Sourcing & Procurement Advisory careers

Sourcing & Procurement Advisory

Careers for graduates: Work with clients on their strategic sourcing and procurement needs.

Careers for graduates: Work with clients on their strategic sourcing and procurement needs

Grad careers: Shared Services & Outsourcing

In a nutshell, what does your business group/service line do?

KPMGs Sourcing & Procurement Advisory (SPA) group/division works with clients on their strategic sourcing and procurement needs. This takes shape in many forms however key engagements are procurement transformations through functional maturity assessments, structured Category Management, centralisation through shared service centres, outsourcing business functions, and designing operating and service delivery models.

  • A Maturity Assessment will be conducted to gauge the effectiveness of the current procurement function by looking in detail at processes, people, service delivery model, technology, performance insights, data and governance. A maturity level will be assigned to each area and key areas of opportunity will be recommended and detailed.
  • Category Management involves the management of a particular area of spend by continually reviewing the suppliers and products/services an organisation procures. Effective management will ensure ongoing, stable supply of the things an organisation needs the most by working with people across the business to understand their requirements. This may lead to particular Strategic Sourcing exercises so that the organisation can get the best value for their money. Following a sourcing activity, ongoing Supplier and Contract Management will ensure the value is extracted on an ongoing basis and reported effectively.
  • Shared services can be established through an internal captive centre (run by the company) or through establishing an outsourcing relationship with a service provider; in either case our team helps with the design, planning, implementation and assessment of shared services for clients. Typical functions performed through shared services are Procurement, Information Technology, Finance, Human Resources, and contact centres.
  • Outsourcing involves the strategic placement and operation of business functions in different locations and / or service providers to achieve organisational goals. While there are many reasons for an organisation to outsource, they typically do so for two reasons: either to reduce cost and / or to gain a competitive advantage. Reducing cost is typically achieved through moving the operation of a business function to an offshore, low-cost location such as India, the Philippines or China. Competitive advantages can be achieved through the use of third party providers with specific knowledge and experience that will aid business goals or through moving operations to a global hotspot for key talent, such as Silicon Valley for innovation hubs.
  • Operating and Service Delivery Models are the practical elements of an organisation’s design that allow the business to ‘get things done’. An operating model will outline the requirements of the organisations’ people, process, data and reporting, governance and technology; as such it is imperative that the leadership of an organisation can trust that they have the right operating model for their business. KPMG utilises global best practices and thought leadership in order to assist clients to design, plan and operate their operating model in line with their strategy.

The team is made up of a variety of seasoned sourcing and procurement professionals. We also have training mechanisms in place to assist our more junior members reach those levels too. Our staff are located in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane. We also have an international flavour with a good proportion of our staff moving from overseas.

What does the average day look like?

While at a glance, SPA may sound limited in terms of opportunities based, you’ll be surprised by how varied the clients are that you work with and the problems you work with them on. Working in the SPA, you’ll leverage our global methodology to deliver a suite of services to organisations of different shapes and sizes. One day you’ll be helping the headquarters of a fast-food franchise move its corporate finance function back onshore to Australia and six weeks later you’ll be working with one of Australia’s largest banks to design a procurement governance framework. You could be providing advice on sourcing and procurement strategies, analysing an organisation’s cost structure, assisting clients with what location to best place their shared service centre, or supporting the management and selection of service providers. A big part of what we do involves research into current trends and analysis of leading practices and service provider markets to recommend best fit for our customers. Most of all you’ll be surrounded by knowledge and capable professionals who will support you to learn and grow.

What will I learn in the first year?

Every sourcing and procurement professional has a unique journey, however you will meet several clients and provide valuable support proposals across existing projects. Through this, you’ll develop your consulting skills, striving to align client’s needs with KPMG services.

The initial emphasis is on observing how the complex projects operate, then taking a more active participation in parts of the project once you understanding our services and our client’s needs. When comfortable, this will lead to ownership of components of our delivery of services to clients. Some of the things you will learn include the following:

  • How large government and corporate entities operate and how change is actioned within the business.
  • Project, change management and communications fundamentals.
  • How to understand and analyse our client’s service delivery model options, spend category and sourcing opportunities, and available sourcing strategies, and translate this into a roadmap that sets the course for their sourcing journey.
  • How to analyse third party spend and identify areas of opportunity through a number of value levers used by KPMG.
  • The overarching Procurement Lifecycle across strategy development, Category Management, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship and Risk Management, Contract Management, Transactional Purchasing and continuous process improvement through data and governance.
  • How technology can support the Sourcing and Procurement function.
  • How to build an opportunity case which captures both quantitative and qualitative information. This includes identifying process improvement opportunities, designing the outsourcing, offshoring, in-housing or shared service solution, and engaging with the market.
  • How to complete process diagnostics, renegotiate arrangements, review contracts, measure satisfaction, and identify opportunities for improvement.
  • How to perform an overall 'Health Check' on the current operating model.
  • Identifying a governance structure to manage procurement activities or shared services.
  • How to implement a shared services delivery model.
  • How to assist a client better manage their sourcing arrangements and drive greater value, through our knowledge, training, education, peer networks, and research.

What’s the best part of the role?

You will get tremendous exposure to a variety of clients in multiple industries, particularly in ways that will accelerate your understanding of how businesses operate. You’ll get to work with KPMG professionals at all levels and perform a variety of functions within our projects. The KPMG leadership team works to mentor you and continually provide guidance throughout your career. We meet in our teams at least once a month to stay connected, however you will connect frequently within engagement teams to develop deep connections with your peers. We often have speakers from around the globe, visit and speak to our team, from either client site or KPMG. Our team understands and values graduates, because a successful consulting practice leverages all levels of resources. You’ll play an important role and the leadership invests time and effort into supporting your successful career in consulting.