Senior Procurement Manager – Road Transport (Europe)
Full Description
About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Senior Procurement Manager – Road Transport to shape and lead transportation procurement strategy across Europe. In this high-impact position, you will introduce modern tools and technologies, build scalable processes, and collaborate closely with a global procurement team.
Your mission: deliver strong top-line and bottom-line results by driving best-in-class procurement and supply chain strategies within a fast-moving, low-margin international environment.
Key Focus Areas
80% Strategic Sourcing:
- Develop and implement procurement strategies
- Run annual contract negotiations
- Conduct reverse auctions
- Lead external benchmarking
- Draft and manage contracts
20% Commercial:
- Work with trade teams (not operational order placement)
- You will manage relationships with 30–35 key transport suppliers, representing the majority of European spend.
Scope & Complexity
- Road Transport Budget: €30M
- Warehousing Budget: €5M
- EU Transport Volume: Approx. 25,000 transports per year
- Medium-sized spend with high complexity – ideal for someone ambitious and driven.
Your Profile
Essential Experience & Skills:
- Expert-level knowledge of strategic sourcing/category management in logistics
- Significant exposure to road transportation procurement
- Strong negotiation & communication skills with both suppliers and internal stakeholders
- Ability to drive change and continuous improvement in a fast-growing environment
- High analytical capability and conceptual thinking to benchmark performance and deliver insights
- Comfortable working in a low-margin, high-paced business
- 5–7 years of procurement experience, ideally supported by operational road transport exposure (e.g., planning, organizing transport)
Nice-to-Haves:
- Master’s degree (preferred)
- Experience managing teams
- Professional presence when dealing with senior-level supplier contacts
- Fluent English (Dutch preferred)
- Flexible, collaborative, improvement-oriented mindset
Backgrounds That Fit Well:
- Pricing/Procurement professionals from transportation companies
- Procurement managers from mid to large FMCG organisations
- Candidates with exposure to best-practice procurement environments
The Procurement Hive is a procurement consultancy and procurement recruitment business.
Transform your talent – Our recruitment services span over four decades of combined experience, recruiting supply chain and procurement talent for a wide range of organisations across the globe.
The Procurement Hive celebrates and supports diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for both employees and applicants.
