PROCUREMENT MANAGER - STRATEGIC SOURCING MANAGER

Strategic Sourcing Manager 1

At the University of California, Office of the President, we propel our mission through impactful work locally, in government centers and systemwide. The University of California, one of the largest and most acclaimed institutions of higher learning in the world, is dedicated to excellence in teaching, research and public service. The University of California Office of the President is the headquarters to the 10 campuses, six academic medical centers and three national laboratories and enrolls premier students from California, the nation and the world.

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.

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

• Leadership of UCOP Local Procurement
• Strategic Sourcing Operations & Contract Management
• Team Leadership, Development, and Performance Management
• Stakeholder Engagement & Cross Functional Collaboration
• Continuous Improvement & Data Driven Decision Making

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.

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