People You Meet in Procurement

When you think about your role in procurement, it’s easy to focus on the tangible tasks you do every day: Checking in with your suppliers, assisting stakeholders with finding new tools, or analyzing your performance. 

But much of what makes a career in procurement—not just a job—are the intangibles. Who you’re working with and what they care about. 

Whether they’re detail-oriented executors or big-picture strategists, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of each person on your team can help you work better together. We sat down with Tom Mills of Procure Bites to talk through what makes a procurement team work together well—and how procurement leaders can best set every kind of procurement personality up to thrive.

A typical procurement team…and the personalities that match

No matter how large or small your procurement team is, you probably have someone like this…

The data guru

Data gurus are most often procurement analysts or digital procurement leads, and they mine data for insights. They’re detail-oriented, analytical, and digital-first. It’s their job to monitor performance, find key opportunities for savings, and implement the right systems that help the team achieve their goals. Their desk looks like organised chaos: Formula notes, system references, cables everywhere. 

There’s probably a fantasy football league or a competitive gaming league they’re running on the side, but they’re doing the stats themselves because “it just makes more sense.” 

Slack them a question and you’re going to get a precise, thorough answer, often with a spreadsheet attached. They’re most frustrated when teams make decisions based on gut feelings, or when they ignore data because “that’s how it’s always been done.” 

They arrive at a meeting with the data already ready to go. “They may not be the loudest voice in the room, but they’re often the most useful,” says Tom. “When someone throws out a claim, they’ll quietly say ‘actually, if we look at the numbers…’ and suddenly have everyone’s attention.” Just don’t ask them to present on the fly. They want time to collect all the relevant information before making any claims.

“Their contribution is grounding conversations in evidence,” says Tom. “If you want to know the answer to a question with data, this is the person who can solve it.”

The negotiator

Sourcing managers or buyers are typically the key negotiators of your team. They know how to close a deal and make sure they’re getting the best possible terms for the organization. That means your conversations with them are direct and to the point—and you’re always going to know where you stand with them.

“They may not give much away, but that’s when they’re paying close attention,” says Tom. “Their emails might read like a text message, because they’re not going to waste anyone’s time.”

These are your team members who like to win. Golf, tennis, poker, chess…their competitive streak cuts deep. If there’s a finish line and a chance to win, they’re going to take it. Says Tom, “You could see this person going to a car dealership on the weekend just for the fun of negotiating the best possible price. They’re incredible negotiators that know exactly how to get a deal signed with the right terms for your organization.”

The organizer

Organizers are responsible for the 1:1 interactions with each supplier. Usually sitting within supplier relationship management, extremely well-organized and know how to work with a supplier so that they’re delivering what they said they would, but also so they have a positive association with your organization. If you want a color-coded spreadsheet with detailed notes on every supplier they’ve ever spoken with, you’ve come to the right team member.

“They’re the ones on your team who will bring up the context that everyone else forgets,” says Tom. “They’re diplomatic, measured, and good at spotting when a conversation is heading toward conflict and course-correcting before it gets there.” 

These folks are so organized that you wonder how they get it all done. When they’re not in the office they’re running marathons or throwing their friend’s hen-do. And yes: They remember everyone’s names.

“These are big planners and have great project management skills. They’re planning structured quarterly reviews, following up, keeping everything on track and buttoned up,” he adds.. 

The strategist

Category managers and procurement managers are the strategists on the team. They turn the data analysis into a structured, action-oriented framework of what buying looks like in the next few years. “They’re great at taking a pile of data and turning it into a narrative. You’ll find them running the presentation more often than attending it,” says Tom. “As a natural mediator, these team members are always zooming out to get the right context.”

They’re going to invite you to a brainstorming session, BYO-post-it notes. They may have multiple side hustles because they have so many ideas, and they’re most likely to send a link in Slack with an interesting podcast or news article.

Depending on the size of the team, these folks may be thinking about sourcing, supplier relationships, and spend in addition to the category. “You’ll probably find them creating a presentation with their findings in a creative way,” explains Tom. “They want to lead a category review, shape a strategy, or drive something cross-functional.”

The advocate

Advocates are thinking big-picture not just about the overall team strategy but how that strategy is perceived within the larger organization. Because they’re usually in procurement leadership positions, advocates like to focus on clearing a pathway for their team to be successful and letting their team take care of the actual delivery. “I put myself in this category,” laughs Tom, “and we’re very head in the clouds kind of people. I don’t want the details, I just want the outputs. I want my team to deliver the information I need so I can go into meetings with senior management and make sure procurement has a seat at the table.”

A great leader won’t say much in a meeting…but when they do speak, everyone perks up. They have a way of dropping that one question that reframes the whole conversation, because they’re thinking several levels above the rest of the team. This is true in a meeting or on Slack, where they’re just as likely to drop a no-context “Can you send me…” question as they are to be the last to respond. “If they look disengaged, they’re probably listening more carefully than anyone else,” says Tom. “They delegate rather than volunteer, but when they show up in a crisis, they’re the calmest person in the room.

Great leaders love to mentor, whether formally or informally. You may gain some much-needed wisdom by spending time with them on the golf course or at the gym.

The skills you need on your procurement team

Ask anyone their strengths and weaknesses and they’ll assure you that they’re working on their weaknesses. That’s important, but not as useful as doubling down on your strengths. “That way, each person is shining at what they do best,” he advises. “Of course, it’s important to work on your weaknesses and keep learning. But from a team perspective, let people do what they’re best at.”

Role	Key skills
Procurement analyst or digital procurement specialist	Data analytics, AI, Excel, data visualization
Sourcing manager or buyer	Negotiation, relationships, financial valuation
Supplier relationship manager	Project management, time management, relationship management
Category manager or procurement manager	Prioritization, time management, people management
Procurement leaders	Advocacy, people management, strategy

Every procurement professional is going to bring a unique set of skills to your team. But there are certain skills that every member of your team needs to be successful:

Curiosity connects the pieces of the puzzle

Tom believes curiosity is the most important procurement skill there is, beyond any hard skills like financial analysis or supply chain management. “It may seem like that’s not a skill, but if someone isn’t asking questions, then they’re not going to be able to find the puzzle pieces that make up a supply chain and see how it all fits together. You’ve got to want to understand how things work and why they are the way they are,” he says.

You see this with a category manager’s podcast obsession or a data analyst’s careful tinkering with the numbers. It can be in the gentle, probing questions a supplier relationship manager asks as they’re reading between the lines in their answers. 

A strong commercial eye keeps the team on track

Of course, financial skills are extremely important to be successful, too. This is true of most business positions, but being able to adequately value a deal, understand the market opportunities and supplier positioning, and have a sharp eye on financial matters is the only way to know if you’re getting the best possible deal.

A sourcing manager can’t strike the right deal without the foundational numbers, in the same way that the procurement leader needs to know the KPIs at the top of their head at all times. A foundation in the financials is what gives everyone on the team credibility and helps them do their jobs effectively—even someone more focused on the touchy-feely, like the supplier relationship manager.

Relationship management is a fundamental part of procurement that’s often overlooked

But what takes a good procurement professional to a great one is their ability to manage relationships effectively. “The people that can build good partnerships, externally and internally, are so important for your team,” says Tom. “Procurement is so relational. You have to be able to work with someone—a stakeholder or a supplier—on a personal level.”

This is true even for those members of the team that prefer to work alone (ahem, data analysts) or would rather spend their time brainstorming new ideas (like the category manager.) Everyone on the team has relationships to manage, whether they’re high-level internal stakeholders like the procurement leader or working with individual suppliers like the supplier relationship manager.

How to work better together with everyone on your procurement team

Often, teams focus on mitigating conflict with their suppliers or their stakeholders within the organization. But like any team, different personalities mean different ways of doing things…and this can lead to at best, inefficiencies, and at worst, silo’d, disconnected teams that can’t achieve their goals.

Tom believes the primary source of conflict within procurement teams isn’t necessarily personality-driven, but from a lack of clear ownership. “Roles and responsibilities within procurement aren’t always clearly defined,” he explains. “It almost becomes an ego battle. The category manager will think they’re responsible for sourcing. The sourcing team doesn’t want to be told what to do by the category manager. You need clear lines of who owns what.”

To fix this, Tom recommends taking a page from Dave Logan’s book Tribal Leadership. “This approach is really skills based,” he says. “Understanding what each person is best at means you can focus on bringing in the right skills at the right time for your procurement process. It’s less about designing the structure of a typical procurement environment and more about deploying the right skills at the right time.”

Then, it’s about deploying those skills so you’re all moving together with one clear vision. “Procurement has a big enough job convincing stakeholders they need to work with us. We’re constantly breaking down silos within functions, so the best advice I can give any team is to make sure you don’t have any silos within the procurement team itself,” says Tom. 

He recalls an experience in the past where procurement managers all received individual targets, and then it became almost a race in terms of who would deliver the biggest savings that year. That approach sounds like it would be a good incentive to achieve your goals, but all it does is create friction and competitiveness between your team. “You can’t measure a person’s value based on individual contributions like savings because it’s so variable by their organizational assignment,” explains Tom. “It’s much easier for a supply chain manager to find and deliver savings than someone assigned to help the marketing team, who by definition is going to spend their entire budget in service of revenue generation.”

Instead, focus on working toward a commonly owned target that the entire team can get behind. That means savings, of course, but don’t neglect other metrics of success, like speed to market, or overall stakeholder satisfaction. 

That means not only setting a clear vision as a leader, but also giving your team the ownership to achieve those targets and work together. Says Tom, “It’s really important to create a safe environment and an inclusive culture where everyone can thrive. You have to step away and think, ‘Okay, everyone’s got their own unique skills and their own unique way of doing things, so how can I support that?’”

Working together well comes down to getting to know each other as people first, not just as procurement professionals. Those that worked before the pandemic years probably recall common team-building activities like barbecues, happy hours, ski weekends, lunches, or team outings. If those have disappeared from your organization, bring them back. “As cliche as it may sound, getting away from your desks and having some fun with your team can really make a huge difference,” says Tom. “Not just in terms of the team dynamics, but getting to know people as individuals. You’d be surprised how few procurement teams take the time to get away, but it gives you a great foundation to work together.”

Read the whole series with procurement expert Tom Mills below >

• The 3 Biggest Challenges Procurement Professionals Faced in 2025—and How to Address Them in 2026
• How to Maximize Your First 90 Days in a New Procurement Org
• Process Before Tech: Why the Fundamentals Matter for Procurement Teams
• Why Procurement Professionals Get Burnout—And What to Do About It
• The Top 7 Negotiation Mistakes Procurement Professionals Make—And How to Fix Them

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Ironclad is not a law firm, and this post does not constitute or contain legal advice. To evaluate the accuracy, sufficiency, or reliability of the ideas and guidance reflected here, or the applicability of these materials to your business, you should consult with a licensed attorney.