Procurement Manager - (Marketing Focus)

Job description

**About us** The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, globally recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy, with a mission to deliver quality information and services worldwide. At the FT, curiosity thrives and ambitious thinking is rewarded. Here, you’re given the chance to reach millions, create work that matters and deliver impartial journalism in a polarised world. In our warm, collaborative culture, you’ll connect with a diverse community of experts who support your growth, career aspirations and wellbeing. Your future at the FT will be filled with opportunities that challenge and inspire you. With no fixed path, you’ll discover new skills and forge a career that can take you anywhere. *Build a newsworthy career at the FT.* **Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion** We believe in the power of unique perspectives and want all voices in our organisation to be heard, respected and valued. A supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves and operate to their full potential. We are committed to removing barriers for everyone, with a focus on addressing those faced by underrepresented groups. #### The Team The Procurement function has a group-wide remit and forms part of the Global Finance team. It is responsible for delivering a transparent and effective procurement approach across the FT Group, ensuring integrity and fairness in supplier selection, robust commercial negotiations, and strong governance and supplier management practices. The implementation of the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) lifecycle has created significant opportunities for Procurement to drive greater visibility of spend, improved data quality and more informed decision-making across the business. This role will contribute to the next phase of Procurement’s evolution by helping leverage the FT Group’s collective buying power through coordinated sourcing strategies, preferred supplier frameworks and more effective group-wide commercial negotiations. Based in London, the Procurement Manager will play a key role in delivering procurement activity across priority business areas including the Commercial Client Group (CCG), Product & Technology (P&T), and Reader Revenue Group (RRG). This role has a strong focus on marketing and professional services procurement, requiring experience sourcing and managing agencies and consultancy providers across areas such as creative, media, social media and digital marketing. Experience supporting procurement activity for events-related spend, including venues, hotels, AV and production services, would also be advantageous. The successful candidate will combine strong sourcing and commercial capability with excellent stakeholder engagement skills, partnering with senior stakeholders across the business to deliver commercially robust and strategically aligned procurement outcomes. We are looking for someone who is commercially curious, forward-thinking and comfortable using technology and AI-enabled tools to improve procurement efficiency, market analysis, sourcing activity and contract management processes. #### Key Responsibilities - Lead end-to-end procurement activity across assigned categories and business areas, including sourcing strategy development, RFP execution, supplier evaluation and commercial negotiations - Partner with stakeholders across Reader Revenue Group (RRG), Commercial Client Group (CCG) and Product & Technology (P&T) to support a diverse range of procurement requirements - Build trusted relationships with stakeholders up to Director level, influencing decision-making and driving commercially effective outcomes - Develop and execute sourcing strategies that optimise total cost of ownership and deliver sustainable value - Challenge and shape business requirements to ensure alignment with group priorities and procurement best practice - Manage contract lifecycle activity including renewals, renegotiations and risk mitigation initiatives - Apply supplier management frameworks and support governance and supplier performance activities - Collaborate with Finance teams to identify, track and validate savings and value delivery opportunities - Use Coupa to manage sourcing and contracting processes while supporting stakeholders and suppliers in its effective use - Conduct market research and supplier analysis to inform sourcing decisions and negotiation strategies - Support continuous improvement initiatives across procurement processes, governance and reporting #### Required Skills and Experience - Proven procurement experience across marketing, professional services and/or indirect spend categories - Strong experience sourcing and managing marketing agencies, consultancy providers or related suppliers - Demonstrated ability to manage complex sourcing activities and commercial negotiations - Excellent stakeholder management and business partnering skills, with experience engaging senior stakeholders - Strong analytical and commercial acumen, with the ability to interpret spend data and market insights to support decision-making - Experience handling contract negotiations, supplier management and procurement governance processes - Comfortable working across multiple business areas and managing competing priorities - Strong communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear recommendations - Experience using procurement systems and sourcing tools such as Coupa or similar platforms - Interest in procurement innovation and emerging technologies, including AI-enabled tools and digital procurement practices #### Desirable - Experience supporting procurement activity across events-related categories including venues, hotels, AV and production services - Exposure to technology, SaaS or data supplier procurement - Experience working within a matrixed or global organisation - Familiarity with procurement transformation, P2P processes or procurement analytics initiatives **What’s in it for you? Our benefits** Our benefits vary by location but we are committed to providing best-in-class perks across all our offices. These include generous annual leave, medical cover, inclusive parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships and opportunities to give back to the community. Full details of our benefits are available [here.](https://aboutus.ft.com/careers/benefits) We currently operate a hybrid model which requires staff to work onsite 50% of the time, subject to role requirements & regular review. While flexible working requests will be considered, not all patterns are suitable for all roles. We believe this balanced approach supports flexibility and protects our culture, making collaboration and communication easier, building stronger relationships and team cohesion, and supporting peer learning. We reserve discretion on reasonable notice to change this approach either generally or for specific individuals or teams. **Accessibility** We are a disability confident employer and Valuable 500 signatory. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments/personalisation as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements or have any questions, email [talent@ft.com](https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=talent@ft.com) and a member of our team will be happy to help. **Further information** At the FT, we embrace innovation and the use of technology and appreciate that individuals may leverage AI tools as part of their job application process. Whilst we are happy for you to use AI to assist with your application, it is essential that all information provided is authentic and accurately represents your skills, experience, and qualifications. Candidates should be aware that the use of AI throughout the application process may be monitored to ensure a fair and transparent hiring process for all. Please beware of fraudulent job postings and offers claiming to be from the Financial Times. All legitimate opportunities will direct you to apply through the official Financial Times careers site, and the FT will never ask for financial information, payments, or referrals to third parties during the hiring process. If you have any concerns about the legitimacy of a job posting or suspect any scam activity, please contact [talent@ft.com](mailto:talent@ft.com). Interested in the FT but don’t see the right role yet? Join our [Talent Community](https://aboutus.ft.com/careers/stay-connected) to receive exclusive updates, featured jobs, and insights into working at the FT. #LI-KF1