Chanel Senior Procurement Manager

About Chanel

Chanel is one of the world’s most revered luxury houses, founded by Gabrielle Chanel and distinguished by an enduring vision of elegance, freedom, and modernity. As an employer, the House brings together métiers ranging from haute couture, fashion and leather goods to fragrance, beauty, watches, and fine jewelry, offering employees the opportunity to contribute to a legacy defined by exceptional craftsmanship and creative audacity. Chanel values excellence, discretion, collaboration, and long-term development, fostering an environment where talent is nurtured and heritage is continually reinterpreted for contemporary clients. Its teams are united by a commitment to quality, innovation, and the timeless spirit of the brand.

Role & Responsibilities

• Serve as the procurement business partner to regional Boutique Architecture, Retail Architecture and Store Planning teams throughout the boutique project lifecycle.
• Develop sourcing approaches for new boutiques, renovations, refreshes and specialist construction packages.
• Involve Procurement early in project planning and capital expenditure budgeting.
• Constructively challenge commercial assumptions while respecting designers’ technical and aesthetic ownership.
• Build regional category strategies covering general contractors, fit-out contractors, millwork, specialist finishes, lighting, furniture installation and relevant consulting services.
• Develop regional cost benchmarks across markets and boutique formats, and establish should-cost models for recurring construction packages.
• Analyse labour, materials, logistics, preliminaries, contractor overhead and margin separately where commercially appropriate, on a normalized like-for-like basis.
• Track historical unit rates and project cost movements; identify unusual movements and provide fact-based commercial challenges.
• Develop cost-per-square-metre and category/unit-rate intelligence while accounting for differences in specifications and market conditions.
• Design tender and negotiation strategies with Boutique Architecture, Retail Architecture and Store Planning teams, ensuring sufficient competitive tension where the supplier market permits.
• Lead the commercial component of supplier evaluations and establish transparent criteria covering commercial competitiveness, capability, capacity, quality, risk and project requirements.
• Support supplier negotiations and recommendation documentation.
• Ensure single-source or nominated-supplier decisions have appropriate commercial justification and governance.
• Continuously scan contractor and specialist supplier markets, develop credible alternative suppliers ahead of projects, reduce reliance on incumbent contractors, identify cross-market supplier capabilities and develop regional supplier panels.
• Assess supplier financial and operational resilience and organize supplier capability reviews with Design.
• Develop challenger suppliers through smaller projects before considering them for flagship boutiques.
• Establish structured performance reviews for strategic construction suppliers; monitor commercial, quality, delivery, compliance and service issues; and lead supplier improvement plans from a procurement perspective.
• Track supplier concentration and dependency risks, partner with SME teams on responsible sourcing, ESG and supplier compliance expectations, and maintain regional visibility of strategic construction suppliers.
• Lead commercial negotiations on pricing, payment terms, warranties, liabilities and other commercial conditions.
• Establish framework agreements with frequently used contractors and specialist suppliers, and negotiate regional rate cards where appropriate.
• Standardize commercial terms while accommodating project-specific technical requirements, partner with Legal on contracting strategy, and improve discipline around purchase orders, variations and final accounts.

Qualifications

• In-depth knowledge of construction costing as a proactive, value-creating tool.
• Proven track record procuring construction projects, including strategic sourcing, procurement processes, contract management and supplier relationship management.
• Ability to drive change initiatives with robust governance, ensuring compliance and structure throughout transformation.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and develop solution-oriented approaches to shape a future-state organization.
• Ability to foster trusted, collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders through exceptional interpersonal skills.
• Strong negotiation, analytical and problem-solving skills, grounded in rigorous data analysis and business acumen.
• Ability to translate complex procurement metrics and cost data into compelling, actionable insights for design stakeholders and suppliers.
• Proven results in end-to-end management of large-scale change management initiatives.
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects concurrently, prioritize effectively to meet agreed timelines, and communicate progress and milestones transparently.
• Good command of written and spoken English, including storytelling.

Skills

Culture

Chanel fosters a culture of timeless creativity, exacting craftsmanship, and quiet excellence, where employees are encouraged to uphold the house’s heritage while contributing to its continued innovation. The workplace environment is refined, collaborative, and deeply committed to quality, offering professionals the opportunity to grow within a globally respected maison that values discretion, artistry, and long-term vision.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.