In recent years, procurement has found itself in the spotlight more than ever before. Across future-focused organisations it is now recognised as a critical strategic lever for value creation, risk management, sustainability and innovation. This now means that procurement professionals are under immense pressure to deliver more than they ever were, often with fewer resources.

Whether operating in the public or private sector, modern procurement teams are balancing multiple competing priorities. From managing supplier risk and ensuring compliance, to embedding ESG commitments and driving cost efficiency, procurement wears many hats – often all at once.

In this blog, we explore the full spectrum of responsibilities that fall under the procurement umbrella, highlighting the complexity of the role and why the right tools matter more than ever.

Strategic Sourcing Specialist

Gone are the days of procurement being purely transactional. One of the most visible hats worn by procurement today is that of the strategic sourcing expert. This involves:

  • Running competitive tender processes
  • Engaging stakeholders early to understand business needs
  • Defining sourcing strategies based on category, risk, and value
  • Identifying opportunities for cost reduction and value creation
  • Specific category knowledge and insights to drive value

Strategic sourcing demands both commercial acumen and deep market insight. It also requires robust data to inform decision-making and support long-term supplier partnerships.

Risk and Compliance Guardian

Procurement is increasingly being asked to own or contribute to risk management and compliance initiatives. This includes:

  • Ensuring adherence to procurement legislation (e.g the Procurement Act 2023, GDPR, Modern Slavery Act etc)
  • Mitigating supply chain disruptions
  • Managing concentration risk and financial resilience
  • Implementing anti-corruption and ethical sourcing policies

These are non-negotiable responsibilities, especially in public and regulated sectors. Yet without proper automation and visibility, compliance tasks can become admin-heavy and time-consuming. Procurement rely on getting the right tools in place to allow them to drive strategic priorities forward.

Contract Management Expert

Contract management is a critical yet often overlooked area of procurement. Once a contract is signed, centralised procurement teams or decentralised contract owners are expected to:

  • Monitor supplier performance
  • Track deliverables, milestones and SLAs
  • Manage renewals, extensions and amendments
  • Enforce social value or ESG commitments

Without structured contract lifecycle management (CLM) software, these tasks can be fragmented and prone to human error. Worse, they can result in missed savings, unmanaged risk and negatively impact supplier relationships.

ESG and Social Value Champion

With growing scrutiny on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, procurement has increasingly become a key player in an organisation’s ability to meet sustainability goals. Responsibilities include:

  • Integrating ESG and social value into sourcing and contract decisions
  • Engaging suppliers on sustainability reporting and improvement plans
  • Delivering community benefits through procurement (e.g local jobs, apprenticeships, diverse suppliers)
  • Supporting Scope 3 carbon emissions reporting and reduction efforts

This area is fast-evolving and often complex, requiring procurement to align with internal sustainability teams and external reporting requirements. It also demands the ability to track ESG KPIs in real time – something that is incredibly difficult to scale and manage with spreadsheets alone.

Supplier Relationship Manager

Procurement doesn’t stop at contract signature. Increasingly, teams are tasked with developing strong, collaborative supplier relationships that deliver long-term mutual value. This includes:

  • Regular supplier performance reviews and tracking
  • Joint improvement plans and innovation discussions
  • Open communication during crises or supply issues
  • Supplier diversity and inclusion strategies

Strategic supplier management demands structure and consistency. Yet many organisations lack a centralised way to capture supplier performance, feedback and improvement plans.

Data Analyst and Insight Provider

With procurement data now feeding into executive dashboards, board reports and ESG disclosures, procurement professionals are also expected to:

  • Interpret spend data to identify savings and risk
  • Report on procurement performance metrics
  • Create dashboards that show real-time activity and results
  • Analyse supplier markets and sourcing trends

But here lies a common frustration: data is often spread across multiple systems, formats or stuck in inboxes. Procurement needs tools that bring everything together in one place, with reporting built in.

Process Improvement Lead

Continuous improvement is another hat procurement must wear. This can mean:

  • Mapping and refining procurement processes
  • Removing bottlenecks and manual workarounds
  • Streamlining approvals and governance
  • Championing digitisation and automation across teams

Many procurement professionals spend so much time dealing with inefficient processes that they don’t have time to improve them. The right procurement software can help by digitising routine tasks and freeing up space for strategic thinking.

Commercial Partner to the Wider Business

Procurement also plays a vital role in partnering with budget holders and business units. This involves:

  • Advising on sourcing options and market dynamics
  • Helping build business cases for investment
  • Supporting project delivery and operational goals
  • Acting as a critical friend who ensures value and risk are balanced

This role requires soft skills: communication, negotiation, empathy and influence. But it also requires credibility, which comes from having the right data and tools at your fingertips.

Understanding the Pressure Procurement Is Under

If you’re reading this as someone outside the function, or even a senior leader within it, it’s worth reflecting: procurement is not one job. It’s the work of multiple roles condensed into one team, often under-resourced and rarely recognised until something goes wrong.

From managing risk and delivering ESG outcomes, to saving money and building strategic partnerships, procurement is one of the most complex, cross-functional and high-stakes areas in any organisation.

And that’s exactly why procurement teams need support – not just in people, but in platforms.

How Procurement Software Supports Teams in their Varied Roles

The right source-to-contract procurement software doesn’t replace procurement professionals. It enables them. It gives back time, creates visibility and enables consistency, even when teams are small and demands are high.

Our platform supports UK procurement teams by:

  • Managing sourcing projects with built-in evaluations and templates
  • Automating contract workflows, approvals and obligations tracking
  • Embedding ESG and social value scoring into procurement decisions
  • Centralising supplier data and performance insights
  • Creating real-time dashboards for internal and external reporting
  • Supporting compliance with public procurement rules

Ultimately, procurement software takes care of the admin-heavy tasks so procurement teams can focus on where they add the most value: partnering, advising, innovating.

Final Thoughts: You Can’t Do It All Alone

Wearing many hats is not sustainable without the right support. Procurement teams deserve more than spreadsheets, manual workarounds or disjointed systems.

They deserve tools built for the complexity of their work. Tools that evolve with them. Tools that help them deliver not just savings, but real strategic value.

We’re proud to support procurement professionals as they navigate this changing landscape – and we’re ready to help your team next.