Director of Strategic Procurement

Job description

About Persona Persona https://withpersona.com/ is the configurable identity platform built for businesses in a digital-first world. Verifying individuals and organizations is harder — but more important — than ever, with AI enabling fraudsters to launch sophisticated accounts at scale and regulations evolving rapidly. We’ve built Persona to support practically every use case and industry — that’s why we’re able to serve a wide range of leading companies. For example, Reddit relies on Persona for age assurance and verification to comply with online safety regulations, protecting younger users while maintaining a seamless experience. Meanwhile, OpenAI relies on Persona to keep bad actors out, protecting one of the world’s most powerful AI platforms from large-scale abuse in a time when AI is reshaping the way we work and live. We’re growing rapidly and looking for exceptional people to join us! ABOUT THE ROLE We're looking for a Director of Strategic Procurement to own Persona's highest-impact vendor relationships and contracts. This is a senior individual contributor role reporting to our VP of Finance but sitting at the intersection of Product, Engineering, and Finance — focused on the contracts that truly move the needle for the business. You'll work directly with executive leadership, leading end-to-end negotiations for our largest infrastructure, product, and data partnerships. This isn't a role for managing a sprawling portfolio of small contracts — you'll be the person in the room when it matters most, negotiating agreements that shape Persona's product capabilities and long-term financial trajectory. If you're someone who is genuinely passionate about procurement, thrives on finding mutual value, and loves doing right by the business while working alongside a strong team — this is a rare and exciting opportunity. WHAT YOU'LL DO AT PERSONA Strategic Procurement & Contract Leadership - Own end-to-end procurement for Persona's most significant contracts — from product and infrastructure technology to large-scale data partnerships - Lead commercial and legal negotiations to secure favorable pricing, SLAs, and risk protections on high-value, high-complexity agreements - Partner with Legal to drive contract review and manage redlines with vendors - Build and maintain internal vendor tracking systems across all product and platform offerings - Continuously evaluate vendor pricing, performance, and opportunities to consolidate or optimize spend Financial Planning & Renewal Management - Partner with Finance to develop annual budgets for third-party spend and track actuals against forecasts - Provide clear visibility to budget owners on spend trends, renewal timelines, and savings opportunities - Own the renewal calendar, ensuring proactive negotiations and stakeholder alignment well ahead of contract deadlines Cross-Functional Partnership - Work directly with Product, Engineering, and Finance leadership to understand long-term technical requirements and roadmap needs - Lead vendor business reviews to ensure alignment on deliverables, service levels, and strategic value - Serve as the primary point of contact for vendors and senior internal stakeholders WHAT YOU'LL BRING TO PERSONA - 8+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, or vendor management — ideally in a technology, SaaS, or data-heavy environment - Track record of leading and closing high-value, complex contracts (infrastructure, data, or platform agreements) - Strong financial acumen with experience in budget tracking, cost modeling, and spend optimization - Excellent negotiation skills with the ability to find creative deal structures that serve both Persona and its vendors - Comfortable operating at the executive level and with technical stakeholders — able to translate complex product and engineering requirements into procurement strategy - Exceptional project management skills with the ability to juggle multiple high-stakes negotiations and renewals simultaneously - Strong written and verbal communication and relationship-building skills — both with vendors and internal partners NICE TO HAVE - Experience with SaaS and data licensing agreements - Familiarity with privacy, data protection, and compliance considerations (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2, DPA) - Background scaling procurement processes at a fast-growing tech company This position is based in San Francisco. We are in the office Tuesday through Thursday, with the option to work from home on Monday and Friday. For candidates based outside of the San Francisco Bay Area, remote work is also an option for this position. Benefits and Perks For full-time US-based employees (excluding internship and contractor opportunities), Persona offers a wide range of benefits, including medical, dental, and vision, 3% 401(k) contribution, unlimited PTO, quarterly mental health days, family planning benefits, professional development stipend, wellness benefits, among others. For full-time UK employees, Persona offers a wide range of benefits, including private medical insurance, dental insurance, a 6% employer pension contribution, unlimited PTO, a monthly wellness stipend, professional development stipend, co-working stipend, and more. As part of our interview process, all candidates will be asked to verify their identity with Persona. This step is used solely to confirm that candidates are who they say they are, and will have no impact on hiring decisions.