At The President Hotel, we’re looking for an experienced, commercially astute and strategic Head of Procurement to lead our end-to-end procurement function. This is a senior leadership position responsible for ensuring that procurement decisions across our 349-room hotel deliver the right balance of quality, service, cost, reliability, risk and long-term value.
Reporting to the Director of Finance, the Head of Procurement will lead the Procurement and Cost Control functions and work closely with leaders across Food & Beverage, Rooms, Engineering, IT, Sales & Marketing, Human Resources, Finance and Administration.
As we continue our journey toward luxury, we need a procurement leader who can look beyond transactional purchasing and take ownership of procurement strategy, strategic sourcing, contracting, supplier performance, inventory oversight, cost optimisation and governance.
The successful candidate must have at least 7 years’ progressive procurement or supply management experience, including a minimum of 3 years leading a procurement team or function. Experience within a large-volume hotel, resort, hospitality group or comparable high-volume service environment is required, with direct hotel or hospitality procurement experience strongly preferred.
This role requires someone who is confident engaging with senior leadership, challenging historical purchasing practices where necessary, negotiating commercially, managing complex supplier relationships and using data to identify opportunities for greater value and efficiency.
If you understand that exceptional procurement is not simply about securing the lowest price, but about achieving the best overall value for the hotel, this opportunity is for you.
Minimum Requirements
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification in Procurement, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Commerce or a related field
• Recognised procurement qualification such as CIPS or equivalent professional certification preferred
• Relevant postgraduate qualification advantageous
• Minimum 7 years’ progressive procurement or supply management experience
• Minimum 3 years’ experience leading a procurement team or procurement function
• Experience within a large-volume hotel, resort, hospitality group or comparable high-volume service environment essential
• Direct hotel or hospitality procurement experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated experience managing procurement across multiple operational spend categories
• Strong experience in strategic sourcing, category management and tender processes
• Proven commercial negotiation and contract-management experience
• Experience managing supplier performance, service levels and strategic supplier relationships
• Strong understanding of inventory management and cost-control principles
• Experience managing operational and capital expenditure procurement
• Experience procuring across categories including Food & Beverage, operational supplies, outsourced services, maintenance, technology and capital projects
• Proven experience with supplier due diligence, onboarding and master-data controls
• Experience developing and monitoring supplier KPIs and scorecards
• Strong financial and commercial acumen with an understanding of total cost and value analysis
• Ability to analyse spend, demand, market trends and supplier performance data
• Experience measuring and validating procurement savings and cost avoidance
• Strong understanding of procurement governance, delegated authority and segregation of duties
• Experience implementing or improving ERP, procurement or inventory management systems and approval workflows
• Sound knowledge of the South African supplier market, commercial practices and B-BBEE considerations
• Understanding of ethical, sustainable and responsible procurement practices
• Strong risk-management and business-continuity awareness
• Strong leadership, coaching and people-development capability
• Excellent stakeholder-management and influencing skills
• Ability to constructively challenge requirements and influence senior stakeholders
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and decision-making ability
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills
• High levels of integrity, professional judgement and accountability
• Ability to manage competing priorities within a large, high-volume operational environment
• Strong computer literacy and confidence working with procurement data and reporting systems
• South African ID or valid South African work authorisation
• A fully updated CV with contactable reference details is essential
What You’ll Be Doing
• Taking overall responsibility for the hotel’s end-to-end procurement function
• Developing and implementing the hotel’s procurement strategy, policies, procedures and annual sourcing plan
• Translating hotel strategy, operational requirements and budgets into clear procurement priorities and category plans
• Working closely with senior leadership and departmental heads to understand operational requirements and future procurement needs
• Advising leadership on procurement opportunities, supplier markets, commercial risks and supply constraints
• Constructively challenging demand, specifications, sole-source requests and historical purchasing practices where better value can be achieved
• Leading strategic sourcing initiatives, RFQs, formal tenders and commercial evaluations
• Ensuring sourcing decisions consider total cost, quality, service reliability, risk, sustainability and operational impact, rather than price alone
• Negotiating supplier pricing, payment terms, service levels, warranties, remedies and other commercial conditions
• Managing supplier contracts throughout their lifecycle, including implementation, obligations, renewals, renegotiations and termination dates
• Maintaining a comprehensive and accurate contract register
• Overseeing supplier due diligence, approval, onboarding and master-data requirements
• Ensuring appropriate supplier documentation is maintained, including tax, banking, B-BBEE, safety, ethical and sustainability information where applicable
• Segmenting suppliers according to value, risk and operational importance
• Developing supplier scorecards and conducting structured supplier-performance reviews
• Monitoring supplier performance across price, quality, delivery, service, compliance, innovation and risk
• Identifying critical supplier and continuity risks and developing appropriate contingency plans
• Exploring supplier and market innovation opportunities that could improve hotel operations or deliver greater value
• Overseeing daily procurement activity across Food & Beverage, Rooms, Engineering, IT, Sales & Marketing, Human Resources and Administration
• Reviewing and approving purchase orders within delegated authority and established governance frameworks
• Ensuring operational requirements are met timeously while maintaining appropriate procurement controls
• Resolving shortages, delivery challenges, supplier disputes and urgent procurement requirements
• Working closely with Cost Control, Stores and operational departments to optimise stock availability, inventory turn, wastage, obsolete stock and stock loss
• Partnering with Finance and departmental leaders to ensure procurement commitments align with approved budgets, forecasts and cash-flow requirements
• Identifying, measuring and validating procurement savings, cost avoidance and other value improvements
• Producing procurement dashboards and reports covering spend, contracts, suppliers, savings, compliance, inventory, performance and risk
• Maintaining accurate procurement documentation, quotations, evaluations, contracts, purchase orders and supplier records
• Ensuring procurement activities comply with legislation, contractual obligations, internal controls and hotel governance requirements
• Maintaining strong controls around supplier creation, banking-detail changes, conflicts of interest, tender evaluations and purchasing commitments
• Promoting ethical, local, B-BBEE and sustainable procurement practices
• Supporting internal and external audits and ensuring procurement-related findings are addressed appropriately
• Leading procurement involvement in ERP and related system implementations or improvements
• Using procurement data and technology to strengthen visibility, decision-making, efficiency and control
• Developing and maintaining effective procurement Standard Operating Procedures
• Continuously identifying opportunities to improve procurement and inventory processes
• Leading, coaching and developing the Procurement and Cost Control teams
• Establishing clear objectives, responsibilities and performance expectations
• Developing team capability through coaching, training and cross-functional exposure
• Building a culture of integrity, collaboration, accountability, service and continuous improvement
• Ensuring procurement consistently supports the professional and elevated standards expected at The President Hotel
Why Join The President Hotel
• Be part of Cape Town’s Most Loved Hotel
• Lead procurement within a complex, high-volume 349-room hotel operation
• Take ownership of a strategic function with direct influence on profitability and operational performance
• Work closely with the Director of Finance and senior hotel leadership
• Influence procurement decisions across every major hotel department
• Lead the evolution from transactional purchasing toward a strategic, data-driven procurement function
• Develop and strengthen supplier partnerships while identifying new opportunities for innovation and value
• Lead and develop the Procurement and Cost Control teams
• Play an important role in strengthening cost management, governance, sustainability and operational resilience
• Contribute directly to the hotel’s guest experience and commercial performance
• Be part of our exciting journey toward luxury
• Market related package with company contribution to medical and provident
