Head of Procurement

San Francisco · 10+ years experience · Full-time · Hybrid · Posted Oct 12, 2026

At a glance

Benchling is looking for a Head of Procurement to lead how we buy as a senior individual contributor reporting to the Chief Accounting Officer.
This role involves broad influence across and responsibility for third-party spend in cloud infrastructure, enterprise SaaS, professional services, and the travel and expense program.
You will lead negotiations for the largest and most strategic contracts, build coverage to address the tail, and guide systems and accounting partners toward a well-designed procure-to-pay process.

Lead vendor negotiation and renewals for our largest and most strategic agreements, including our cloud infrastructure and enterprise SaaS providers.
Structure deals that hold up over time, including usage-based and committed-spend pricing, multi-year terms, price protections, and exit and data portability rights.
Enhance our renewal management process, building a renewal strategy with business owners and Strategic Finance, so renewal pricing never comes as a surprise.
Develop category strategies for our major spend areas, and use them to consolidate vendors, inform renewal strategies and stop redundant software spend, working with business partners on usage monitoring and build-versus-buy decisions.
Design and implement an appropriately sized third-party vendor risk program that aligns and partners with security and other stakeholders.
Build leverage by giving business owners what they need to negotiate on their own.
Advise on categories outside procurement today, such as benefits, large events, real estate, and our contingent workforce vendors.
Leverage your experience in leading edge, best-in-class process and set the direction, partnering with stakeholder teams to evolve existing processes.
Own our procurement and T&E policies, set clear rules for when procurement gets involved, and assess whether our tools are still the right ones.
Simplify and apply AI and automation from intake through reporting, including procurement metrics teams can use on their own.

10+ years in procurement, strategic sourcing, or vendor management, with most of that experience at technology or SaaS companies
A track record of delivering substantial, measurable savings by leading the most complex, high-stakes negotiations in the company, including large cloud infrastructure commitments and multi-year enterprise SaaS agreements, and by driving cross-functional vendor and tool consolidation
A reputation as a trusted business partner who balances commercial results with stakeholder needs and long-term vendor relationships
Leading-practice procurement process design: demonstrated results from process redesign and simplification, leveraging AI and automation, with good judgment about where they help and where they don't
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills at an executive level
Experience designing third-party risk processes with Security, Legal, and Compliance partners
Familiarity with Zip, Navan, NetSuite, or similar platforms
Comfort working on your own, handling both strategy and execution

Flexible hybrid work arrangement prioritizing in-office collaboration
Employees are expected to be on-site 3 days per week (Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday)