The Procurement Operations Team Lead is responsible for supervising and coordinating the day-to-day activities of the Procurement Operations team. This role ensures the consistent execution of procurement policies, supplier onboarding, purchase requisition reviews, spot-buy activities, compliance controls, and support services for internal stakeholders and suppliers. The Team Lead serves as the primary operational escalation point, provides guidance and coaching to Procurement Operations Analysts, monitors team performance, and identifies opportunities to improve processes, systems, service quality, compliance, and total cost of ownership. The position works closely with Category Managers, business partners, Finance, Accounts Payable, suppliers, and other internal stakeholders to promote the use of preferred suppliers and ensure efficient procure-to-pay operations. This description expands the responsibilities and qualifications established in the attached Procurement Operations Analyst profile.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Team Leadership and Service Delivery

• Lead, coach, and support Procurement Operations Analysts in the execution of daily responsibilities.
• Assign and prioritize workloads to ensure requests are completed accurately and within established service levels.
• Monitor team productivity, quality, response times, and operational performance.
• Provide regular feedback, coaching, training, and development support to team members.
• Support onboarding and knowledge transfer for new employees.
• Promote a collaborative, inclusive, accountable, and customer-focused team environment.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for complex operational issues, purchase requisitions, policy exceptions, and supplier-related concerns.
• Escalate significant risks, compliance issues, or service disruptions to Procurement leadership when appropriate.

Procurement Operations

• Oversee the quality review of purchase requisitions to ensure compliance with procurement policies, required documentation, preferred-supplier strategies, and established business processes.
• Provide senior-level review and resolution for purchase requisitions requiring additional analysis or action.
• Coordinate and monitor supplier onboarding activities with internal stakeholders to ensure all documentation, approvals, and requirements are completed accurately and on time.
• Support Category Managers in maintaining supplier relationships and resolving operational issues.
• Oversee spot-buy activities and identify opportunities to generate savings, avoid unnecessary costs, and improve purchasing outcomes.
• Encourage and monitor spend with preferred and contracted suppliers.
• Ensure procurement transactions are processed efficiently and in accordance with company policies and controls.

Compliance and Governance

• Drive compliance with the No PO, No Pay policy by partnering with end users, Category Managers, Accounts Payable, Finance, and suppliers.
• Monitor recurring policy exceptions and identify appropriate corrective actions.
• Ensure the team follows procurement policies, approval requirements, standard operating procedures, and internal controls.
• Maintain accurate process documentation, work instructions, escalation procedures, and training materials.
• Support internal audits, compliance reviews, and procurement governance activities.
• Identify operational or compliance risks and recommend preventive and corrective actions.

Process Improvement and Operational Excellence

• Identify opportunities to improve procurement systems, workflows, controls, service delivery, and total cost of ownership.
• Lead or support process-improvement projects involving procurement operations and related business functions.
• Analyze recurring issues, request volumes, cycle times, error trends, and stakeholder feedback to determine root causes.
• Develop and implement corrective actions that improve efficiency, quality, compliance, and customer experience.
• Promote process standardization and consistent execution across the Procurement Operations team.
• Participate in system testing, implementation, automation, and procurement-transformation initiatives.
• Track the impact of process improvements and communicate results to Procurement leadership and stakeholders.

Stakeholder and Supplier Support

• Provide high-quality support and customer service to internal users and suppliers.
• Build strong partnerships with Category Managers, Finance, Accounts Payable, Legal, Compliance, and other business functions.
• Coordinate the resolution of procurement-related issues across multiple stakeholders.
• Communicate procurement requirements, processes, and policies clearly to end users and suppliers.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and provide timely updates regarding requests, escalations, and operational issues.
• Support collaboration with regional or global teams when applicable.

Performance Management and Reporting

• Establish and monitor operational metrics, including requisition quality, processing time, policy compliance, savings, backlog, escalations, and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Prepare regular reports and performance updates for Procurement leadership.
• Use operational data to identify risks, resource needs, training opportunities, and improvement priorities.
• Support the development and achievement of team goals, service-level agreements, and key performance indicators.
• Recognize strong performance and address performance gaps in partnership with management and Human Resources.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Strong people-leadership, coaching, and team-development capabilities.
• Solid understanding of procurement operations and procure-to-pay processes.
• Ability to organize, prioritize, and distribute work across a team.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to handle escalations and resolve complex operational issues.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to quality and compliance.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with ambiguity and make timely decisions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to plan, coordinate, and execute assigned projects.
• Strong conflict-resolution and stakeholder-management skills.
• Ability to build lasting relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Customer-service mindset with a focus on delivering practical and timely solutions.
• Ability to collaborate with team members and stakeholders from different functions, cultures, and professional backgrounds.
• Ability to identify process gaps and lead continuous-improvement initiatives.
• High level of professionalism, integrity, accountability, and confidentiality.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Finance, Operations, or a related field.
• Excellent communication skills in English (B2+ or higher) and ability to collaborate across functions and geographies.
• 4–6 years of experience in procurement operations, purchasing, sourcing support, supply chain, procure-to-pay, or a similar function.
• 1–2 years of experience leading employees, coordinating a team, acting as a senior analyst, or managing operational workflows.
• Experience reviewing purchase requisitions and ensuring compliance with procurement policies and approval processes.
• Experience supporting supplier onboarding and supplier-management activities.
• Experience working with Category Managers, business stakeholders, suppliers, Finance, or Accounts Payable.
• Demonstrated experience handling operational escalations and resolving complex issues.
• Experience identifying or implementing process improvements.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience working in a multinational, shared-services, or global business-services environment.
• Experience with procurement or ERP platforms such as SAP, Oracle, Coupa, Ariba, Jaggaer, or similar systems.
• Experience with purchase requisitions, purchase orders, supplier master data, invoice exceptions, and procure-to-pay controls.
• Knowledge of No PO, No Pay policies and preferred-supplier compliance.
• Experience monitoring service-level agreements, key performance indicators, and operational dashboards.
• Experience leading Lean, Six Sigma, automation, or continuous-improvement initiatives.
• Experience supporting internal audits, compliance reviews, or procurement-governance activities.
• Intermediate or advanced analytical and reporting skills.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Purchase requisition quality and accuracy.
• Requisition processing and resolution cycle time.
• Compliance with preferred suppliers and procurement policies.
• No PO, No Pay compliance.
• Supplier onboarding turnaround time and accuracy.
• Spot-buy savings and cost-avoidance results.
• Backlog volume and aging.
• Number and resolution time of escalated cases.
• Internal stakeholder and supplier satisfaction.
• Team productivity, quality, attendance, and development.
• Completion and measurable impact of process-improvement initiatives.

​Benefits:

• This is a hybrid position based in Ultra Park II, Lagunilla (Heredia). On-site presence is required only when necessary, such as for meetings, trainings, or collaborative activities, in alignment with the company’s telework agreement, which currently requires employees to work on-site three (3) days per week)
• Private Medical Insurance
• Asociacion Solidarista
• Life Insurance
• Personal Day Off

Note: Only candidates with Costa Rican nationality or valid immigration status will be considered; applicants residing outside Costa Rica will not be considered, and relocation is not available