Supplier Business Partner

The Senior Supplier Business Partner is a senior individual contributor accountable for managing a complex external workforce portfolio and ensuring strong outcomes for both the business and supplier ecosystem.

The role combines business partnering, workforce solutioning, supplier performance, commercial governance and transformation advisory. The Senior SBP Partner is expected to independently lead business conversations, understand technology/R&D capability requirements, guide businesses towards appropriate externalisation models, and demonstrate readiness for the SBP Lead role.

Act as a consultant and trusted partner to business leaders on workforce strategy, skills, capacity, supplier capability and externalisation.

Independently attend and lead business conversations, translating business priorities into workforce and supplier interventions.

Build strong understanding of IT/R&D skills, technology capabilities and evolving skill requirements relevant to the assigned portfolio.

Guide businesses in moving from transactional T&M models towards ODCs, Managed Services, Managed Teams/Pods and outcome-based delivery, where appropriate.

Challenge constructively and provide data-backed recommendations on workforce mix, supplier strategy, cost, capability and delivery risk.

Own the assigned external workforce portfolio end-to-end and ensure both business requirements and supplier commitments perform against agreed outcomes.

Drive fulfilment performance across demand ageing, time-to-fill, quality, conversion, onboarding and workforce continuity.

Maintain strong command of portfolio performance and proactively intervene before demand, supplier or operational issues become escalations.

Identify upcoming workforce, skill, capacity and delivery risks and initiate preventive actions with the business and suppliers.

Drive material issues from problem → root cause → recommendation → intervention → measurable closure.

Own supplier performance through structured governance, scorecards, performance conversations and regular reviews.

Hold suppliers accountable for fulfilment, quality, SLA, responsiveness, conversion, capability and committed outcomes.

Establish recovery/corrective-action plans for underperformance and independently drive closure.

Understand supplier strengths, specialisations and capability gaps and align the right suppliers to business requirements.

Develop supplier relationships that deliver measurable business value, capability, performance and continuous improvement.

Maintain oversight of POs, consumption, forecasts, provisions/accruals, commercial commitments and financial risks.

Ensure Fieldglass and associated workforce data are accurate, complete, current and reliable for decision-making.

Partner with Finance and Procurement on commercial governance, reconciliation, provisioning and material supplier issues.

Maintain strong process, compliance, documentation and control discipline across the assigned portfolio.

Demonstrate a proactive, preventive and continuous-improvement mindset—anticipating risks, eliminating recurring problems and improving processes rather than reacting to issues.

Own and deliver at least one strategic/cross-SBP project end-to-end, with defined business problem, milestones, stakeholders and measurable outcome.

Act as a functional anchor for other SBPs, sharing expertise, coaching colleagues and helping raise overall SBP standards.

Lead complex cross-functional topics involving business, suppliers, Procurement, Finance, HR and operations.

Deputise for the SBP Lead in selected business, supplier and governance conversations and demonstrate confidence with senior stakeholders.

Demonstrate Lead readiness through enterprise thinking, independent judgement, transformation orientation, proactive solutioning and ownership beyond the assigned portfolio.

Business Outcomes: Stakeholder confidence, quality of workforce advice, business performance against agreed workforce outcomes and transformation progress.

Fulfilment & Supplier Performance: Ageing, fulfilment SLA, conversion, supplier scorecard, quality and corrective-action closure.

Transformation: Movement towards appropriate ODC/MS/outcome-based models, capability improvements and value delivered.

Operational & Commercial: Data accuracy, PO/provision discipline, compliance, risk prevention and reduction of recurring issues.

Leadership & Project Impact: Successful delivery of one strategic project, cross-SBP contribution, business influence and demonstrated readiness to deputise for the Lead.

Qualification & Experience

Bachelor's/Master's degree in HR, Business, Engineering, Procurement, Supply Chain or related discipline.

Typically 10-15 years' relevant experience in workforce, supplier/vendor management, procurement, staffing, service delivery or business partnering.

Demonstrated experience independently managing a complex external workforce/supplier portfolio and senior business stakeholders.

Good understanding of IT/R&D skills and technology workforce requirements, with the ability to learn evolving capability areas.

Understanding of external workforce/service models including T&M, ODC, Managed Services and outcome-based delivery, with SAP Fieldglass/VMS experience preferred.

Key Competencies

Business consulting, partnering & stakeholder influence

IT/R&D workforce understanding & externalisation solutioning

Supplier performance, commercial acumen & negotiation

Proactive problem prevention, continuous improvement & data-driven decision-making

Leadership through influence, project ownership & enterprise thinking