About SUNY Empire State College:

SUNY Empire State College was established in 1971 by Dr. Ernest Boyer as a distinctive statewide institution focused on innovative, nontraditional teaching and learning.

SUNY Empire is part of the State University of New York system and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. With headquarters in Saratoga Springs, New York, SUNY Empire primarily serves working adults pursuing associate, bachelor's and master's degrees online and onsite at locations in every region of the state and abroad.

The college's 50-year commitment to flexible, individualized learning is represented by faculty mentors who guide students throughout their academic studies, the ability for students to build individualized degree plans, the award of credit for learning gained from life and work experience, world-class academic and social student-support communities, and flexible course delivery methods that meet students' diverse learning preferences. The college boasts more than 89,000 successful alumni and partners with nearly 16,000 students each year who want to expand their personal and professional horizons.

SUNY Empire State College is committed to creating a multicultural, inclusive academic and work environment. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. We believe that a diverse faculty is critical to academic excellence and prepares students to live and work in an increasingly global world.

We are pleased to offer our employees a generous compensation and benefits package. We also offer professional-development activities for professionals and support staff, as well as faculty-development opportunities that encourage pursuit of disciplinary and community-focused research, scholarship of teaching and learning, and leadership development. Faculty-development opportunities include our annual Fall Academic Conference and the annual Institute on Mentoring, Teaching and Learning.

Job Description:

SUNY Empire State College seeks a full-time Senior Director of Procurement (State Title: Purchase Associate).

The Senior Director of Procurement reports directly to the Chief Financial Officer and is responsible for:

• Managing all procurement activity at SUNY Empire State College, including purchasing and accounts payable for facilities, information technology, marketing, student services, leased properties and all other areas of the college.
• Developing a purchasing strategy for short-term and long-term results, including an assessment of the college's current state, three-year future vision, and a phased transition plan for procurement.
• Implementing Jaggaer procurement software under the SUNY umbrella, by moving from manual approval and contractual documents to a completely paperless procurement system.
• Driving supplier cost and performance through rigorous KPI's though data driven scorecards.
• Overseeing competitive bid processes (RFP's, RFI's, and RFQ's) for all purchasing.
• Effectively managing supplier relationships to optimize service, quality, and cost.
• Ensuring savings initiatives spanning cost reduction, cost avoidance, revenue enhancement, rebates, etc. are accurately documented, reviewed, reported and transferred to the annual operating budgets and long-term strategic plans.
• Coordinating and recommending MWBE (Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises) sourced goods.
• Leading the development, negotiation, and execution of key contracts and vendor relationships.
• Developing contracts that drive value and support college requirements, including clearly defined requirements for goods and services, performance measurements and practices.
• Authoring or redlining contractual documents independently or in concert with legal; designing and revising templates as required.
• Ensuring valid contracts are in place before high quality, competitively bid goods or services are purchased via implementing standard terms & conditions.
• Effectively managing relationships with key vendors and college stakeholders by conducting regular business reviews.
• Evaluating suppliers through fair and thorough techniques and resolving contractual issues / concerns as they may arise.
• Initiating strategic vendor improvement and performance tracking and accountability to maintain contract compliance.
• Developing a departmental strategy, category sourcing plans, execution roadmap to identify opportunities that will provide best price, quality and value.
• Preparing presentations and analysis to support business cases to support recommendations and optimizing value.
• Building and maintaining a strong working knowledge of supply market conditions for the team around sourcing sub-categories that are being managed.
• Presenting findings to management regarding product and service opportunities.
• Conducting market analysis, benchmarking analysis and business needs assessments.
• Ensuring that targeted cost savings are achieved without placing the risk on the college's quality, outcomes, and timeline requirements.
• Reporting on savings on a periodic basis and how those achievements compare to targets.
• Assisting internal stakeholders, budget/cost center owners to identify and implement opportunities/processes to ensure the timely provision of goods and services.
• Developing and implementing continuous process improvement and leading practices.

Responsibilities include:

• Focused, action-oriented, forward-thinking and creative individual with high ethical standards.
• Leadership skills with a record of achieving results individually and through others.
• Able to communicate effectively both verbally and written.
• Ability to work cross functionally with peers and other business leaders.
• Organized, team player who is an effective influencer.
• Highly accomplished in developing and reporting key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Ability to manage multiple projects, concurrently, and manage priorities.
• Very seasoned with Supply chain / Sourcing /Procurement processes.
• Possess knowledge of Supply Chain / Sourcing / Procurement software and systems.
• Detail oriented, experience managing a team and eagerness to learn and embrace new approaches.
• Have strong interpersonal, analytical, organizational and technological skills.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to solve complex issues through data.
• Must have the highest level of integrity with a demonstrated ability to work with a diverse group of individuals in open collaboration environments.
• Superior attention to detail, accuracy, timeliness, and meeting deadlines.
• Must have excellent leadership, communication and presentation skills.

Requirements:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Procurement, Purchasing, Supply Chain Management or a 4-year technical degree in related discipline.
• Seven (7) or more years of progressively increasing responsibility in procurement, sourcing and vendor relationship experience, preferably in higher education or not-for-profit field.
• Experience with competitive bidding (RFI, RFP, RFQ), vendor selection, and vendor risk assessment.
• Contract management experience.
• Proficiency in MS Excel, Word, and MS PowerPoint; experience with e-Sourcing techniques is a plus.
• Able to design, compile, analyze and present scorecards and trackers to senior management.
• Strong communication skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Have significant experience with complex negotiations.
• Advanced problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Strong drive for results.
• Have great sense of urgency.

Preferred Qualifications:

• A Master's Degree in procurement, contract management, or related area.
• Experience working with procurement, supply chain, and contracts for colleges and not-for-profits is highly desirable.
• Experience in higher education system.
• Experience with procurement at SUNY schools.

Special Information:

• This position is located in Saratoga Springs, NY.
• VISA sponsorship is not available for this position.

Additional Information:

Rank/Salary: SL4/$85,000 (Commensurate with experience).

Empire State College is an EOE employer.

IF YOU NEED A DISABILITY-RELATED ACCOMMODATION, PLEASE CALL THE ADA COORDINATOR AT (518) 587-2100, ext. 2240. IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TITLE II CRIME AWARENESS AND SECURITY ACT, A COPY OF OUR CRIME STATISTICS IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST BY CALLING (518) 587-2100, ext. 2800. IT CAN ALSO BE VIEWED ON-LINE AT THE SAFETY AND SECURITY WEBSITE AT http://www.esc.edu/safety-security

Application Instructions:

Applications Due By: The review of Applications will begin immediately and will be accepted until position is filled.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please submit the following documents, which are required for consideration by clicking on the APPLY NOW button:

• Resume
• Cover letter
• Name and contact information of three references

See the FAQ for using our online system. Please contact us if you need assistance applying through this website.

Returning Applicants - Please click here to login to your Empire State College Employment Account to check your completed application or to update your account.