You are suddenly without a Chief Procurement Officer. That can happen. But to find the right replacement is not easy these days and making a wrong selection under time pressure can be costly in many ways.

You ask yourself, is the current team strong enough to continue the journey without a leader? How much time do others need to invest in Procurement (and who in senior management has sufficient knowledge and or time to do so?). Do your markets allow us to take the time to find the right replacement while in the meantime you stand still? Is keeping the “boat afloat” going to put you behind your competitors? The world seems to be quite volatile, so who is going to navigate us through unexpected challenges?

Clearly not somebody that first needs 100 days to understand the business, you need somebody that can start to be effective almost immediately. Somebody that is not in it for the long run but buys you time to find the right candidate. At the same time, not somebody that just keeps the status quo, but somebody that discuss with you what is required for the long-term success of the organisation and develops quickly a path that at least is going in the right direction.

Therefore, you need somebody that has experience in assessing multiple (procurement) organisations, under time pressure, as for example in private equity, and quickly builds a broad action plan and strategic direction, on which the final replacement can build further.

If you are in need, please contact us.