Head of IT Vendor and Procurement Management

Johannesburg, South AfricaFull-timeExecutiveOn-sitePosted 2 Nov 2026

Job Overview

Dis-Chem Pharmacies is appointing a Head of IT Vendor and Procurement Management at its Midrand head office (permanent; reference 205883; posted 30 October 2026; apply before 13 November 2026). Reporting to the Group CIO, the role establishes and leads the enterprise capability that governs how IT vendors are selected, onboarded, managed, measured, renewed, exited and commercially optimised across Dis-Chem.

The Head is the single point of accountability within IT for vendor lifecycle management, IT procurement governance, technology sourcing discipline and vendor value realisation – partnering IT Infrastructure and Operations, Legal, Finance, Enterprise Architecture, Security, Risk and Group Procurement to make sourcing decisions transparent, compliant, commercially sound and strategically aligned, and creating visibility of technology spend, contract obligations, renewal exposure and third-party dependencies.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead the IT vendor management strategy, operating model, standards and governance across the CIO organisation

• Segment vendors by strategic importance, criticality, spend, risk and innovation potential; run full vendor lifecycle practices

• Establish vendor performance frameworks – SLAs, KPIs, service credits, scorecards, QBRs and escalation paths

• Lead IT sourcing – RFIs, RFPs, tenders, market scans, proposal evaluations and commercial negotiations

• Lead negotiation of IT contracts, renewals and amendments with Legal and Finance; ensure robust SLAs, risk allocation, data protection, audit and exit provisions

• Drive TCO, licence rationalisation, demand aggregation and cost optimisation across IT spend

• Manage third-party risk, due diligence, concentration risk and exit readiness with Security, Risk and Compliance

• Prevent shadow procurement by enforcing decision rights and procurement governance

• Report to the CIO and governance forums on vendor performance, spend, renewals, savings and risk via dashboards

Required Qualifications

• Degree in IT, Business Management, Finance, Supply Chain, Commerce, Law or related field

• 10+ years’ experience in senior IT vendor management, IT procurement, strategic sourcing, commercial or contract management

• Experience in large-scale, multi-vendor, regulated enterprise environments

• Proven negotiation of complex technology contracts – software, managed services, cloud and professional services

• Deep understanding of SaaS, cloud, licensing and managed-service sourcing models

• CIPS, ITIL, COBIT or contract/vendor-management certifications advantageous

Skills & Requirements

IT Vendor ManagementStrategic SourcingIT ProcurementContract NegotiationContract Lifecycle ManagementThird-Party Risk ManagementSLA ManagementSoftware LicensingTotal Cost of OwnershipCommercial GovernanceStakeholder ManagementCIPSITIL