Manager - Procurement

Job Description:

Aldar Education is currently seeking a Manager - Procurement to support our growing family of owned and operated schools in the UAE. This is an exciting opportunity to join the highly successful Aldar family of schools and to help shape the future of Abu Dhabi’s leading school group.

The Manager – Procurement leads the Procurement team in delivering Aldar Education’s organisational requirements in line with departmental SLAs and KPIs. The role oversees source-to-contract and purchase-order activities within Procurement’s scope, working closely with Finance and business stakeholders across the wider procure-to-pay process. The Manager continuously monitors performance, identifies opportunities for process improvement, and ensures the delivery of high-quality procurement services in compliance with corporate governance requirements.

The role requires strong planning, stakeholder management, communication, time management and knowledge of the education supplier base.

Since its inception in 2007 with just 250 students, Aldar Education has grown into a highly sought-after education provider, with more than 25 owned and managed premium and super-premium schools and academies- in partnership with some of the world’s most prestigious institutions including

Rugby School, King’s College Wimbledon, and Cranleigh. The Group now serves over
38,000 studentsthrough5,000 educators from more than 100 nationalities to deliver world-class education across a broad range of curricula and learning pathways from nursery through to K12.

At Aldar Education, our impact goes far beyond the classroom: we are proud to contribute to the UAE’s vision for a sustainable, knowledge-based economy through premium education. With this in mind, we hire educators and industry professionals who not only embody our values and cultural ethos but also bring a genuine passion for education—qualities central to our mission of shaping the leaders of tomorrow.

Main Duties

• Manage assigned procurement categories and support Operated Schools, school projects and procurement planning meetings.
• Develop category strategies and ensure implementation in alignment with the annual Procurement Plan.
• Manage procurement specialists and the day-to-day activities of the procurement function.
• Own procurement trackers, KPIs, risk reporting and timely management updates for the assigned portfolio.
• Act as procurement lead on strategic projects, including technology projects, merger or integration projects, school openings, transitions and special assignments.

Specific Duties

Sourcing, Tendering and Commercial Management

• Develop tender strategies, prepare and manage bidder lists, lead clarification management, govern technical and commercial evaluations, conduct BAFO stages, prepare award recommendations, classify single-source cases and coordinate approval submissions in accordance with the DoA.
• Run and manage RFQs and RFPs to support delivery of the Procurement Plan and category strategies.
• Check that technical scores are supported by criterion-level justifications and that supplier disqualifications are properly documented and auditable.
• Negotiate with suppliers to obtain the best achievable price, quality, service, delivery and contractual terms.
• Review award recommendations and provide sound commercial and governance feedback.
• Analyze markets to identify supplier sources, product and service availability, commercial trends and sourcing opportunities.
• Identify recurring spend, consolidate requirements, increase spend under framework agreements and reduce single sourcing.
• Identify synergies and standardization opportunities to improve value through economies of scale.

Contracts, Variations and Purchase Orders

• Support contract…