Senior Strategic Procurement Manager

Hours: Full-time 37 hours | Permanent

Draken believes in fair reward and recognition for our employees. As such, we offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including up to 12% matching pension contributions, bonus incentives, discounted PMI, electric car scheme, tech vouchers, wellbeing programmes and much more.

Location: Hurn

Hours: Full-time 37 hours | Permanent

Draken believes in fair reward and recognition for our employees. As such, we offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package including up to 12% matching pension contributions, bonus incentives, discounted PMI, electric car scheme, tech vouchers, wellbeing programmes and much more.

The Role

We are currently recruiting for a Senior Strategic Procurement Manager to provide early, proactive and commercially robust procurement leadership across bids, programmes and strategic initiatives. This is a key role within Draken, supporting the timely delivery of accurate procurement inputs, competitive pricing, sourcing strategies and supplier solutions that meet customer requirements, programme milestones and long-term business objectives.

Operating within an Integrated Delivery Team, the Senior Strategic Procurement Manager will act as the single focal point for Procurement and Supply Chain activity, providing clear leadership, coordination and accountability across bid, programme and supplier workstreams. The role will support the Head of Strategic Procurement, deputising when required, representing the function in senior forums, and coaching and mentoring Strategic Procurement Managers to strengthen capability, consistency and performance.

This role will suit someone who is confident operating in a complex, regulated and technical environment, with the ability to influence stakeholders, manage strategic supplier relationships and drive value through commercially sound procurement decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute procurement, sourcing and subcontract strategies that align with organisational goals, bid requirements, programme objectives and customer commitments.
• Lead procurement activity for major bids and programmes, ensuring timely delivery, robust governance and alignment to budget, schedule and customer requirements.
• Work closely with internal stakeholders across engineering, programmes, commercial, finance and the Integrated Delivery Team to understand technical, commercial and operational requirements.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with key suppliers and subcontractors to improve performance, competitiveness, delivery, quality and resilience.
• Lead supplier selection, tendering, proposal evaluation, negotiation and contract execution activity.
• Identify, assess and mitigate commercial, contractual and supply-chain risks throughout the procurement lifecycle.
• Ensure procurement activity complies with company policies, governance frameworks, legal requirements, ethical standards, information security and export control obligations.
• Capture validated savings, cost avoidance and value delivery in line with agreed methodologies and savings parameters.
• Champion procurement best practice, continuous improvement and capability development across the Procurement and Supply Chain function.

Experience / Skills / Qualifications

• Significant procurement, subcontract or supply-chain experience within a complex technical, engineering, aerospace, defence, aviation or regulated environment.
• Experience supporting major bids, programme delivery and cross-functional lifecycle reviews.
• Strong commercial negotiation capability, including supplier selection, tendering, contract execution, terms and conditions and customer flow-down requirements.
• Proven experience managing strategic suppliers, major subcontracts, supplier performance, supply-chain risk and continuity of supply.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to provide constructive challenge and clear recommendations to support informed business decisions.
• Good understanding of procurement governance, audit requirements, ethical sourcing and compliance standards.
• Analytical capability, including cost modelling, supplier performance reporting, risk assessment and use of procurement or supplier intelligence data.
• CIPS qualification, a relevant degree or equivalent professional experience would be desirable.

Whether it is adversarial support, electronic attack or customised rotary-wing training, we offer the most accurate and advanced readiness training in the industry. Our vast, differentiated fleet, cutting edge hardware and experienced instructors are engaged to help your mission take off.

Being ready is not only a matter of when. But where. We provide services in the UK, US and across the NATO countries. Making sure that our allies can manoeuvre around defeat and prepare to prevail.

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