Job details

Lead Buyer - Procurement

We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Our culture values diversity, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive and diverse workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through inclusive programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see

https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-diversity/

This position will have the following broad responsibilities:

Know the Business User:

Know their workflows, needs, critical points, value drivers, the way we make decisions, unstated intent, and goals.

Using our technology, influences procurement leaders’ goals & plans. Identify the key users who will drive or enable business growth.
Responsible for identifying, assessing, prioritizing, mobilizing, and delivering value to partners
Share leading procurement practices and incorporate into long term procurement technology roadmaps
Develop a firm understanding of, and clearly articulate the target users' workflows, documenting decisions and relative importance of decision criteria
Understand the role of the systems they use and how emerging technology can enable their drivers and goals; determine where technology solutions can solve critical points vs. process improvements
Work in collaboration to develop solutions to their key critical points, including documenting requirements, figuring out feasibility, creating roadmaps and troubleshooting as needed
Grasp and clearly convey how the Technology team's strategy impacts business customer workflows, project requests
Ability to distill customer needs into key requirements that are aligned to corporate and Technology Team strategic priorities

Know our business:

Understand our business context – mission, strategy, competitive differentiators, corporate performance indicators, business resources.

Understand and articulate overarching business priorities and how their work ladders up to Cengage Strategy
Seek or define clarification for area of business strategy that are unclear (make and confirm documented assumptions to allow progress to be made)
Document the articulation of our platform and workflow specific competitive differentiators and disadvantages
Work with customers to prioritize builds that further the overall corporate strategy

Make bold business decisions:

Decisions that will move us forward while understanding the business risks associated with them and implications for all other partners (Product, Digital Production, Marketing, Sales, Finance, Legal, HR, Engineering, Architects etc.)!

Develop Procurement spend reporting
Provide spend analytics and vendor stratification
Develop sound rationale for creating P2P proposals & manages the planning of procurement capabilities & associated applications
Identify, screen, and evaluate new and existing solution models for procurement
Define creative solutions to key user needs that advance our strategy
Clearly balance the 'reusability/scale' considerations with decisions that delivery value for the specific priority subject area/program at hand
Clearly evaluate decisions; align to overall corporate strategic priorities; and actively handle the technology risk, debt, and non-functional requirements as part of the overall organizational goals

Be an Integrator:

Lead multi-functionally at all levels. Push information and drive understanding of the strategy and path of execution.

Maintain an open, updated, and prioritized backlog that has a clearly understandable set of user intent / value stories
Actively communicate and manage relationship with all relevant partners (Technology Solution Partners, Technical Product Manager, Engineering and Architecture teams, Leadership Team, Global Technology Solutions Leadership Team)
Understand and owns decision that affects other Cengage partners and users
Define and create training for other team members in areas of skill and knowledge in which they excel

Know our platforms and systems:

Demonstrate foundational understanding of our systems and architecture – importantly how they impact our decision-making process.

Make decisions based on an understanding the architectural roadmap and the tradeoffs implied by that
Internalize and be able to articulate the implications of the system level diagram / relationships on the program

Own and manage the roadmap and macro business processes:

Understand the overall business technology roadmap and how the business operates.

Make time personally and for the team to invest in planning the next build cycle during the current build cycle
Communicate vision, strategy, and business value effectively to technical team & partners
Maintain a clearly documented articulation of 'the why' and makes sure that the user imperative and goal of each story and epic is understood by the team and relevant partners
Develop other requirements artifacts (thin slice, process maps/flows etc.) to support the development process
Successful delivery of software development projects
Maintain scope and meeting established timelines
Demonstrates proactive ownership of problems until they find a clear solution
Proactively lead interdependencies across teams

Skills You Will Need Here:

Required General Knowledge:

4-7 years demonstrated ability
Bachelor’s degree in Business/Analytics, or equivalent combination of education and recent, relevant work experience
Has multi-functional leadership experience and prior experience in program/project management role in a technical environment
Has business analyst experience or in a role with responsibility for assessing business needs and technical gathering requirements to meeting those needs
Solid grounding in data-driven management and experience developing business-appropriate KPI’s and reporting
Understands the business at the enterprise level, how functions connect, and is abreast of conditions impacting the business
Experienced with business case creation and validation
Has excellent verbal and written communication skills and has strong influencing skills
Has strong creative problem-solving skills, prioritizing skills and is able to identify needs and potential solutions based on the nature of business or workflow problems and challenges
Is customer experience focused and has a strong service and solutions orientation!

Required Functional knowledge:

Thorough understanding of Procure to Pay function and of processes related to procurement/materials/logistics/delivery and payments
Strong understanding of business processes particularly within the P2P function and an ability to map processes to technology tools
Experience working with ERP products especially on SAP
Strong account and client management experience
Experience and exposure with, or supporting businesses operating in, international markets – specifically, EMEA, Asia/Australia, Latin America
Experience working directly with Business Unit leaders and ensuring technology alignment to strategic goals
Strong breadth of experience working closely – with well-rounded expertise - across multiple different business functions (e.g. Finance, Sales, Product, Service, Support Marketing, etc.)

Preferred Skills:

Experience supporting business units in one or more of the following would be valuable:

Previous experience in a technology/IT Procurement analytics leadership role
Digital information subscription business experience
Experience working in, or supporting customer and technical support services
Experience partnering with leadership to align strategy with technology roadmap
Experience with foundational business management metrics and financial practices

Cengage Group is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organizational level, work styles, tenure and life experiences. Or for any other reason. You may view

Cengage’s EEO/Affirmative Action Policy signed by CEO Michael Hansen

and

Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law notice

by visiting their corresponding links.

Cengage Group is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at

accommodations.ta@cengage.com

or you may call us at +1 (617) 289-7917.

About Cengage Group

Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Base Pay Range

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

$73,400.00 - $117,400.00 USD

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CEO of Cengage Group

Michael Hansen

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By Cengage Group

We provide quality, digital learning experiences that help students lead choice-filled lives. We’re always looking for ways to innovate and evolve to meet the needs millions of learners. Our employees have a direct impact in helping students arou...

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FUNDING

Private

INDUSTRY

Publishing

TEAM SIZE

1001-5000

LOCATION

Hybrid, based in Mason, OH

DATE POSTED