Assistant Director, Procurement Systems and Special Initiatives

at  California State University

Job no: 544189
Work type: Management (MPP)
Location: Chancellor’s Office
Categories: MPP, Administrative, At-Will, Full Time

CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE STATEMENT

Join our team at the California State University, Office of the Chancellor, and make a difference in providing access to higher education. We are currently seeking experienced candidates for the position of Assistant Director, Procurement Systems and Special Initiatives. The CSU Chancellor’s Office, located on the waterfront adjacent to the Aquarium of the Pacific in downtown Long Beach, is the headquarters for the nation’s largest and most diverse system of higher education. The CSU Chancellor’s Office offers a premium benefit package that includes outstanding vacation, health, and dental plans; a fee waiver education program; membership in the California Public Employees Retirement System (PERS); and 15 paid holidays a year.

POSITION INFORMATION

The California State University, Office of the Chancellor, is seeking an Assistant Director, Procurement Systems and Special Initiatives to support the management of end-to-end procurement processes and technology platforms that facilitate sourcing, purchasing, supplier management, and payment activities. This role will assist in implementing the strategic vision for CSU’s procurement systems, ensuring alignment with overall business goals, enhancing operational efficiency, and promoting continuous improvement in procurement practices.
The Assistant Director will work within a cross-functional team of procurement, accounts payable, finance, information technology professionals, and software implementation consultants. They will collaborate closely with stakeholders across the organization to help deliver a best-in-class procurement solution. The focus will be on the modular applications currently being configured for the single unified CSU instance of the Jaggaer digital platform, which will integrate with CSU’s ERP and other systems. This unified Jaggaer instance is designed to be a collaborative, systemwide web-based platform shared across the twenty-three campuses of the CSU and the Office of the Chancellor. The Assistant Director will play a key role in supporting the implementation, optimization, and adoption of this platform to meet the diverse needs of the CSU system.

QUALIFICATIONS

This position requires:

• A Bachelor’s degree from a four-year college or university with a degree in business, economics, finance, or public policy/administration or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
• Specific demonstrated applicable experience implementing, managing, or maintaining enterprise grade Source-to-Contract (S2C) and/or Procure to Pay (P2P) systems/suites such as Jaggaer, Oracle, SAP Ariba, Coupa, GEP, or equivalent is required.
• A minimum of five (5) years’ of progressively responsible experience in a purchasing, contracting, or a related area, and project and/or change management experience is required.
• Project and/or change management experience in managing, leading and implementing eProcurement or related systems is required.
• Strong written and oral communication skills required.
• Strong organizational, client service, and interpersonal skills required to work with a wide variety of internal campus personnel and external private entities such as small and large businesses and the ability to handle potentially sensitive contract administration situations and relationships required.
• Strong data manipulation and database management skills as well as spreadsheet and analytical skills required.
• Ability to work cohesively and cooperatively with management and co-workers and to achieve results quickly and accurately with minimum supervision required.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and direction required.
• Incumbent should be able to work overtime when needed.
• Ability to influence others and move toward a common vision or goal.
• Flexible and adaptable; able to work in ambiguous situations.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• A Master’s degree in public or business administration is preferred.
• Experience in public sector and/or higher education is highly preferred.
• Experience with ensuring compliance with State reporting or program regulations preferred.

Under the general direction of the Director, Source-to-Pay Solutions, the Assistant Director, Procurement Systems and Special Initiatives will:

• Serves as the subject matter expert (SME) and provide functional expertise for CFS.
• Provide leadership and direction with CFS implementations and upgrades.
• Analyze systems and processes to develop improved functionality and process flows and to recommend future system enhancements.
• Make critical decisions when needed with support from Director of Source-to-Pay and other key leaders.
• Provide input to strategic objectives as they related to procurement matters and lead efforts in response to CSU system initiatives.
• Assist in the design, development, and maintenance of Source-to-Pay software and other CSU systems to meet stakeholder business and informational needs.
• Support the operational level partnership with the campuses on the CSU systemwide S2P systems.
• Conduct training sessions for faculty and staff on systemwide procurement software applications.
• Provide day-to-day systems operational management, including and troubleshooting issues, evaluating/modifying global system configuration and test/validate configuration.
• Develop project and change management strategies including scope, goals and deliverables; resource requirements; project budget and timelines; training and documentation.
• Design communications plans that promote user adoption.
• Contribute to the analysis of CSU systemwide strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities, operational requirements, capability gaps, and organizational processes.
• Assist in developing and maintaining dashboards and reports to monitor procurement performance and compliance.
• Contribute to the successful delivery of CSU Procurement team goals through implementation of lean process improvements, automation of business practices, and enhancement of systems capabilities.
• Execute tasks aligned with the approved strategic vision to drive value and visibility in the organization. Participate in continuous improvement initiatives for all systems.
• Liaison with campus users and technical experts to translate business processes as well as acts as a key technical advisor to stakeholders including management
• Engage with various stakeholder groups including campus and systemwide leadership to inform and facilitate key decisions for global business and system processes
• Support systemwide supplier management team to ensure timely processing of supplier registration/profiles, validate supplier data as it relates to tax regulations and fraud prevention, and data integrity. Develop strategies to enhance the efficiency of process for team as well as suppliers.
• Special assignments as required.