Associate Director, Procurement and Partnerships

The Urban Institute is a research-to-impact institution founded on one simple ideal; to improve lives and strengthen communities, we need practices and policies that work. From advancing well-being to fostering shared prosperity, leaders across sectors are working every day to create brighter futures for all people and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered evidence and solutions that drive meaningful change, and this remains our charge today.

Our Mission To drive impact by equipping changemakers with evidence and solutions. Our Values Collaboration, Equity, Inclusivity, Independence, and Integrity For more information on the Urban Institute, please visit https://www.urban.org.

The Urban Institute’s Grants and Contracts (GC) Department seeks an experienced Associate Director of Procurement and Partnerships to join the Subawards team to strengthen procurement strategy, subcontracting, partner engagement, and supplier management across Urban’s federal, state, local, corporate, and philanthropic funding portfolio. This position will report directly to the Director of Subawards and offers an exciting opportunity to strengthen, innovate, and advance organization-wide procurement processes.

The ideal candidate will bring a solutions-oriented mindset, demonstrate flexibility in adapting to change, and collaborate with the Director of Subawards to define and implement organizational procurement priorities. As competition for funding increases, Urban needs proactive procurement, partner selection, and subcontracting support earlier in the proposal process. One organizational priority is to help Urban compete more effectively, build durable partnerships, and make sponsored work easier, more consistent, and more sustainable for Urban teams.

This position will lead these efforts. This role will focus on pre-award strategy and proposal development, including procurement planning, market research, partner identification, supplier strategy, pricing considerations, teaming arrangements, subcontracting plans, and procurement-related compliance requirements. The Associate Director will also draft subcontract agreements and facilitate negotiations with selected partners, and support researchers and project teams throughout the award lifecycle by helping them meet contractual, procurement, and funder obligations.

The Associate Director will serve as a trusted advisor to research teams, helping define decision frameworks and sourcing strategies for complex opportunities. This includes advising on business needs, procurement requirements, compliance obligations, total cost/price considerations, partner terms, acquisition strategies, and subcontracting approaches. The role will also help build strong supplier and partner relationships, mentor procurement staff, and drive improvements to procurement tools, processes, and internal coordination.

Central to Urban’s mission is fostering a truly inclusive community that remains relevant in a changing world. GC advances this work by supporting Urban teams from pre-proposal planning through award closeout, protecting institutional interests, managing risk, and ensuring compliance with Urban policies and funder requirements. The Associate Director will help GC become a more proactive and strategic partner to research teams by strengthening subcontract and partner management, streamline procurement tools and processes, and enhancing coordination across research divisions and operational departments.

• Lead pre-award partner and supplier processes, including sourcing, market research, solicitations, proposal documentation, evaluations, risk assessments, cost and price analysis, and objective selection.
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