Asplundh has always been an innovator with a focus to look for a “Better Way” to improve its safety, productivity, and performance. As we grow the business in size and scope, we recognize the need to adopt industry best practices, develop our talent pipeline, improve our procurement operations and align more closely to our customers’ expectations.

The Supplier Diversity Program Lead will work closely with the Chief Procurement Officer, in addition to the rest of the Procurement Services/Supply Chain Management team, suppliers and business operations teams. This position provides a unique and exciting opportunity for the right person to make significant changes by helping us to transform our supplier diversity management and reporting activities.

Job Description

The Program Lead is part of Procurement Services/SCM team and will lead the focus on requirements gathering, building, implementing and supporting the company’s supplier diversity activities. The Program Lead will also work as a liaison among stakeholders to analyze, communicate and validate requirements for changes to current business processes. To that end, the successful candidate will be involved in mapping current-state and future-states and ensuring that both regional and corporate business requirements are met. The Program Lead will design documents, develop reporting processes and drive improvements in compliance with our customer desires.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop a comprehensive strategy for Supplier Diversity and manage all aspects of the program.
• Explore associations and organizations related to supplier diversity and become an active member.
• Identify and participate in supplier outreach events internally and externally (e.g. Clients).
• Develop and monitor progress towards established client goals by contract, region and entity; drive simplification, standardization and digitization of supplier diversity tools, metrics and procedures; highlighting areas of success and areas for opportunity with the organization, leadership and suppliers.
• Complete all Supplier Diversity reporting, utilizing customer required tools and processes, in a timely and comprehensive manner.
• Construct and manage an internal tracker for customers and Regions to support internal reporting and management.
• Respond to all internal and external inquiries regarding the Supplier Diversity Program.
• Work with business operations and procurement categories to identify opportunities to incorporate the Supplier Diversity Program into the sourcing process.
• Effectively manage Tier 1 and Tier 2 reporting requirements to meet internal metrics, customer requirements and industry standards.
• Serve as expert on federal, state, regional and local regulatory supplier diversity requirements and certification policies/procedures.
• Monitor RFP pipeline to prepare for upcoming bid opportunities with supplier diversity requirements.
• Maintain records of RFP support, contract awards, and supplier diversity commitments.
• Research, identify, recommend potential diverse businesses offering quality, cost-effective solutions aligned with the company’s needs for upcoming contract activity.
• Conduct market analysis and research to stay abreast of customer supplier diversity requirements.
• Research competitors’ supplier diversity strategies in order to improve upon Asplundh’s proposal submissions.
• Assist internal business groups with creating solutions to meet supplier diversity compliance targets and sourcing opportunities with diverse businesses.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing or Supply Chain Management, with 3-5 years’ experience, preferably in a procurement/supply management environment.
• Experience in creating/implementing supplier diversity programs.
• Passionate about innovation and directly supporting change within established corporate culture.
• Excellent analytical, verbal and written communication skills necessary to interact with numerous cross-functional business leaders.
• Proven self-starter with a track record of managing multiple complex tasks with the ability to work within a matrix organization.
• Excellent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills and an ability to identify problems, design and articulate solutions, and implement.
• Strong attention to detail and possessing organizational and project management skills, with a desire to learn.
• Communicate effectively with diverse levels of the organization and users with various levels of technical expertise.
• This position has no direct reports so being able to manage through influence is critical to the success of both the role and the overall program.

Individuals must be able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without a reasonable accommodation.  Individuals with a disability who desire a reasonable accommodation should contact the ADA Coordinator at 1-800-248-8733, ext 1339.

An Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and vets.