeholder experience, and improve compliance with key policies.
• Develop external networks to provide insights into key areas, utilize benchmarking tools, and other external data sources to ensure WTW benefits from external perspectives as part of decision-making.
• Lead, mentor, and develop the global procurement function.
• Partner with business areas, ranging from strategic supplier category planning, cost & demand management, and supporting revenue growth opportunities via leveraging supplier spend
  
  

Requirements

Leadership Skills

• Proven effective leader with a strategic mindset who drives team performance, development, and supports colleagues to deliver business outcomes. Ability to lead and inspire a global team, fostering collaboration and innovation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, executive presence, and the ability to interact with senior management and leadership.
• Confident in challenging others whilst building and maintaining strong business relationships; ability to navigate and make decisions in high-pressure situations.
  
  

Technical Skills

• Proven ability in a global organization (ideally Financial Services) – experienced in developing sourcing strategies that align with business objectives, including the ability to understand business requirements, use market insights to identify suppliers to meet organizational needs, and evaluate supplier capabilities and performance.
• Experienced in developing and executing supplier negotiation strategies, including achieving targeted commercial outcomes (balance of trade, price/service optimization, credit terms) in a win-win manner, fostering strong relationships with key suppliers.
• Able to identify and assess potential risks in the supply chain/travel risk area, including developing and implementing risk mitigation strategies, monitoring, and responding to evolving risk factors.
• Experienced in procurement technology (ideally Ariba) and associated systems/tools to drive operational efficiency in a controlled and risk-managed way.
• Experienced in data analysis, reporting, and interpretation to support decision-making and provide meaningful insights to stakeholders in relation to supplier spend vs. benchmarks, ensuring compliance with key policies.
• Knowledgeable on compliance and regulatory requirements impacting the organisation’s supplier / travel program (including Digital Operational Resilience Act, Corporate Social Responsibility Directive, EU’s Electronic Invoicing).
• Demonstrated experience in managing outsourced procurement supplier relationships to ensure optimal service delivery in a cost-effective manner, including KPI management, through to automation and operational efficiency initiatives.
• Global market awareness and the ability to effectively collaborate across departments.
• Experience in T&E and Supplier payment management globally, including associated expense management and expense compliance processes.
• Proven experience in leading and managing change initiatives, especially in implementing new suppliers, technologies, and process improvements.
• Drive and enforce compliance with internal policies (travel and entertainment, supplier risk management policy, enterprise risk management, etc.).
  
  

Essential Qualifications / Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Supply Chain, Finance, or related field; MBA or other advanced degree preferred
• 15+ years of experience in procurement or supply chain, including at least 5 years in a global leadership role within a large corporate environment
• Proven ability to lead and inspire high-performing, geographically distributed teams
• Demonstrated experience influencing an array of dynamic and diverse stakeholders at all levels of the organization
• Excellent negotiation, supplier management, and contract management skills
• Strong financial background and deep expertise in sourcing across multiple spend categories and global markets.
  
  

At WTW, we believe difference makes us stronger. We want our workforce to reflect the different and varied markets we operate in and to build a culture of inclusivity that makes colleagues feel welcome, valued and empowered to bring their whole selves to work every day. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive work environment throughout our organisation. We embrace all types of diversity.

We’re committed to equal employment opportunity and provide application, interview and workplace adjustments and accommodations to all applicants. If you foresee any barriers, from the application process through to joining WTW, please email [email protected].

Equal Opportunity Employer