Category Manager
Avant is dedicated to building premier digital banking solutions for the middle class through a combination of technology, analytics and superior customer service. Since 2012, Avant has connected over one million customers to $6.5 billion in loans and to 200,000 credit cards. A high growth financial technology company, Avant has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, TechCrunch, Fortune, Bloomberg, and has raised over $600 million of equity capital. Visit www.avant.com for more information.
The Procurement team is ready to expand! In the two short years since its inception, the Procurement function at Avant has shown the ability to produce significant cost savings through improvements in organizational processes and close coordination with business leaders. We are aiming to expand upon this success by focusing on new cost categories and continuing to ingrain robust procurement processes into the business. This role will provide an environment for Procurement professionals to help mature the function and be challenged with complex problems.
For our Procurement Associate role, we’re looking for someone who will partner with functional leaders to help design and implement category management and sourcing strategies aligned with Avant’s core objectives. An effective candidate will foster strong partnerships with business stakeholders to develop knowledge of Avant’s vendor landscape and assist in managing vendor partnerships. The individual should be knowledgeable of best-practice procurement methods and will use their expertise to contribute to the negotiation of conditions, terms, quality specifications, and aid in the development of strategic suppliers. Additionally, the candidate will have the opportunity to contribute to the roll-out of a new Source to Contract tool, Scout, helping to shape Avant’s future vendor management strategy. This position will report to the Head of the Procurement department.
What you'll do at Avant:
- Builds RFPs, conducts competitive analysis, cultivates market intelligence, and leads the evaluation process
- Actively manages designated suppliers and contributes to key projects aimed at improving financial and operational excellence
- Negotiates advantageous pricing, terms, and conditions
- Enforces Source to Contract compliance within Scout
- Creates and presents monthly spend analytics to inform senior leadership of spend patterns and potential sourcing opportunities
- Oversees the renewal process including but not limiting to issue list creation, developing the negotiation strategy, and formulating negotiation leverage
- Spearheads savings realization reporting, including methodology, to maintain savings integrity
- Partners with legal and finance on approval of agreements per the delegation of authority policy
- Provides thought leadership from a procurement/sourcing perspective and collaborates with business leaders to develop value add strategies
Why you're a fit for this role:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Finance, Marketing, or a technical field preferred
- Strong negotiation skills and demonstrated ability to extract continuous value from suppliers
- Excellent interpersonal skills including verbal and written communication
- Research-focused with the ability to cultivate new skills and knowledge in new areas
- Proven ability to work with multiple stakeholders and influence senior leadership
- Competent financial and analytical skills with strong overall business judgment and integrity
- Prior experience with a Source to Contract tool is preferred
Why Avant is a fit for you:
At Avant, we believe our values make a difference:
We value, support, and help each other grow
We are committed to active inclusion and diversity
We are transparent and believe the best idea wins
We succeed when our customers succeed
We get sh!t done… responsibly
And we keep it fun!
We believe that ideas are more important than titles, everything is more fun together, everyone drives change, and everyone is an owner. While we believe the perks and benefits that we offer are terrific, nothing excites us more than having the ability to collaborate with intelligent, highly-motivated and talented people on challenging problems as we work to change the face of online lending.