How To Become A Director, Procurement: What It Is and Career Path

What is a director, procurement and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Director, procurement can also be known as purchasing director or procurement director. These professionals are responsible for developing and implementing procurement policies in an organization. Directors of procurement may also negotiate supplies, communicate with vendors, and settle disputes in procurement.

Directors of procurement usually work in industries like manufacturing, where the organization needs a large volume of supplies to function. While supervising procurement, the director may handle vendor relationships, review quality and price, and monitor current inventory.

As a procurement director, you may also need to create reports for upper management, usually the chief financial officer or related executives. You may also be in charge of regulating the procurement budget in the organization.

To become a director of procurement, you need a relevant bachelor's degree. More importantly, you need up to seven years of relevant purchasing experience. Directors of procurement also need excellent relationship building skills because they collaborate with people outside the organization.

ScoreDirector, ProcurementUS Average

Salary

8.6

Avg. Salary $140,058

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate -6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.30%

Asian 7.36%

Black or African American 8.94%

Hispanic or Latino 12.09%

Unknown 3.81%

White 67.49%

Gender

female 21.99%

male 78.01%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a director, procurement

Explore director, procurement education requirements

Most common director, procurement degrees

Bachelor's

69.5 %

Master's

20.2 %

Associate

6.5 %

Start to develop specific director, procurement skills

Skills	Percentages
Strategic Sourcing	6.78%
Supplier Performance	6.13%
Continuous Improvement	5.46%
Logistics	5.02%
Customer Service	4.02%

Complete relevant director, procurement training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New directors, procurement learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a director, procurement based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real director, procurement resumes.

Research director, procurement duties and responsibilities

Develop and deploy integrated visual MRP tools to forecast and manage a constrain and vary purchasing model.
Develop and lead cross-functional team to correct and optimize company ERP system resulting in an efficient order and fulfillment process.
Manage RFP authoring and all aspects of the proposal/bidding process for special bond programs, SPLOST, and typical departmental needs.
Centralize vendor management, outsource/off-shore vendor restructure master agreements and manage RFP process.

Get director, procurement experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a director, procurement. The most common roles before becoming a director, procurement include purchasing manager, buyer team lead and senior buyer.

Prepare your director, procurement resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your director, procurement resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a director, procurement resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable director, procurement resume templates

Build a professional director, procurement resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your director, procurement resume.