Chief Procurement Officer

Apply now Job No: 26009 Department: CFO & Vice President for Admin Work Type: Staff - Full Time Location: Main Campus (Houghton, MI)
Full Time / Part Time: Full Time Categories: Management, Administrative/Business/Professional Applications Close: 22 Feb 2026 Eastern Standard Time

Michigan Technological University is an R1 technological research university founded in 1885 in Houghton. Our rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan’s scenic Upper Peninsula and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 185 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Research focus areas include defense, health, energy, automotive, environment, and aerospace.

The area’s waters, forests, and snowfall support year‑round recreation, including skiing, snowboarding, hiking, biking, and paddling. The University is an integral part of the region, supported by a friendly and welcoming community that takes pride in being a true college town. We embrace our size, climate, sense of adventure, and originality.

The Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) provides strategic, operational, and policy leadership for all university procurement, contracting, sourcing, supplier management, and purchasing compliance activities. This is a newly created institution‑wide senior leadership role responsible for establishing Michigan Tech’s first centralized Procurement & Contract Management Office. The university is transitioning from a decentralized purchasing environment to a unified, strategic procurement model. The CPO will lead the development of modern procurement processes, implement enterprise tools and systems, establish institutional standards, and build a cohesive structure to support Michigan Tech’s long‑term financial sustainability and operational integrity.

The CPO will also oversee Michigan Tech’s existing Purchasing and Insurance Program Office, integrating its operations into the centralized procurement structure and aligning its work with university‑wide strategy and standards. The CPO partners with the Office of General Counsel (OGC) for legal review while retaining full operational ownership of procurement strategy, sourcing, vendor management, and the entire contract lifecycle processes.

• Build and lead a centralized Procurement & Contract Management Office for the university.
• Develop and implement a university‑wide procurement strategy aligned with Michigan Tech’s financial and administrative priorities.
• Establish policies, procedures, and governance structures for procurement and contracting.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to modernize processes, improve cycle times, and increase transparency.
• Develop KPIs, dashboards, and analytics to support data‑driven purchasing and contract decisions.
• Integrate and provide strategic leadership to the existing Purchasing and Insurance Program Office.

• Oversee the full procure‑to‑pay lifecycle, including competitive bidding, sourcing, purchase orders, contracting, and vendor onboarding.
• Standardize contract templates, playbooks, and workflows across all units.
• Implement scalable procurement systems, including enterprise contract management software and related procurement tools.
• Coordinate all campus purchasing activities to ensure consistency, compliance, and value optimization.
• Align purchasing and insurance functions within the centralized procurement model.

• Own the enterprise contract lifecycle management (CLM) function—routing, tracking, negotiation coordination, and compliance monitoring.
• Ensure contracts receive appropriate financial, operational, risk, and legal review within standardized workflows.
• Establish and maintain a university centralized contract repository, including tracking of key terms, reporting, expirations, renewals, and contract performance metrics.
• Lead the development of Michigan Tech’s first institution‑wide contract management system…