Procurement Operations Leader, Buy Desk

GAQ127R93

The Procurement Operations Leader, Buy Desk is responsible for owning the end-to-end purchase requisition and purchase order lifecycle — ensuring every transaction is accurately set up, fully documented, properly authorized, and compliant with procurement policy. This role serves as a critical operational bridge between business requestors, strategic sourcing, accounts payable, and suppliers, while driving process standardization, automation, and continuous improvement across the procure-to-pay workflow.

Operating with a high degree of ownership and attention to detail, this individual will build scalable, repeatable operating standards for the Buy Desk function — ensuring the organization can transact efficiently, compliantly, and at speed.

The impact you will have:

Purchase Requisition Review & Compliance

• Review incoming purchase requisitions to ensure accurate set-up in alignment with the associated scope of work or order form, including:

• Product or service description
• Quantity and unit pricing
• Total amount and budget alignment
• Service start and end dates
• Payment terms and conditions

• Validate that all required supporting documentation is attached to or referenced within the purchase requisition (e.g., statements of work, order forms, quotes, executed contracts).
• Ensure purchase requisitions are routed through and approved by all designated authorized individuals in accordance with the organization's delegation of authority matrix.
• Identify and resolve requisition discrepancies or missing information before progressing to PO issuance.
• Serve as the first line of review for policy compliance, spend thresholds, and approval requirements.

Purchase Order Management

• Own end-to-end PO lifecycle from creation and approval routing through receipt confirmation and closure.
• Manage a high-volume daily transaction queue with accuracy, consistency, and speed.
• Resolve PO discrepancies, invoice mismatches, and delivery exceptions in coordination with Accounts Payable and suppliers.

Strategic Sourcing Support

• Partner with the strategic sourcing team to support post-contract execution activities, including:

• Accurate metadata management into the contract management system upon contract execution
• Uploading fully executed documents to the contract repository in a timely and organized manner
• Ensuring contract records are complete, accurate, and audit-ready

• Maintain and update supplier records, onboard new vendors through the standard intake process, and ensure approved supplier lists remain current.

Process Improvement & Automation

• Identify manual or repetitive tasks within the Buy Desk workflow and champion automation and streamlining initiatives.
• Support configuration and adoption of procurement technology platforms (e-procurement, intake tools, catalog management).
• Build and maintain SOPs, workflow guides, and buying channel configurations to enable consistent, scalable execution.
• Drive continuous improvement across the procure-to-pay cycle using data-driven insights.

Reporting & Data Integrity

• Track and report on key Buy Desk metrics: transaction volume, requisition cycle times, PO compliance rates, and approval turnaround.
• Flag policy exceptions and support audit readiness through disciplined data hygiene practices.
• Contribute procurement operations data to leadership reporting and cross-functional dashboards.

What we look for:

Required

• 5+ years of experience in procurement operations, purchasing, or procure-to-pay functions.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing, processing, and managing high-volume purchase requisitions and purchase orders.
• Strong understanding of PO lifecycle, approval workflows, and delegation of authority frameworks.
• Experience validating supporting procurement documentation such as statements of work, order forms, contracts, and quotes.
• Hands-on proficiency with ERP or e-procurement platforms (Coupa, Ariba, SAP, Oracle, or similar).
• Exceptional attention to detail with a process-oriented, high-ownership mindset.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field.

Preferred

• Experience supporting strategic sourcing teams with contract metadata management and repository administration.
• Familiarity with contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems.
• Background in AP workflows, invoice exception handling, or three-way match processes.
• Exposure to process improvement methodologies such as Lean or Six Sigma.
• Experience building or maintaining procurement SOPs and training materials.
• CPSM, CPM, or supply chain certification a plus.

What success looks like in Year One

• Buy Desk intake and review process is fully documented, standardized, and operating consistently at scale.
• Requisition-to-PO cycle times are measurably reduced and tracked via a regular reporting cadence.
• Zero compliance gaps in requisition approval or supporting documentation at audit review.
• Contract repository is current and accurate, with all executed agreements properly logged and uploaded.
• Automation opportunities identified and at least one manual workflow streamlined or eliminated.