Director of Procurement & Vendor Management

We're excited to be partnering with a leading institution in the UAE that is building a digital-first, AI-enabled financial services organisation from the ground up. This is a unique opportunity to join at an early stage and help shape the people, operational, and service foundations of a business with significant institutional backing and long-term ambition. If you're passionate about HR operations, payroll excellence, and creating exceptional employee experiences, we'd love to hear from you.Role Purpose:Leads the bank’s end-to-end procurement, category management, and vendor lifecycle management function. Establishes an AI-enabled, controlled capability that sources launch-critical services and governs third-party and outsourcing risk from Day 1. Key responsibilities:Design and implement the procurement and vendor-management target operating model, policies, delegations, source-to-pay processes, and supporting technology. Lead category-management resources and set category strategies, sourcing pipelines, and savings and value targets across the spend portfolio. Direct major sourcing events, including RFP design, evaluation, negotiation, and contracting for launch-critical services. Establish a vendor-lifecycle framework covering due diligence, risk-tiering, onboarding, contract management, performance reviews, issue escalation, and exit planning. Own outsourcing governance, including materiality assessments, the outsourcing register, regulatory notifications, and critical-third-party oversight. Embed third-party risk management with Risk, Compliance, Information Security, and Finance across financial, operational, concentration, data-protection, and continuity risks. Define and report procurement KPIs, including savings, cycle times, contract coverage, vendor performance, and risk metrics. Act as senior escalation point for strategic vendor performance failures, commercial disputes, and contract renegotiations. Champion approved AI, analytics, and automation in source-to-pay activities, including spend analytics, contract intelligence, and vendor monitoring.Required Skills & Experience: 12+ years in procurement, sourcing, or vendor management within banking or financial services, including senior leadership of a procurement and vendor management team. Deep expertise in category management, strategic sourcing, complex contract negotiation, vendor lifecycle management, and third-party risk. Proven record building procurement policies, source-to-pay processes, vendor-governance frameworks, and outsourcing controls in a regulated environment. Strong knowledge of relevant CBUAE outsourcing expectations and applicable third-party risk and information-security standards. Exposure to AI-enabled procurement tooling, spend analytics, contract intelligence, and advanced supplier analytics.Qualifications & Certifications (Preferred)Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, engineering, or a related field; relevant postgraduate qualification preferred. Professional procurement certification (for example, CIPS or CPSM) preferred. CBUAE Fit & Proper requirements and any applicable controlled-function eligibility criteria, where required.Ready to join us? Apply today and take the next step in your career.