Microsoft Regional Sourcing Lead MEP 

Ireland, Dublin 

913361835

Overview

• Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation (CO+I) is the team behind the cloud. We are responsible for delivering over 200 Microsoft web portals, Live and Online Services around the world including infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide. We are looking for a passionate, high-energy individual to help build the network that powers the world’s largest online services.
• Within CO+I, the Contracts Management team is responsible for establishing a construction services supply chain that can meet and deliver services to support the ever-growing growth of the Cloud and our customers. We support a portfolio of complex, multi-disciplinary, multi-billion, multi-year datacenter construction projects.
• We are looking to fill a critical role of Regional Sourcing Lead for Specialist Mechanical Electrical GC Services to support the procurement and contracts management of multiple substation development projects in support of our Data Center build program in EMEA. .
• In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.
• “Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.”

Master's Degree inComputer Science,, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND multiple years experience in, Data Science/Analytics, Finance, Project Management, Supply Chain, and/or Operations OR Bachelor's Degree inComputer Science,Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND multiple years experience inData Science/Analytics, Finance, Project Management, Supply Chain, and/or Operations OR equivalent experience.

Background Check Requirements:

Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings:

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Category Experience:

• Deep Construction Execution Experience in Supply Chain and Contracts Management is an absolute requirement for this role.
• Strong commercial understanding and experience of driving and developing key contractual components of categories (General Contractor, Civil Works Contracting, Architect / Engineer, Commissioning, Project Management, Cost Management and other construction services suppliers).
• Knowledge of Datacenter industry preferable and / or mission critical experience and experience managing a variety of project delivery methods – ability to collaborate with a project team in defining risk and developing the appropriate contracting and compensation approaches.
• Ability to work independently and within a matrixed environment; a self-starter and quick learner of Microsoft systems and processes.
• Experienced in the set up and management of category management plans to capture the long term business strategies for the General Contractor and with specific subject matter expertise in the Mechanical & Electrical Associated Sub-Categories.
• Strong analytical and presentation skills to succinctly report status in the achievement of OKR’s.
• Strong negotiation skills, ability to lead a cross functional team in the development of negotiation plans to drive positive outputs.

Sourcing

• Defines, maintains, and executes on sourcing strategies for one or more complex projects and/or purchasing opportunities to ensure optimal cost and sufficient continuity of supply and/or service, collects relevant internal and industry data to understand business requirements, benchmarks data against relevant markets, and shares industry and category expertise across stakeholder teams to develop and execute sourcing strategies.
• Integrates business specifications for complex purchasing areas into request for information (RFI) and/or request for proposal (RFP) processes. Collaborates cross-functionally to define and manage supplier scorecard criteria (e.g., key performance indicators [KPIs], Service Level Agreements [SLAs]), coordinates supplier performance reviews, and drives corrective actions. Actively partners with suppliers to identify and drive continuous improvement and risk management opportunities by evaluating procedural, operational, and/or environmental factors, analyzing root causes of issues, sharing insights with key stakeholders, and influencing the adoption of needed improvements.
• Manages contract and price negotiation activities for a single purchasing category cross-functionally and ensures that both price and capacity needs are met while also reflecting Microsoft's cross functional engagements with suppliers. Identifies cost reduction opportunities and works closely with suppliers to drive cost competitiveness.

Compliance

• Applies an end-to-end understanding of the tradeoffs between Microsoft and key suppliers to drive business impact by influencing senior managers cross-functionally, or cross-regionally to apply market intelligence and adopt practices that enable execution with consistency, accuracy, quality, and timeliness of delivery. Manages supplier scorecard process, leads strategic business reviews, educates stakeholders on policy compliance, analyzes root causes of issues, and influences change internally and/or externally to address issues.
• Ensures adherence to policy, educates stakeholders and suppliers on policy compliance, and manages the remediation and resolution of sourcing issues. Identifies opportunities to adapt policy as needed to mitigate risk and better enable suppliers to meet business requirements.
• Ensures consistency, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of deliverables, and ensures Procurement stakeholders are aware of Service Level Agreement (SLA) and/or defined milestones and deliverables terms. Communicates delay to Procurement stakeholders, and independently proposes and executes contingency measures.

Procurement and Contracts

• Processes or supports stakeholder procurement requests for complex purchasing categories via engagement and/or leveraging workflow process or technology, where applicable in support of product and service requirements. Manages the resolution of escalated pricing issues raised by other sourcing personnel.
• Executes contracts and complies with established control processes to ensure delivery and execution on contracts in alignment with business requirements. Identifies risks and roadblocks to contract execution and drives action internally and/or externally to resolve and/or escalate, as appropriate. Monitors the impact of change orders to the underlying business case, and partners cross-functionally to adjust impact models.
• Develops coherent sourcing strategies for early enabling works scopes across multiple geographies in EMEA building deep market knowledge through a network of sources in the industry. Accountable to lead engagement with potential supply chain and lead the onboarding process in collaboration with our partner teams in Land Development, Engineering and Construction.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Develops pricing and negotiation strategies for one or more complex purchasing categories, ensures that strategies clearly articulate the tradeoffs, roles, and responsibilities across parties, and gains senior executive support for strategies both internally and externally. Identifies negotiation setbacks and takes action to mitigate contract disagreements.
• Drives early business engagements for complex business areas or purchasing categories with cross-functional leadership including product design, quality, and business teams, to define and drive action on supply solutions and strategies, business requirements, optimal sourcing spend, and priorities. Shares expertise in advising cross-functional teams on sourcing decisions.
• Collaborates with suppliers, serves as contact point between suppliers and multiple Microsoft accounts across one or more complex purchasing categories, developing and executing supplier account plans detailing priorities and focus for the supplier relationship for the upcoming period.

Behavioural Attributes

• Can create clarity, generate energy, and deliver success; always be planning for the future.
• Have high integrity – must be ethical and strong value-based individual focused on fairness and maintaining confidentiality.
• Bring high energy – a drive to achieve results in midst of ambiguity and a matrix organization.
• Be a high performer – be able to fit the Microsoft “culture” by effectively multi-tasking and managing priorities; have a “sense of urgency” regarding issue resolution.
• Understand the importance of relationships inside the company and with our supply chain partners.
• Continuous Improvement - Always seek ways to streamline, automate, and simplify processes; includes deployment of tools, using data analytics and working with IT groups to define system requirements.