Senior Procurement Leader - (Hamburg | 3 Days Onsite | High-Growth Business)

Overview
A rare opportunity to build and lead a global procurement function from the ground up within a high-growth company on a strong upward trajectory. This role is strategically critical as the business expands rapidly. You will shape the function, hire a new team, and establish deep supplier partnerships-directly influencing future growth, resilience, and competitiveness.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect and lead the global procurement strategy, focusing on significant supplier expansion

• Build high-level, long-term supplier partnerships; leverage ecosystems and negotiate at senior levels.

• Create procurement standards, policy, governance, and best practice across a business that has operated procurement via Operations to date.

• Recruit and develop a new team of ~5 roles (including a Senior Category Manager) to establish a high-performing, modern procurement organisation.

• Work as a peer to the C-suite-particularly the COO (Hamburg-based)-to set priorities, align spend, and embed procurement influence early.

• Drive competitive advantage through sophisticated supplier relationship management, balancing technology (AI tools) with strategic, relationship-led engagement.

• Develop strong spend insight, category strategies, and sourcing roadmaps to support rapid scale-up.

• Travel extensively across Europe and China to build, maintain, and grow supplier connections.

• Present to and engage with senior internal and external stakeholders

Qualifications & Experience

• 10-15+ years' experience in senior procurement leadership within relevant industrial, energy, engineering, or equipment-heavy sectors.

• Ideally proven track record creating and sustaining senior-level supplier partnerships in China; strong familiarity with Chinese CAPEX supply markets.

• Hands-on and strategic-able to build a function while executing high-value sourcing activity.

• Experience in renewables, energy, or adjacent industrial sectors preferred; customer-side or supplier-side backgrounds both considered.

• Strong cross-cultural leadership; prior experience managing or collaborating with teams on the ground in China is highly desirable.

• Ability to operate as a C-suite peer-confident, influential, and credible with senior leadership and investors.

• Fluent English required; German advantageous but not essential.

Role Requirements

• Onsite presence in Hamburg at least 3 days per week.

• Extensive international travel to suppliers and European plants.

• Ability to start early Q1 (flexible for the right candidate).

• Commitment to building a career-evidence of progression and capability development.

What Makes This Opportunity Compelling

• Join a fast-scaling company with strong investor backing

• Build the procurement function from zero-full ownership, high autonomy, immediate strategic impact.

• Play a pivotal role in unlocking growth

• Direct visibility to C-suite and investors; part of the leadership team shaping the next stage of growth.

• Competitive package with potential bonus elements aligned to company growth.