A Fractional Head of Procurement, with a team behind them
Category strategy, supplier negotiation and sourcing governance. Named for what this market actually calls the role — not force-fitted into a "Chief Procurement Officer" label the fractional world doesn't really use.
Why this isn't badged "Fractional CPO"
"CPO" means Chief Product Officer everywhere the fractional-executive market prices and markets itself. Procurement leadership at this level doesn't sell through that channel at all — it sells through the interim-director market, at interim-director rates. So we've named and positioned this seat the way the market actually works, not the way a tidy six-box seat list would prefer.
What you get is the same regardless of the label: a senior operator who owns category strategy, supplier negotiation and sourcing governance at board level — with our delivery bench behind them to actually run the sourcing sprints the strategy calls for.
If more than two of these are true, spend is already leaking
Nobody at board level owns category spend as a strategic lever, only as a cost line to be trimmed.
Supplier concentration risk has never been formally reviewed — you'd struggle to answer "what happens if they fail?"
Contracts auto-renew because renegotiating them takes longer than anyone has time for.
Sourcing cycles take months when a structured sprint could realistically take weeks.
AI and software vendor contracts are signed without commercial or risk review.
Maverick spend — purchases outside agreed suppliers and terms — isn't tracked, so nobody knows its size.
Four areas of ownership, not a vague advisory retainer
Category Strategy & Consolidation
Builds the category strategy across your largest spend areas, and makes the consolidation and supplier-rationalisation calls that follow it.
Agile Sourcing, Delivered
Where a sprint-based sourcing process fits, the seat-holder scopes it and our delivery bench runs it — the same discipline behind the case studies above.
Contract & Vendor Risk Governance
Independent oversight of contract terms, renewal timing and supplier concentration risk — the exposure most businesses only notice when it's already a problem.
Third-Party & AI-Vendor Commercial Review
Commercial and risk review of AI and software vendor contracts specifically — a category most procurement functions haven't caught up to yet.
Agile sourcing doesn't need inflating to make the case. But it isn't universal — regulated and highly complex categories need a different approach. The seat's job is choosing where it applies as carefully as the sprint itself is run.
This is the seat where "the bench" is most visible
An agile sourcing sprint is a delivery exercise — a cross-functional room, a compressed timeline, a structured negotiation. The seat-holder scopes which categories are right for it and chairs the commercial decisions. Our delivery bench runs the sprint itself. That's the entire model, made concrete.
Before you take this to the board
No — a procurement manager runs transactions. This seat sits at board level, owns strategy and risk, and is accountable for category decisions that affect margin and resilience, not just purchase orders.
Yes, and usually should. The seat provides senior strategic direction; your existing team often becomes more effective with clear category ownership above them, not less relevant.
No, and we'll tell you when it doesn't. Highly regulated or technically complex categories often need a more conventional process — the judgement on which approach fits is part of what the seat is for.
The evidence behind this seat
Agile Sourcing: the real numbers
The full research — case studies, sources, and where the approach doesn't fit.
Read the researchProblem before platform
The same discipline applied to technology programmes — define the problem before choosing the method.
Read the articleSee the COO / Transformation seat
Where category strategy connects to the wider operating model.
View the seatTalk to us about the Procurement seat
A direct conversation about where spend is leaking — not a sales script.