Procurement director · job description template

Procurement director job description

The short answer · updated 3 October 2026

A procurement director job description sets out the senior role that owns how a company buys goods and services. The core responsibilities are the procurement strategy and category plans, sourcing and negotiating major contracts, supplier performance and supply risk, procurement policy, ethics and compliance, and reporting value delivered to the CFO, COO or chief executive.

Hire a procurement director →Book 15 minutes

Job purpose

Start with why the role exists now. A procurement director makes sure the business buys what it needs at the right cost, quality and risk, from suppliers it can rely on, within the law and its own controls. For the role itself, see what does a procurement director do.

Then name the problem the next procurement director has to solve: costs rising faster than revenue, spend that nobody can see, a supplier failure, contracts expiring at once, or a new regulatory or public-sector duty. Acas publishes an outline job description template whose headings (the main duties and who the post reports to) suit the role.

Key responsibilities

Order the duties by importance and start each with a verb. A typical procurement director job description covers:

setting the procurement strategy from the business plan, with category plans for the largest areas of spend;
analysing spend and finding where cost, quality or risk can be improved;
running sourcing and tenders, and negotiating the major contracts;
managing key suppliers against agreed performance measures, and resolving disputes;
assessing supply risk and keeping continuity plans for critical suppliers;
writing procurement policy, delegated authority limits and the controls that enforce them;
setting the ethics standard for buyers: no inducements beyond declared gifts of nominal value, and personal interests declared, as the CIPS Code of Conduct requires of members;
leading the supply chain due diligence behind the annual modern slavery statement that section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires of certain organisations;
working with sustainability, finance and legal on supplier standards and contract terms;
reporting savings, value and supplier performance to the leadership team;
leading, hiring and developing the procurement team.

Reporting line and scope

A procurement director usually reports to the chief financial officer, the finance director or the chief operating officer, and sometimes to the chief executive. In a large group, a chief procurement officer may sit above divisional procurement directors. Category managers, buyers, contract managers and procurement operations report in. List what reports to the role and which spend it controls.

Say whether the role buys for a public body or sells to one. The Procurement Act 2023 is now in force and sets the rules all public bodies must follow when they buy goods and services, with powers to exclude and debar suppliers. A procurement director in the public sector runs procurements under the Act; one in a supplier needs to understand it to win public contracts. Where operations and supply chain sit together, the brief borders an operations director’s.

Skills, experience and qualifications

No qualification is required by law to be a procurement director, but many employers ask for MCIPS, membership of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, which CIPS describes as the globally recognised standard for the profession. Ask for experience of the procurement problem the company has now, described specifically, rather than a count of years.

experience leading procurement at a comparable level of spend, in a comparable sector;
a record against the specific problem: a cost programme, a category rebuilt, a supply base consolidated, a supplier failure handled;
negotiating contracts at the size the role will handle;
spend analysis and reporting that finance can rely on;
supplier risk, continuity and due diligence;
MCIPS, or the route to it: the CIPS Level 6 Professional Diploma is aimed at senior procurement professionals, and the Management Entry Route is designed for them;
public procurement knowledge where the role buys for, or sells to, the public sector.

Fractional procurement director job description

A fractional procurement director works a set number of days a week or month, so the job description narrows. Name the days, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months (spend visible, a procurement policy agreed, the largest contracts renegotiated, a category manager hired), what the role owns and who signs off purchases on the days they are not there.

Where procurement sits inside a wider operations brief, see fractional operations director jobs.

A fractional procurement director working through their own company may fall within the off-payroll working rules (IR35). Status depends on how the engagement runs in practice, not on the wording of the job description, and a medium or large client makes the determination. Our IR35 guide sets out the tests.

Interim and permanent versions

Interim. An interim procurement director works full-time for a fixed period, so the job description leads with the situation (a cost programme, a supplier crisis, a major retender, or cover while the permanent search runs) and the date or event that ends the assignment. See interim procurement jobs.

Permanent. The permanent version looks further ahead: the category strategy, the supply base and the team over several years. When the procurement director is hired as an employee, the job title or a description of the work goes into the written statement of employment particulars they must have on the first day, so keep the two consistent. See procurement director jobs for the roles open now.

We recruit fractional, interim, part-time, temporary and permanent executives, and non-executive directors. For a procurement director brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after our five-stage vetting.

A template you can copy

Copy these headings and write one short block under each. Keep pay out of the job description and state it in the offer.

Job title: procurement director, and whether the role is fractional, interim, part-time or permanent.
Reports to: the CFO, finance director, COO or chief executive; list the teams that report to the role and the spend it controls.
Purpose: two or three sentences on why the role exists now and the result it must deliver.
Responsibilities: eight to twelve duties, each starting with a verb, in order of importance.
Requirements: essential and desirable experience, described specifically, and MCIPS or another qualification only where the job needs one.
Terms: full-time or days a week, sites and travel, start date, fixed term or permanent, and the pay basis (salary or day rate).

Questions people ask

What should a procurement director job description include?

The job title and type of engagement, who the role reports to and which teams report in, the spend it controls, the purpose, the key responsibilities, the experience and skills required, and the terms. Put the procurement problem the role must solve at the top.

How long should a procurement director job description be?

Long enough to cover purpose, responsibilities, reporting line, requirements and terms, and short enough to read in a few minutes: one to two pages is usually enough. Spend data and the contract pipeline belong in the candidate pack and the interviews.

Does a procurement director need MCIPS?

Not by law, but many employers ask for it or for progress towards it. CIPS offers several routes to MCIPS, including its professional qualifications and a Management Entry Route designed for senior procurement professionals.

How is a fractional procurement director job description different?

It names the days a week or month, the outcomes expected over the first six to twelve months and who signs off purchases in between. Where procurement sits inside a wider operations role, see fractional operations director jobs.

What does a procurement director earn?

It depends on the spend under management, the sector, the location and whether the role is permanent, interim or fractional. We publish no procurement director salary figure because we have no sourced one; on every shortlist we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate.

How do I hire a procurement director?

Define the procurement problem, choose between permanent, interim, part-time and fractional, write the job description around that problem, and test every candidate against it. See procurement director jobs; we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.