Transforming Global Procurement: A Story of Innovation and Excellence

Imagine being at the helm of procurement for industry giants like Google and Cisco, each striving to revolutionize their procurement operations but facing a severe shortage of global procurement talent. This was the reality for these Fortune 50 companies, grappling with the need for specialized skills in category management and centralized procurement. They turned to SCOPE Recruiting for a solution.

The Challenge

Both companies faced unique and significant challenges:

• Cisco's Needs: Cisco required highly specialized category managers who were world-class in their field. These roles had been vacant for over 18 months, indicating the difficulty in finding suitable candidates.
• Google's Centralized Procurement: Google was creating a centralized procurement organization for their indirect spend and needed exceptional talent to fill these roles. The niche nature of these positions meant that only a handful of organizations globally had similar talent pools.

The Journey

SCOPE Recruiting embarked on a mission to find the niche talent these companies needed. Here's how we tackled the challenges:

• Building Networks and Partnerships: Given the specialized nature of the roles, we relied heavily on building networks, partnerships, and trust. This was crucial in accessing and attracting world-class talent.
• Establishing Credibility: Our background and expertise in procurement roles helped us establish credibility with candidates who were used to being highly sought after. It was vital to come across as knowledgeable and industry experts.
• Candidate Sourcing Strategies: For Cisco, we developed tailored candidate sourcing strategies to target top-tier talent, which included leveraging industry events and networks.
• Filling Dozen Roles for Google: Our strategic approach enabled us to fill over a dozen roles for Google's new centralized procurement organization, significantly bolstering their talent pool.

The Transformation

Our efforts led to remarkable transformations for both companies:

• Cisco: We successfully filled roles that had been vacant for 18 months or more, bringing in highly specialized category managers. These new hires implemented advanced procurement strategies, enhancing operational efficiency and supplier performance.
• Google: By filling over a dozen critical roles, we supported the establishment of Google’s new centralized procurement organization. The new talent brought in innovative practices that optimized their indirect spend management and drove significant cost savings.

Feedback from our clients highlighted the impact of our work:

Google's Procurement Lead: "SCOPE Recruiting played a crucial role in building our new procurement team. Their expertise and network were instrumental in finding the world-class talent we needed."

Cisco's Hiring Manager: "After struggling for over 18 months, SCOPE Recruiting helped us fill essential roles with top-tier talent. Their knowledge and strategic approach made all the difference."