Chief Procurement Officer (CPO)

The Chief Procurement Officer(CPO), leads an organization's procurement department and oversees the acquisitions of goods and services made by the organization. The CPO ensures that purchases will meet organizational needs while helping to reduce costs, promote higher profit margins or both. The role is a strategic one, with the CPO establishing the processes and policies used to guide acquisitions throughout an organization. Given the strategic nature of the position, the CPO does not handle each and every purchase, instead s/he, is only directly involved in transactions that involve strategic partnerships with suppliers and/or have high costs. Moreover, the CPO's policies and procedures determine which acquisitions require the procurement department's involvement and which are handled exclusively by end users. These rules typically require a purchasing department's involvement for complex, expensive and long-term purchase transactions; end users are usually left to handle simple, low-cost and one-off transactions.

Chief Procurement Officer - Focus of Interest
A chief procurement officer and his or her department will often be responsible for:

• ensuring that goods and services are promptly delivered
• making sure that vendors are paid in a timely manner
• [[Supplier Relationship Management}supplier relationship management]].

Some CPOs are in charge of locating sources for supplies and services, and of maintaining relations with suppliers and vendors. They usually negotiate with vendors to get the best prices and deals, utilizing the power of purchase and the economies of scale. Often they set up contracts between vendors and the company.

Aside from sourcing and negotiating prices and contracts, a chief procurement officer may see to it that files containing all information regarding purchases and services are kept in an orderly fashion. Her or his staff usually work with the accounting department to ensure that vendors are paid on schedule. In addition, they usually keep inventory levels current and take responsibility for forecasting the future supply needs of the company.

Many industries employ procurement officers, from small companies to global organizations. In a small company, the procurement officer may work singly, but often there is a team that executes the purchasing for an organization. If working in for a multinational corporation, the chief procurement officer might have to manage a global team.

Whether at a small company or a large one, the chief procurement officer usually provides overall leadership to the purchasing team and ensures that procurement policies and procedures are followed. Typically, they also are constantly in search of better quality products and better prices. In a lot of companies, all procurement decisions ultimately end up at the desk of the CPO.

The position of the chief procurement officer is believed by many to have taken on increased significance in corporations, and the role is thought to have grown more strategic in recent years. Globalization, compliance pressures and other factors have triggered a trend toward centralization of the procurement function for the purposes of standardization and leverage. Many CPOs report to a director or directly to the chief executive officer (CEO) of their company.

Exceptional interpersonal and negotiation skills generally are required of successful chief procurement officers. Excellent oral and written communication skills may also be necessary. Fluency in other languages also can be considered an asset, since vendors may be situated in other parts of the world.