Blackstone Operating Team, Vice President, Spend Management

Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $1.1 trillion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram.

Blackstone Operating Team (BXOT)

The Blackstone Operating Team attracts dedicated senior-level advisors, industry leading professionals, and passionate operators who are committed to building resilient, successful businesses across the globe. Our team works together with portfolio company c-suite leadership to develop and implement industry leading strategies in healthcare, cybersecurity, technology and AI/data science, ESG and sustainability, and spend management with an emphasis on talent development and leadership.

The BXOT Spend Management team supports over 240 global investment vehicles/companies in the flagship Private Equity fund, Core, Tactical Opportunities, Infrastructure, Life Sciences, Energy, and Growth with access to a Group Purchasing Platform and a best-in-class eSourcing team and sourcing center to unlock value creation and professionalize procurement organizations at portfolio companies. The Group Purchasing Platform leverages more than $30B of global spend across the Blackstone ecosystem of portfolio companies to drive value creation and differentiated service and quality for more than 80+ indirect spend categories with preferred supplier strategic relationships.

The Vice President will lead strategic development and deployment of the Group Purchasing Spend Management platform as well as program management of value creation initiatives with portfolio companies across Blackstone’s private equity strategies. They must have strong analytical and quantitative skills, excellent communication and interpersonal skills, detailed project management expertise, general business knowledge, financial acumen and familiarity with operating metrics to support c-suite and executive leadership teams at portfolio companies seeking to accelerate value creation and implement spend management best practices for their businesses.  

The Vice President must have strong communication skills and foundational procurement experience in order to engage indirect negotiations, contract management, relationship management, supplier evaluation, category management, spend analysis, and sourcing technology solutions. They will support program development within the Group Purchasing Platform and serve as part of the Program leadership team. Blackstone Group Purchasing Program leads are responsible for establishing and driving the strategy, quality, service, and program development within defined categories of spend across a variety of business functions including Procurement, IT, HR, Finance, Marketing, Legal, Operations and others. They are considered the subject matter expert on current offerings, competing vendors, and market dynamics and tap into Blackstone’s vast ecosystem of experts and advisors for support.  They are also responsible for tracking and addressing their respective vendor service performances across the portfolio companies.

Responsibilities

• Lead deployment of Spend Management platform across major Blackstone investment funds including by developing value creation opportunity assessments, conducting extensive due diligence for new investments, facilitating vendor connections, and tracking, executing, and summarizing impact across key portfolio company investments
• Cultivate productive relationships with portfolio company senior-level and executive leadership teams across all business functions (Procurement/IT/HR/Finance/Legal/Marking/Operations) to identify decision makers and influence best practices
• Lead and coordinate design and development for components of the Spend Management technology ecosystem platform including data architecture, expanding our Data Under Management (DUM), spend visibility, due diligence, AI automation and CPO Desktop vision
• Accelerate development and engagement of senior-level portfolio company leadership to execute large scale procurement transformation consulting projects and oversee leading consulting firms projects
• Coordinate the Spend Management Action Committee, which manages our Group Purchasing strategies, integrating our team across the four business units (private equity, real estate, credit and GP Stakes)
• Encourage engagement and promote the Blackstone procurement community, supporting CPO talent management, training and development, community events, and communications with portfolio companies
• Support due diligence of new investment opportunities including through spend analysis and assessment of performance, operations, people, and processes
• Support identification of RFQ/RFPs/eAuctions with portfolio companies using the Spend Management eSourcing solutions and Blackstone Sourcing Center
• Execute meticulous project management in Salesforce.com, lead cadence check-in calls, manage email communications, and maintain issue resolution between portfolio companies and vendor partners
• Utilize negotiation, relationship management, and communication skills to develop, cultivate, and advance vendor partnerships within the Group Purchasing Platform
• Support vendor performance management processes to track and address service issues and opportunities to drive differentiated service levels across the portfolio
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Blackstone internal stakeholders on Investment Deal Teams, BXOT Operating Executives, Finance, IT, Technology, Public Affairs, etc. to report performance and share data, trends, and insights from the procurement community
• Support annual Chief Procurement Officer global conference(s) planning, design, facilitation, and execution including by working closely with Blackstone Events planning
• Support internal process improvement programs, leveraging our Center of Excellence resources and AI, including portfolio company data requests and analysis, and other internal process improvement opportunities.

Qualifications:

Blackstone seeks to hire individuals who are highly motivated, intelligent and have demonstrated excellence in prior endeavors. In addition, candidates  should meet the following qualifications:

• Undergraduate degree with a focus on engineering, operations, supply chain, or business management
• 8+ years of work and leadership experience preferably in procurement, category management, or sourcing
• Experience supporting or administering procurement, sourcing, supply chain, or P2P/S2P systems, for example, Coupa, Ariba, Ivalua, Jaggaer, Oracle, SAP, ServiceNow or Workday
• Exposure to system configuration, integrations, data flows/architecture, and collaborating with technical teams
• Interest in being a “hands on” doer to support the program and team
• Strong interpersonal skills with excellent written and verbal communication skills regarding strategic, financial, and operational areas
• Works well with others and collaborates on a team as a Blackstone culture carrier
• Confidence skills to interface with senior-level executives across many functional business areas
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills and proficiency with program management tools including Excel, PowerPoint, Salesforce.com, and other data management applications
• Well organized and disciplined; highly productive; project management skills
• Active listening skills;  absorbs and integrates new information and develop recommendations
• Establishes fact-based recommendations and decision making
• Works well independently and effectively navigates dynamic environments involving cross-functional collaboration to accomplish tasks

The duties and responsibilities described here are not exhaustive and additional assignments, duties, or responsibilities may be required of this position.  Assignments, duties, and responsibilities may be changed at any time, with or without notice, by Blackstone in its sole discretion.

Expected annual base salary range:

Actual base salary within that range will be determined by several components including but not limited to the individual's experience, skills, qualifications and job location. For roles located outside of the US, please disregard the posted salary bands as these roles will follow a separate compensation process based on local market comparables.
Additional compensation and benefits offered in connection with the role consist of comprehensive health benefits, including but not limited to medical, dental, vision, and FSA benefits; paid time off; life insurance; 401(k) plan; and discretionary bonuses. Certain employees may also be eligible for equity and other incentive compensation at Blackstone’s sole discretion.

Blackstone is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, marital or partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic predisposition, veteran or military status, status as a victim of domestic violence, a sex offense or stalking, or any other class or status in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including but not limited to hiring, placement, promotion, termination, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training.  All Blackstone employees, including but not limited to recruiting personnel and hiring managers, are required to abide by this policy.

If you need a reasonable accommodation to complete your application, please contact Human Resources at 212-583-5000 (US), +44 (0)20 7451 4000 (EMEA) or +852 3656 8600 (APAC).

Depending on the position, you may be required to obtain certain securities licenses if you are in a client facing role and/or if you are engaged in the following:

• Attending client meetings where you are discussing Blackstone products and/or and client questions;

• Marketing Blackstone funds to new or existing clients;

• Supervising or training securities licensed employees;

• Structuring or creating Blackstone funds/products; and

• Advising on marketing plans prepared by a sales team or developing and/or contributing information for marketing materials.

Note: The above list is not the exhaustive list of activities requiring securities licenses and there may be roles that require review on a case-by-case basis.  Please speak with your Blackstone Recruiting contact with any questions.
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