Sourcing Professional Services - Senior Consultant

Role Purpose

The primary purpose is to deliver value-add sourcing services to clients in a structured, professional and consistent manner.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Intake, Requirement Gathering and Demand Shaping: Working with client stakeholders to define business needs, project scope, deliverables, timelines, budget expectations, and success criteria for the sourcing request
• Partnering with senior business leaders to shape and challenge demand before requirements are finalized, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities and optimized project design
• Translating business objectives into multi-year sourcing roadmaps and proactively surface strategic sourcing opportunities across the Professional Services portfolio
• Category Strategy Alignment And Continuous Optimization: Determining whether the request aligns with the broader professional services category strategy, preferred supplier programs, frameworks, and rate cards
• Ensuring all sourcing efforts reinforce global category strategies, preferred supplier frameworks, and governance models—while influencing updates where market conditions or business needs evolve
• Advanced Market Intelligence And Supplier Ecosystem Development: Conducting deep market analysis, including macro-trends, emerging delivery models, rate inflation drivers, and consulting/managed services landscape shifts
• Building and curating a high-performing supplier ecosystem, identifying strategic partners, niche providers, and innovation opportunities that align with future business requirements
• Strategic Sourcing Approach Design: Architecting sourcing strategies that maximize long-term value—leveraging performance-based structures, multi-phase competitive events, capability assessments, and alternative delivery models
• RFX Creation & Management (RFI/RFQ/RFP): Developing and issuing sourcing documents, including requirements, scoring criteria, commercial templates, and evaluation frameworks
• Leading complex, multi-round RFx events including strategic problem-statements, advanced scoring frameworks, risk overlays, and executive governance touchpoints
• Driving alignment across stakeholders and ensure evaluation criteria reinforce strategic priorities, innovation, and measurable outcomes
• Bid Evaluation & Analysis: Analyzing supplier proposals across cost, capability, risk, diversity, technical approach, delivery methodology, and compliance to determine best fit
• Identifying supplier-led innovation opportunities that create measurable competitive advantage for the client
• Financial Analysis & Cost Modeling: Performing rate benchmarking, TCO analysis, cost breakdown validation, negotiation preparation, and scenario comparison to drive savings and value
• Influencing business cases with TCO insights, ROI modeling, and financial risk assessments to guide executive approvals
• Supplier Shortlisting & Recommendations: Facilitating evaluation workshops with stakeholders to identify finalists and prepare recommendation decks documenting the sourcing decision
• Clearly articulating sourcing outcomes, tradeoffs, and long-term value potential
• Negotiation Strategy Leadership & Execution: Leading complex commercial and operational negotiations—including pricing, rate cards, milestones, SLAs, deliverables, and performance-based incentives
• Contract Development & Redlining: Driving completion of the SOW, MSA, or contract—overseeing redlines, aligning commercial terms, managing legal reviews, and resolving open issues
• Architecting contracts that optimize commercial outcomes, ensure supplier accountability, and protect the client from delivery, financial, operational, and regulatory risks
• Stakeholder Alignment & Governance Approvals: Ensuring alignment with business stakeholders, category leadership, finance, legal, and any required procurement governance boards
• Contract Execution & Documentation: Overseeing final signatures and archiving executed agreements in the contract management system
• Supplier Onboarding & Handover: Coordinating with vendor management, AP, and operational teams to ensure supplier onboarding, PO creation, kickoff readiness, and smooth transition post-contract

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, such as Business Administration, Supply Chain, Finance, or Economics
• Advanced degree preferred
• 8+ years of hands-on sourcing or procurement experience (including conducting commercial evaluations and contract executions)
• At least 4 years specifically in Professional Services category sourcing (e.g., consulting, HR services, employee benefits, training, legal services, audit, tax, or contingent labor)
• Prior experience collaborating with legal, finance, and global category teams
• A proven ability to manage suppliers and stakeholders (including executive-level stakeholders) across regional and cultural boundaries

What We Offer

• A comprehensive compensation and benefits package
• Chicago salary range: $110,000 – $145,000, plus annual discretionary bonus eligibility
• Total rewards include medical, vision, dental, 401(k), and extensive paid time off options