Head of Procurement

The Team:

Upstarts Procurement team is a strategic enabler of innovation speed and cost discipline. Our team manages the full lifecycle of vendor engagementfrom strategic planning and supplier selection to onboarding contracting and performance oversightacross three core pillars: Procurement Operations Strategic Sourcing and Supplier Management. We partner closely with Legal InfoSec TPRM AP and our internal business stakeholders to deliver a seamless and scalable procurement experience that balances compliance cost and risk management.

Following a recent company-wide review of our procurement process we are embarking on a bold redesign to simplify intake and system approvals improve transparency and better align sourcing with business priorities. You will lead this transformation.

As the Head of Procurement at Upstart you will define and execute the strategic vision for procurement at Upstart. You will lead a high-performing team that combines operational precision with strategic sourcing expertise and be accountable for company-wide spend management procurement policy vendor governance and tool implementation. This is both a strategic leadership and hands-on execution roleideal for someone who can scale process technology and culture in a dynamic growth-stage FinTech environment.

You will work closely with Legal TPRM Information Security and Finance leadership to ensure the procurement process is efficient compliant and designed around business enablement. This role is critical to Upstarts ability to grow responsibly and move fast with the right partners.

The role reports to Upstarts Chief Accounting Officer.

How youll make an impact

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and lead a clear scalable procurement strategy aligned with Upstarts business priorities cost goals and risk frameworks.
• Champion a unified user-friendly procurement experience that minimizes friction and maximizes cross-functional collaboration.
• Drive transformation of procurement workflows and Procurement systems configuration ensuring end-to-end ownership and accountability.
• Establish procurement as a key business partner across departments through data-driven insights reliability and proactive service.

Sourcing & Category Management

• Guide sourcing strategy across all major categories: Technology (SaaS cloud software) Engineering Marketing HR Professional Services and Risk.
• Partner closely with FP&A and budget owners to influence planning forecasting and tradeoff decisions and deliver on cost savings and cost avoidance goals.
• Advocate for the Sourcing team with their work with Business teams to shape demand build sourcing plans and deliver value beyond cost (speed quality security sustainability).
• Negotiate complex enterprise contracts with a focus on optimizing commercial legal and cybersecurity terms.
• Partner with Legal and InfoSec to streamline standard templates and review paths for faster execution.

Supplier Management

• Build a comprehensive supplier governance programfrom onboarding and due diligence to performance monitoring and renewals in alignment with applicable financial services regulations.
• Integrate supplier management with work done by InfoSec and TPRM teams using a shared view of vendor data and lifecycles.
• Ensure alignment with SOX internal audit standards and public company reporting requirements.
• Lead efforts to expand and diversify Upstarts supplier base while ensuring operational continuity.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Lead coach and develop a growing team of procurement professionals.
• Foster a culture of accountability agility continuous improvement and strong business partnership.
• Advocate for processes and tools that empower internal teamsnot burden themand make it easier to get things done the right way.
• Promote learning and development in areas like category strategy negotiation and vendor relationship management.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelors degree in Business Supply Chain Finance or a related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 10 years of progressive procurement leadership experience including 5 years managing complex indirect spend in a tech-forward or regulated environment (e.g. FinTech financial services SaaS).
• Experience leading procurement in a public company and working across cross-functional compliance frameworks (Legal Security Risk Finance TPRM).
• Demonstrated success in transforming standardizing and digitizing procurement processesincluding intake approvals contract lifecycle and supplier performance.

Skills & Competencies

• Strategic thinker with hands-on execution skillsable to toggle between big-picture vision and operational detail.
• Deep expertise in strategic sourcing contract negotiation and category management.
• Strong knowledge of SOX controls vendor risk and the regulatory nuances of working in a public company.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skillsable to influence and partner across all levels from ICs to executives.
• Collaborative leader with high integrity a builders mindset and a passion for enabling great work through great systems.
• Strong process mapping and optimization mindset.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with procurement tools (e.g. Zip Ironclad SpendHQ or equivalents)

Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Time zone requirements The team operates on the East/West coast time zones.

Travel requirements As a digital first company the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are expected to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time.

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