Associate Director - Procurement

About the role

Aldar Education is seeking an Associate Director - Procurement to provide senior procurement leadership for its school portfolios in Abu Dhabi. The role covers planning, sourcing, contracting and delivery of requirements in line with procurement policy, delegation of authority, approved budgets, SLAs and business priorities, and plays a part in shaping technology strategy and service delivery across the group's schools.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and monitor procurement plans for assigned portfolios, coordinate requirements across schools and HQ, and oversee capital and operational programmes such as expansions, facilities, FF&E, refurbishment and technology initiatives.
• Lead RFQs and RFPs, including bidder lists, evaluation matrices, negotiations and award recommendations, and validate specifications and challenge single-source requests.
• Drive cost savings through auctions, negotiations and demand consolidation, and turn recurring spend into framework agreements and standardised specifications.
• Work with Contracts, SRM, Legal and Finance to execute contracts, renewals, variations and purchase orders, and escalate contract, PO or supplier delivery issues.
• Ensure compliance with procurement policy, DOA and audit expectations, follow up audit actions and contribute to risk registers and internal controls.
• Coach and manage direct reports, prepare management reports and dashboards, and support procurement transformation and digital tools.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or professional qualification; MBA preferred.
• At least 10 years of procurement experience in the region; education procurement experience is preferable.
• Desirable: recognized procurement qualification or professional membership (e.g. CIPS).

Required skills

• Excellent communication in fluent English; Arabic is an added value.
• Strong knowledge of Oracle Fusion ERP.
• Advanced use of MS Office (PowerPoint, Excel) and ability to create dashboards.
• Proven track record of developing advanced procurement processes and methods.

What we offer

• An attractive remuneration package.
• Emphasis on professional development, coaching and training.