Director, Strategic Sourcing - Technology

Key Duties & Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted thought partner to the SVP of DTE and other DTE senior leaders, aligning sourcing strategies to the enterprise DTE transformation vision and roadmap.
• Proactively shape and influence technology investment strategies, operating models, and partner selection decisions to enable transformative outcomes.
• Translate evolving DTE priorities (e.g., digital, data, AI/ML, engineering transformation) into forward-looking sourcing strategies and supplier ecosystem design.
• Embed Strategic Sourcing as a core enabler of transformation, shifting engagement upstream into strategy development versus downstream execution.

Category Strategy & Value Creation

• Define and lead multi-year, transformation-aligned category strategies across DTE spend areas, integrating innovation, scalability, and speed-to-value.
• Identify and utilize non-traditional value levers, including innovation access, capability building, speed acceleration, and risk reduction—beyond cost savings.
• Leverage deep market intelligence to position suppliers as strategic enablers of transformation.
• Establish KPIs that reflect business impact (e.g., time-to-deploy, innovation outcomes, platform scalability) in addition to financial metrics.

Strategic Sourcing & Commercial Outcomes

• Lead high-impact, complex sourcing initiatives that enable transformation programs, including cloud modernization, data platforms, and digital engineering.
• Design and negotiate innovative commercial models (e.g., outcome-based, consumption-based, co-investment, and partnership models) aligned to transformation goals.
• Move beyond traditional RFx approaches by deploying flexible, partnership-oriented sourcing strategies that prioritize capability, speed, and long-term value.
• Provide executive oversight on deal strategy, ensuring alignment with enterprise transformation objectives and risk tolerance.

Strategic Supplier Partnerships

• Design and operationalize a strategic partner ecosystem aligned to DTE transformation priorities, including global cloud providers, platform providers, and technology engineering partners.
• Establish deep, executive-level partnerships focused on co-innovation, roadmap alignment, and joint value creation.
• Lead governance models that enable continuous innovation, performance transparency, and strategic alignment with key suppliers.
• Drive intentional supplier consolidation and elevation, focusing on fewer, higher-impact strategic partners.

Business Partnering & Demand Management

• Act as a strategic thought-partner to DTE leadership, influencing demand, solution design, and sourcing approaches to maximize enterprise outcomes.
• Partner with stakeholders to reframe requirements from specifications to outcomes, enabling more innovative and flexible supplier solutions.
• Support make-versus-buy and build-versus-partner decisions in the context of long-term transformation goals.
• Ensure procurement is embedded in key transformation programs, investment decisions, and governance forums.

Risk, Compliance & Transformation Governance

• Balance innovation and speed with robust risk management, ensuring alignment with cybersecurity, data privacy, and third-party risk frameworks.
• Embed risk considerations into strategic partner selection and commercial models, particularly for emerging technologies and new delivery models.
• Establish governance mechanisms that support agility while maintaining compliance and control.

Leadership & Capability Evolution

• Lead, develop, and elevate a team of sourcing professionals to operate as strategic advisors and category leaders, setting clear expectations for performance, accountability, and impact aligned to the DTE transformation agenda.
• Define and drive capability development priorities across the team, including advanced commercial acumen, technology domain expertise (cloud, data, AI/ML, engineering), and executive stakeholder engagement, ensuring the team can effectively support complex, transformation-oriented initiatives.
• Establish clear prioritization frameworks and resource allocation models to focus team efforts on the highest-value transformation-critical initiatives, balancing speed, capacity, and business impact across a dynamic portfolio of work.
• Implement scalable tools, playbooks, and standardized ways of working that enable consistent, high-quality category management and sourcing execution across DTE, while allowing flexibility for strategic, partnership-driven engagements.
• Actively coach and mentor team members, providing hand-on guidance in strategy development, deal structuring, and stakeholder management to accelerate individual growth and elevate overall team performance.
• Foster a high-performance culture grounded in innovation, agility, and continuous learning, embedding data-driven decision making, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement as core ways of working.

Measures of Success

• Define and track KPIs that measure transformation impact, including innovation enablement, speed-to-market, and partner performance.
• Deliver measurable outcomes across the value creation continuum (e.g. cost, supplier innovation, and stakeholder satisfaction).
• Continuously refine sourcing strategies and supplier models to align with evolving transformation priorities.