Procurement Operations Manager

As the Procurement Operations Manager at Wise, you will not just be managing the procurement process + system; you will also be involved with building the architecture of our procurement infrastructure. You will be a key contributor in Wise's end-to-end source-to-pay (S2P) transformation, deploying procurement processes, and establishing governance that balances compliance with agility. Alongside this strategic build, you will own the day-to-day BAU Procurement operations - ensuring the smooth execution of daily PR/PO lifecycles, resolving system bottlenecks, and maintaining high data integrity to support the business uninterrupted. This role requires a blend of strategic building and hands-on execution.

Key Responsibilities

1. Procurement Operations

• Manage the E2E processes on our Procurement/TPM tool "Omnea" and identify + resolve bottlenecks and/or bugs.

• Own vendor master data integrity, vendor onboarding, and the purchase order (PO) approval workflow.

• Act as Procurement's system administrator and super-user for our Procurement/TPM tool "Omnea", owning all Procurement processes within the system & ensuring seamless integrations with ERP (BC) and AP system (Medius).

• Drive the Wise Procurement Standards, ensuring all buying activities follow the correct buying channels and treatment strategies.

• Build dashboards and reporting mechanisms to track key operational metrics, pipeline visibility, and contract renewal schedules and enable the Category Management team.

• Manage and optimise global buying channels (e.g., punch-outs, hosted catalogs, P-Cards, and purchase orders) to ensure intuitive user experiences and high compliance.

• Tail Spend Management: Develop and execute strategies to actively manage and reduce tail spend, vendor consolidation and moving ad-hoc spend into structured buying channels - negotiating where applicable.

• Author and maintain comprehensive, Procurement standard operating procedures (SOPs), process and governance documentation to comply with internal controls and external audit requirements.

1. Process & Infrastructure Design

• Manage change management initiatives associated with new procurement processes, policies, or technology rollouts, ensuring high adoption across internal stakeholders and external suppliers.

• Create clear, UX friendly procurement processes and playbooks that ensure compliance whilst balancing agility and speed.

• Design and deploy a comprehensive matrix of corporate buying channels (including punch-outs, hosted catalogs and guided buying pathways). Ensure these channels are UX friendly, intuitively structured to automatically route spend to Wise's preferred suppliers to minimize maverick buying, and maximize touchless processing across the organization.

1. Vendor Risk & Compliance

• In partnership with Third Party Risk and key SMEs, ensure our Procurement process operates within a robust Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) framework suitable for a regulated financial entity.

• Ensure all operational procurement activities align with financial regulations (e.g., SOX, SOC2, FCA, GDPR, DORA, where applicable).

• Manage the operational lifecycle of critical vendors, tracking SLAs, performance, and compliance metrics.

• Procurement Controls Management: Design, implement, and monitor procurement operational controls, conducting regular self-assessments to detect and remediate control gaps prior to formal audits.

• Compliance Automation: Partner with TPRM and TPM Tech to automate compliance checks within the S2P process to minimize human error and manual overheads.

1. Stakeholder Enablement & Culture

• Act as the primary bridge between key stakeholders involved in the S2P process e.g Finance, Legal, InfoSec, and budget holders.

• Train the organization on how to buy goods and services efficiently, shifting the perception of procurement from a "blocker" to an enabler.

Skills & qualifications

• Procurement Operations Background: 4+ years of procurement operations experience, ideally within a fast-paced Fintech, SaaS, or high-growth technology environment.

• Greenfield Exposure: Proven experience being part of a procurement transformation or building a procurement operation from scratch is highly desirable.

• Systems Expert: Deep hands-on experience implementing or heavily managing modern e-Procurement/S2P platforms (e.g., Omena, Zip, Coupa, Zip, Business Central).

• Data-Driven: Advanced proficiency in data analytics, spend analysis, and Excel/BI tools to turn raw data into actionable insights.

• The "Builder" Mindset: You are comfortable building out processes and operationalise for BAU.

• Agile Communicator: Ability to speak the language of technical stakeholders, Compliance, and the senior stakeholders alike.

• Problem Solver: You don't just identify process bottlenecks; you automate them away.