Procurement Lead

Ocean Infinity is seeking a Procurement Lead to set the direction, governance and performance of the procurement function within the Supply Chain Management (SCM) team. Reporting to the Head of Supply Chain Management, the role is a senior leadership position and a critical partner to Operations and Projects, enabling safe, reliable and cost‑effective delivery across Ocean Infinity’s fast‑paced maritime robotics environment.

The Procurement Lead is responsible for shaping and deploying procurement strategy, building strong governance and capability, and aligning procurement outcomes to business priorities, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 requirements, and total cost of ownership objectives. Sitting as part of the Supply Chain Leadership Team, the role balances strategic leadership with hands‑on coaching on complex sourcing, negotiations and supplier performance.

Acting as the senior commercial partner to operational and project stakeholders, the Procurement Lead ensures early engagement, effective demand shaping and robust supplier and category strategies. The role leads and develops the procurement team (Senior Buyers and Buyers), embeds best practice across systems and processes, and drives continuous improvement, value delivery and risk mitigation across the supply base.

What you will do

• Define and deploy the procurement strategy and operating model as part of the wider Supply Chain Management function, ensuring alignment to operational, project and business objectives.
• Lead, mentor and develop the procurement team, setting clear goals, priorities and development plans while building a culture of integrity, collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement.
• Flow down SCM objectives and procurement best practice, coaching Senior Buyers and Buyers to establish robust category and sub‑category strategies, supplier segmentation and sourcing pipelines.
• Approve category strategies, supply market analyses, make/buy, should‑cost and TCO models, and coach on major strategic tenders and negotiations.
• Act as the senior procurement partner to Operations, Projects/PMO, Logistics & Warehousing, Finance, Legal and HSE/ESG, ensuring early engagement and strong alignment to schedules, milestones and budgets.
• Partner with stakeholders to convert business demand into supply solutions that optimise total cost of ownership, delivery, quality, ESG outcomes and risk.
• Own procurement governance, including policy, SOPs, templates and controls, ensuring compliance with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 requirements and audit readiness.
• Oversee supplier risk management, ESG and SRM, including segmentation, KPIs, joint improvement plans, issue escalation and performance governance for strategic suppliers.
• Own the procurement savings pipeline, performance reporting and KPIs, providing clear insights on savings, cost avoidance, PPV, maverick spend, cycle times, contract coverage and supplier performance.
• Drive digital enablement, automation and continuous improvement across procurement processes and systems (e.g. NetSuite, e‑sourcing and contract management tools).

Who you are

• MCIPS qualified/member (or equivalent), or committed to ongoing structured CPD.
• 7–10+ years’ experience in procurement with proven leadership of teams, categories and complex stakeholder environments.
• Demonstrated experience setting procurement strategy, implementing governance and delivering category, SRM and TCO improvements in operationally intense or project‑based settings.
• Strong understanding of procurement best practice, policies, procedures and governance, including ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 requirements.
• A credible, influential communicator, comfortable acting as a senior commercial partner and providing constructive challenge and guidance to operational and project leadership.
• Experienced people leader with a coaching mindset, skilled in capability development, workforce planning and prioritisation under high workload.
• Proficient with ERP systems (e.g. NetSuite), e‑sourcing, contract lifecycle management and procurement analytics.
• Calm under pressure, organised and able to balance strategic planning with hands‑on leadership in a fast‑paced operational environment.
• High integrity, strong commercial judgement and a data‑driven approach to value, risk and continuous improvement.

Desirable

• Experience in maritime, industrial, offshore or project‑driven environments.
• Exposure to a broad range of procurement categories, including technically complex and operational spend.
• Experience leading supplier risk management, ESG initiatives and audit readiness.