Director of Procurement

About the role

The is responsible for architecting and owning the company's procurement function from first principles, establishing the strategic policies and governance that allow rapid growth without sacrificing financial discipline or risk control. This role partners directly with the executive team to ensure every purchasing decision aligns with Headway's mission of expanding access to mental healthcare by optimizing how the company acquires and manages third-party resources. The Director will define the end-to-end procurement lifecycle, integrating strategy, vendor relationships, cost optimization, and tooling into a single coherent operating system. You will translate the needs of Finance, Legal, IT, Security, and Compliance into practical frameworks that department leaders can follow without slowing execution. Success in this role means Headway can scale its operations, enter new partnerships, and invest in platform infrastructure with confidence, predictability, and transparency. You will be measured not only on cost savings but on the speed, quality, and reliability of the procurement function that supports the entire business.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Define and own the procurement strategy and policy framework for Headway, including intake workflows, approval hierarchies, vendor selection criteria, spend controls, and governance processes that scale with a high-growth organization.
• Build and manage the vendor lifecycle from sourcing and selection through contracting, negotiation, implementation, renewals, and performance management, ensuring every relationship is structured for long-term value.
• Lead category management across all major spend vectors including SaaS platforms, AI services, cloud infrastructure, and professional services, using data-driven sourcing initiatives to uncover cost optimization and efficiency opportunities.
• Own the end-to-end procurement process for high-stakes vendor negotiations and renewals, stepping in directly on strategic decisions that impact operational velocity, budget allocation, and risk exposure.
• Design, implement, and continuously optimize the procurement tooling stack, including intake systems, P2P platforms, contract lifecycle management, and vendor management software, to automate manual work and improve visibility.
• Establish and maintain spend visibility and reporting infrastructure that provides Finance and executive leadership with real-time insight into where money is flowing and where it should not.
• Act as the central procurement partner and trusted advisor to Finance, Legal, Compliance, IT, Security, and department leaders, balancing the need for speed and flexibility with rigorous cost discipline, risk management, and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and lead a procurement team over time, setting hiring standards, role definitions, clear lines of responsibility, and an organizational structure that can evolve alongside Headway's scale.
• Partner with Finance and Legal to standardize contract structures, terms, and compliance requirements, ensuring every vendor relationship protects the company while enabling efficient operations.
• Drive consistency in how purchasing decisions are made across the organization, reducing ad hoc buying, maverick spend, and redundant tools that do not align with platform strategy.
• Collaborate closely with Security and Compliance to evaluate vendor risk, data residency requirements, and regulatory obligations, embedding these considerations into procurement policy and vendor selection.
• Own key procurement KPIs such as cycle time, compliance rate, savings achieved, and coverage of critical vendors, using these metrics to guide process improvements and stakeholder education.
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives that require alignment on procurement priorities, ensuring IT, Finance, Legal, and department leaders work from a shared understanding of constraints and opportunities.
• Act as the primary escalation path for complex procurement scenarios, applying judgment and policy to resolve conflicts between operational urgency and financial or risk considerations.

Requirements

• You have built a procurement function from scratch in a previous role, owning intake processes, approval workflows, spend governance, and vendor controls, and you can point to examples where this function became a core part of how the business operated.
• You have deep category expertise across SaaS, AI, and professional services, understanding how buying patterns, contract terms, and pricing models differ across these categories and how to apply that knowledge at scale.
• You are obsessive about understanding exactly what an organization is buying, from whom, and whether the outcomes justify the spend, and you are comfortable moving fluidly between line-item contract details and category-level spend strategy.
• You have experience designing and implementing procurement tooling and operational infrastructure, including systems for intake, contract management, P2P, and vendor management, and you know how to optimize these tools for high-growth environments.
• You are comfortable making procurement decisions that balance speed with discipline, ensuring business teams can move fast while avoiding wasteful spend, maverick purchasing, and uncontrolled vendor proliferation.
• You have a track record of owning strategic sourcing initiatives and high-stakes negotiations, including SaaS renewals, enterprise contracts, and complex vendor relationships where cost, risk, and operational impact must be carefully balanced.
• You understand how to build reporting and dashboards that give Finance and executive leadership real-time visibility into third-party spend, contract obligations, and budget adherence across all procurement categories.
• You are experienced collaborating with Legal, Security, and Compliance to embed regulatory requirements, data protection standards, and vendor risk assessments into procurement policies and workflows.

Nice to have

• Experience in highly regulated industries where compliance and risk considerations are central to procurement decisions.
• Background working with mental healthcare, behavioral health, or mission-driven technology companies that prioritize access and affordability.
• Experience managing procurement in a fully remote or distributed organization, with practices that support async communication and clear documentation.

Practical notes

This role is full-time and remote. No additional travel, visa, or deadline information is provided in the source material.