Job DescriptionWe are seeking a motivated and results-driven Strategic Sourcing Associate to join and help build a centralized sourcing function within our organization. This role will be instrumental in designing and executing sourcing strategies across all indirect categories, including trading platforms, cloud services, artificial intelligence, and infrastructure. The ideal candidate will bring financial services expertise, strong vendor negotiation and stakeholder engagement skills, and a passion for building scalable, innovative, value-driven sourcing capabilities from the ground up.
Responsibilities- Support a centralized sourcing function, including operating model, governance, tools, and analytics.
- Develop and execute sourcing strategies for all indirect categories. Candidate must have a strong understanding of technology specifically around: Trading systems and market data platforms, Cloud services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS), Infrastructure, cybersecurity, and enterprise IT, and Artificial intelligence (LLMs, consumption-based models).
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders to develop category plans, preferred supplier lists, and vendor segmentation strategies.
- Manage RFPs, vendor evaluations, and contract negotiations to drive cost savings, innovation, and risk mitigation.
- Establish and manage vendor performance frameworks, including SLAs, KPIs, and compliance monitoring.
- Create and maintain internal communications, SharePoint sites, and dashboards to ensure transparency, alignment, and stakeholder engagement.
- Partner with Business Functions, Finance, Legal, and Risk teams to ensure sourcing strategies align with business goals and regulatory requirements.
- Stay ahead of market trends, emerging technologies, and procurement best practices.
Qualifications- 4+ years of strategic sourcing experience, with at least 3 years in financial services or capital markets.
- Proven success in independently executing sourcing activities and supporting the development of sourcing capabilities, ideally in a matrixed or global environment.
- Solid expertise in technology sourcing, including cloud, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and trading platforms.
- Thorough understanding of contract law, licensing models, and regulatory frameworks (e.g., FINRA, SEC, GDPR).
- Demonstrated experience with procure-to-pay (P2P) platforms, ideally Coupa, Ironclad, and/or Zip, including optimization and reporting.
- Effective negotiation skills and tactics, with a track record of managing complex, high-value vendor agreements.
- Robust analytical and financial modeling capabilities to support sourcing decisions, cost-benefit analysis, and scenario planning.
- Familiarity with leveraging artificial intelligence technologies in routine activities, including major LLMs (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini).
- Experience with vendor management, category planning, and procurement analytics.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; ability to operate independently and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Bachelor's degree required; MBA or relevant certifications (e.g., CPSM, CIPS) preferred.
Salary range: $100,000-115,000 + annual discretionary bonus #LI-EK2
