Procurement Manager

Procurement Manager 
Compensation:  TBD 
Location: On-Site | Galleria Area with 10% travel 
 

Company Overview 

Our client is a rapidly growing U.S. distributor of cement and construction materials operating within a diversified international group of companies. Cement distribution plays a critical role in supporting U.S. infrastructure, commercial development, and manufacturing supply chains. 

The company is actively expanding its distribution network through new terminals, satellite locations, and strategic partnerships while evaluating opportunities for organic growth and acquisitions to strengthen its national footprint. The organization operates with a lean leadership structure that provides team members direct exposure to senior decision makers and meaningful involvement in strategic initiatives. 

While established and well capitalized through its international ownership, the U.S. business operates with the pace and entrepreneurial mindset of a growth-stage organization. The environment is hands-on, fast-moving, and well suited for leaders who enjoy building processes and infrastructure while remaining directly involved in execution. 

Position Overview 

The Procurement Manager will lead the continued development and professionalization of the company's procurement function while supporting significant capital projects, facility expansion, operations, maintenance, and supply-chain requirements. 

This is not a traditional corporate purchasing role. The company is seeking a technically oriented procurement leader who understands projects, engineering requirements, sourcing strategy, and commercial negotiations and can effectively bridge the needs of engineers, operations leaders, subject-matter experts, suppliers, and finance. 

The Procurement Manager will help build a more disciplined and predictable procurement organization, establish appropriate processes and controls, improve supplier terms, develop procurement budgets, and support an expanding portfolio of greenfield and brownfield capital projects. 

The position will initially work closely with Finance due to the significant overlap between procurement controls, cash management, budgeting, and SAP. As the organization evolves, the reporting structure and scope of the function may also evolve. The role is expected to ultimately lead the procurement organization, which currently consists of approximately three team members and could grow to approximately five or six. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Lead sourcing and procurement activities for capital projects, equipment, maintenance, materials, construction services, and operational requirements. 

• Partner closely with engineering, operations, finance, logistics, project management, and other subject-matter experts to translate technical requirements into effective sourcing strategies. 

• Procure technically complex scopes that may include mechanical systems, electrical work, transfer equipment, fabrication, welding, pipe fitting, equipment rentals, maintenance services, EPC services, and greenfield or brownfield construction. 

• Develop and execute category and sourcing strategies that improve total delivered cost, security of supply, supplier performance, and operational efficiency. 

• Negotiate master service agreements, framework agreements, commercial terms, pricing, payment terms, volume discounts, and other supplier concessions. 

• Evaluate existing vendor relationships and use purchasing volume to create more favorable commercial arrangements and improve cash flow. 

• Proactively identify cost-saving opportunities through spend analysis, market intelligence, supplier consolidation, competitive sourcing, and contract negotiations. 

• Establish stronger procurement controls, processes, policies, and approval procedures within SAP. 

• Develop procurement budgets and improve the predictability of purchasing and cash requirements. 

• Conduct market analysis to identify supplier trends, risks, opportunities, and alternative sourcing strategies. 

• Ensure timely delivery of materials, equipment, and services required to meet operational and project schedules. 

• Resolve supplier issues involving delivery, quality, contract interpretation, invoices, or performance. 

• Support greenfield expansion, new terminal development, property and facility projects, and expansion into new geographic markets. 

• Work collaboratively with existing procurement team members, developing their skills and providing technical and commercial guidance. 

• Build a scalable procurement organization capable of supporting the company's anticipated growth. 

• Partner with leadership to transition procurement from a largely reactive function to a planned, measurable, and predictable business capability. 

Candidate Profile 

The successful candidate will bring a combination of technical aptitude, project procurement experience, commercial judgment, and hands-on leadership. 

The strongest candidate is likely someone who has worked alongside engineering and project teams and is comfortable interpreting technical requirements even when they are not personally the subject-matter expert. This individual should know how to ask the right questions, engage engineers and operational leaders, understand project scope, and translate those requirements into an effective sourcing and contracting strategy. 

Experience specifically within cement is not required. Relevant backgrounds may include: 

• Chemicals or petrochemicals 

• Oil and gas 

• Polyethylene or polypropylene 

• Industrial manufacturing 

• Construction or infrastructure 

• Engineering and EPC environments 

• Heavy industrial operations 

• Materials or processing businesses 

Experience with logistics, terminals, or transportation-intensive operations is a strong plus given the company's growth plans and increasing supply-chain complexity. 

Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, or a related discipline. 

• Engineering background is strongly preferred due to the technical nature of the procurement scope. 

• An MBA or combination of engineering and supply chain education is preferred 

• Approximately 8+ years of relevant procurement, sourcing, project purchasing, engineering, supply-chain, or related experience. 

• Demonstrated experience sourcing equipment, materials, services, construction, maintenance, or other technically complex scopes. 

• Experience supporting capital projects and working directly with engineering or project teams. 

• Strong understanding of procurement processes, sourcing strategy, contracting, supplier management, and commercial negotiations. 

• SAP familiarity is highly important, particularly as procurement controls and workflows will operate through the system. 

• Strong analytical capability with experience using data to identify savings opportunities and support purchasing decisions. 

• Ability to develop budgets and improve forecasting and predictability around procurement spend. 

• Strong Excel skills; experience with MS Project, Primavera, or related project-management tools is beneficial. 

• Demonstrated ability to manage several priorities in a fast-paced, changing environment. 

• Experience leading, mentoring, or developing procurement professionals is preferred. 

Leadership & Cultural Fit 

This organization is lean and entrepreneurial. Leaders are expected to remain close to the work rather than managing exclusively through spreadsheets or delegating execution to large support teams. 

The successful Procurement Manager will be: 

Hands-on and entrepreneurial. The individual must be comfortable personally doing the work when necessary and operating without the infrastructure typically available within a large corporation. 

Low ego and collaborative. The company is not looking for someone who arrives with a predetermined corporate playbook and immediately attempts to impose it on the organization. 

Solutions-oriented. Leadership specifically values people who identify problems and bring forward practical solutions, rather than simply pointing out deficiencies. 

A strong listener. The new leader should first understand the business, people, existing knowledge, and operational requirements before determining what needs to change. 

Comfortable with ambiguity. Processes and organizational structures will continue to evolve as the company grows. 

Able to influence without unnecessary friction. Implementing stronger procurement controls will require changing established behaviors. The individual must be able to gain credibility, explain the business rationale behind changes, and bring stakeholders along. 

A developer of people. The existing procurement team is described as smart, hardworking, eager to learn, and receptive to stronger leadership. The new manager will have an opportunity to develop existing talent while building the broader function.