Director of Procurement

Thayer Infrastructure Services Group

Location: Central Ohio (hybrid; travel to operating company locations as needed)

Reports to: Chief Financial Officer

Department: Finance

Position Summary

Thayer Infrastructure Services (TIS) Group is a growing platform of utility, fiber, and wireless infrastructure construction companies. As the platform has scaled, purchasing has remained decentralized across our operating companies. We are creating a central procurement function to bring visibility, discipline, and leverage to company-wide spend on materials, equipment, subcontractors, and indirect goods and services.

The Director of Procurement will build this function from the ground up: establishing procurement policy, consolidating vendors, negotiating platform-wide agreements, and partnering with operating company leaders to capture savings without slowing down the field. This is a hands-on builder role for someone who can both set strategy and personally run the first wave of negotiations.

Key Responsibilities

Build the Function

• Design and implement a central procurement operating model appropriate for a multi-entity construction platform, balancing central leverage with operating company autonomy and field responsiveness
• Establish procurement policies, approval thresholds, and competitive bidding requirements, integrated with the company's existing purchase order process and spend management platform
• Develop spend visibility and reporting across all operating companies using ERP and spend data; establish baseline spend by category and identify savings priorities

Strategic Sourcing and Vendor Management

• Lead sourcing and negotiation for major spend categories, including construction materials (wire, cable, conduit, fiber, poles, hardware), equipment and equipment rental, fuel, fleet parts and services, PPE and safety supplies, small tools and consumables, and indirect categories (IT, facilities, professional services)
• Consolidate the vendor base across operating companies; negotiate master agreements, rebate programs, and preferred pricing that individual operating companies can draw on
• Establish vendor qualification, onboarding, and performance management standards, including insurance, safety, and compliance requirements for suppliers and subcontractors
• Partner with operations leadership on subcontractor procurement standards and rate benchmarking

Purchasing Operations

• Oversee day-to-day purchasing support to operating companies, including PO compliance, exception handling, and buyer support as the function scales
• Drive adoption of procurement processes in the field through training, tools, and clear escalation paths; measure and report PO compliance and maverick spend
• Coordinate with accounts payable on vendor master data integrity, payment terms optimization, and three-way match discipline

Working Capital and Cost Performance

• Own procurement's contribution to EBITDA and working capital: negotiated savings, payment terms, and rebate capture
• Establish and report a savings measurement methodology credible to Finance and operating company leadership
• Support M&A integration by extending procurement programs to newly acquired companies

Qualifications

Required

• 10+ years of progressive procurement/supply chain experience, with at least 3 years leading a procurement function or major category portfolio
• Experience in construction, utility services, industrial services, or another field-based, project-driven business; comfort with decentralized operations and field culture
• Demonstrated track record of building or significantly upgrading a procurement function, with quantified savings results
• Strong negotiation skills across materials, equipment, and services categories
• Working knowledge of procure-to-pay processes and systems; ability to partner effectively with accounting on controls
• Strong analytical skills; able to build spend baselines and business cases from imperfect data
• Bachelor's degree in supply chain, business, finance, engineering, or related field

Preferred

• Experience in a private equity-backed or high-growth multi-entity environment
• Experience with NetSuite and spend management platforms (e.g., Ramp, Coupa)
• Materials management or inventory oversight experience
• CPSM, CSCP, or similar certification
• M&A integration experience

Success Measures (First 12-18 Months)

• Complete platform-wide spend baseline and category strategy within first 120 days
• Deliver measurable negotiated savings against baseline in top spend categories
• Achieve target PO compliance rates across operating companies
• Consolidate vendor count in targeted categories with master agreements in place

Why This Role

This is a rare opportunity to build a procurement function from a blank sheet at a well-capitalized, rapidly growing infrastructure platform. The role has direct CFO sponsorship, board visibility, and a clear mandate. The right candidate will see their work show up directly in EBITDA and will grow with the platform as it continues to scale organically and through acquisition.

To Staffing and Recruiting Agencies: Our company does not accept unsolicited CVs or applications from agencies. We are not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited CVs or applications and explicitly reserve the right to contact candidates presented in such unsolicited CV or application.