Senior Director, Procurement
Germany | Confidential Executive Search
Data Centers · CAPEX · Automotive · Components · Power Conversion
Building the next generation of critical infrastructure takes more than securing a competitive price. It takes suppliers who can scale, components that perform, and procurement leaders who understand how an engineering decision today shapes cost, capacity and reliability for years.
Lean Six Search is retained on a confidential search for a Senior Director, Procurement in Germany. This mandate is suited to a leader who combines strategic sourcing expertise with technical depth across capital equipment, engineered components and power conversion systems. Experience in data centers, automotive or similarly demanding industrial environments will be particularly relevant.
The mandate
Build a procurement strategy that gives the business reliable access to the technology, equipment and supplier capacity it needs to grow.
You will connect procurement with engineering, operations, quality and commercial priorities, translating complex requirements into sourcing decisions that stand up commercially and operationally. Your remit will encompass CAPEX and critical component supply, with a focus on cost competitiveness, industrial readiness, resilience and supplier performance.
We are looking for someone who can move comfortably between a leadership discussion about investment priorities and a supplier conversation about tooling capacity, qualification timelines or a technical change.
What you will lead
- Category and sourcing strategy. Develop clear strategies across capital equipment, electrical and electromechanical components, and power conversion technologies. Determine where to consolidate, diversify, localize or develop new suppliers.
- CAPEX procurement. Shape sourcing decisions from initial business case through specification, tendering, negotiation, installation and acceptance. Assess lifecycle cost, commissioning requirements, service support, spare parts and long-term performance.
- Data center supply readiness. Align supplier capability and capacity with demanding infrastructure requirements, including power availability, efficiency, reliability and delivery schedules.
- Early engineering engagement. Influence specifications, design choices and supplier selection before cost and supply risk become locked in. Drive value engineering, standardization and commercially sound make-or-buy decisions.
- Supplier capacity and resilience. Secure capacity for critical technologies, establish credible alternative sources and address constraints before they affect production or project delivery.
- Commercial negotiations. Lead complex agreements covering pricing, tooling, capacity commitments, warranties, intellectual property, change management and supplier accountability.
- Supplier performance and development. Partner with quality and operations to improve delivery, capability and responsiveness. Bring discipline to qualification, industrialization and corrective action.
- Leadership and execution. Develop procurement talent, establish clear decision rights and create accountability for outcomes across functions.
The technical and sector experience we value
Your experience should include meaningful depth in several of the following areas:
- Data center infrastructure: power distribution, UPS systems, switchgear, busway, critical electrical equipment or related infrastructure.
- Power conversion: inverters, converters, rectifiers, power electronics, semiconductors, magnetics or associated assemblies.
- Engineered components: electrical, electronic, mechanical and electromechanical parts, including PCBs, connectors, cable assemblies, castings, machined parts and fabricated assemblies.
- CAPEX: manufacturing equipment, automation, tooling, test systems, production lines and facility infrastructure.
- Automotive: structured supplier qualification, launch readiness, cost engineering, traceability and disciplined change control in demanding production environments.
You do not need to have sourced every category above. You do need enough technical understanding to ask difficult questions, assess supplier capability and earn the confidence of engineering leaders.
What you bring
You have led complex procurement portfolios in a multinational industrial or technology environment and can demonstrate the results of your decisions.
Your track record includes securing constrained supply, improving total cost, negotiating consequential agreements and developing suppliers through growth or operational change. You understand the difference between a saving recorded at contract signature and an improvement that survives production, commissioning and service.
You bring:
- Senior procurement leadership experience across relevant technical categories.
- Strong commercial judgment supported by cost breakdowns, should-cost analysis and lifecycle economics.
- Experience influencing engineering, manufacturing, finance and quality stakeholders.
- A record of building capable teams and improving procurement execution.
- Confidence navigating international supplier markets and complex supply chains.
- Clear communication, sound judgment under pressure and the willingness to challenge assumptions constructively.
What success looks like
Success will be visible in stronger supplier commitments, more predictable delivery, better sourcing decisions and measurable improvements in total cost and quality.
Engineering will involve procurement earlier. Operations will have greater confidence in supply. Finance will be able to validate the value delivered. Your team will understand its priorities and have the capability to execute them.
Why consider the conversation?
This is an opportunity to bring procurement leadership to the intersection of digital infrastructure, electrification and advanced manufacturing. The work calls for someone who wants to shape what the business can deliver, with the technical credibility and commercial discipline to make it happen.
