Simon Obrien Email & Phone Number

Providing client facing procurement solutions

Greater Chicago Area

Roseland New Jersey Usa

In this capacity, I managed complex strategic business and vendor relationships in the IT & Network category to ensure achievement of ADP’s financial and operational objectives. I led negotiations for complex agreements and other transactions with vendors and stakeholders in effort to support company goals while minimising risks. I also directed a team of professionals, providing oversight, feedback, and opportunities for all members. I advised executive management in technical agreements as well as requirements for future technology. My achievements here include:• Managed vendors including IBM, AWS, VMWare, RSA, EMC, Dell, and HP.• Achieved savings of 10-50% on sourcing requirements.

Paris Area, France

In this role, I managed an international team in a matrix organisation. I developed and implemented a global procurement strategy for $60M third party spend in EMEA, APAC, and LATAM. I optimised the business approach to align with U.S. processes and procedures, and initiated development plans for individual team members. I established global and regional action plans, ensuring appropriate stakeholder engagement with proper contractual arrangements. I also functioned as a liaison between internal stakeholders and vendors to ensure compliance with sourcing and contracting policies. I provided guidance to team members, measuring their success against established metrics. I managed numerous projects to drive improvements including initiatives to reduce sourcing cycle, institute spend management and reporting, improve contracting process and cycle time, and employ RFX sourcing tools internationally. My achievements here include:• Delivered team savings between $2M and $6M, meeting set targets. • Individually contributed 20-40% savings on sourcing requirements.• Slashed supply chain lead times by 10 to 20 days utilising strategic vendors.• Transformed stakeholder engagement model and team leadership approach leading to increased customer satisfaction and team savings.• Consistently delivered year on year cost savings in cost containment environment.

I led strategic sourcing initiatives and contract negotiations for EMEA, APAC, and LATAM regions with nearly $10M spend. I identified leading-edge technology for future enhancement and development of procurement processes, allowing the company to continually evolve. I steered teams through daily business activities in an effort to drive operational excellence. I collaborated with internal and external stakeholders to achieve and address strategic and operational goals and challenges.

Reading, United Kingdom

I served as category manager for IT, Professional Services, and EMEA/APAC bid support to include leading a team of eight direct reports accountable for $100M spend. I oversaw strategic planning for the re-launch of category processes and procedures which involved defining third-party vendor processes and implementing gap analysis of vendors for bid support. I maintained current knowledge of industry trends for data network, fixed and mobile telephony, and software such as Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM, becoming a trusted business advisor. I also collaborated with stakeholders and senior management in sourcing processes to effectively drive consensus in selecting suppliers. My achievements include:• Achieved commercial savings ranging from 20% to 47%.• Established bid support and internal Verizon third party vendor requirements for data centres (co-location), hardware and servers such as Dell, HP, IBM, and EMC.