99 Names You Can Call a Procurement Professional

And can you guess why #30 is my favourite?

This article was first published on LinkedIn.

It would appear (some) people in Procurement are very sensitive about their job title!

So, what’s the difference between job titles?

Not a lot by the looks of it; call yourself what you want when you want! No doubt, with many, it is an image issue. With others it’s trying to capture the essence of the job.

The fascination is the likely impact on non-procurement people who must be confused about the nature of the procurement role. Some see it as an administrative role, not engaged in any policy or strategic decisions. Others see it doing what Procurement is told to do by others who can select suppliers, negotiate and deal with contracts far better than Procurement.

A Definitive Answer

If you are looking for a definitive answer as to what to call a Buyer you will be seriously disappointed.

There isn’t one.

I’ve been doing research into job titles for a project we’re involved with – and checked our client database and a quick google – and came up with these 99 different titles. Proliferation is the word, or perhaps obfuscation (an increase in the muddying of the waters – did you see what I did there?).

You might see why I like #30 so much ;)!

Set out below is a range of job titles used by Procurement professionals. As you’ll see there’s no commonality in them and they may clash with role descriptions other employees have who have nothing at all to do with Procurement. If you’ve come across any other Procurement job titles, let me know or add them in the comments.

That’s if you can get through the 99 here…

1. Head of Procurement
2. Chief Procurement Officer
3. Head of Category
4. Procurement Director
5. Resourcing Director
6. Category Acquisition Director
7. Procurement Lead
8. Resourcing Lead
9. Category Acquisition Lead
10. Procurement Partner
11. Resourcing Partner
12. Category Partner
13. Category Sourcing Lead
14. Category Sourcing Partner
15. Procurement Manager
16. Resourcing Manager
17. Category Acquisition Manager
18. Sourcing Manager
19. Category Sourcing Manager
20. Strategic Procurement Lead
21. Head of Procurement Operations
22. Head of Procurement Strategy
23. Chief Category Officer
24. Sourcing Specialist
25. Resourcing Specialist
26. Procurement Specialist
27. Procurement Operations Manager
28. Head of Procurement Projects
29. Vendor Manager – Procurement
30. Buyer
31. Senior Buyer
32. Sourcer
33. Principal Procurement Specialist
34. Service Delivery Manager
35. Procurement Business Partner
36. Resourcing Business Partner
37. Procurement Consultant
38. Executive Buyer
39. Executive Procurement Manager
40. Manager – Procurement
41. Executive Category Sourcing Manager
42. EMEA Executive Sourcing Leader
43. Global Program Manager – Employer Branding
44. Principal Delivery Consultant
45. Strategic Procurement Manager
46. Resourcing Advisor
47. Sourcing Advisor
48. Category Acquisition Advisor
49. Lead Buyer
50. Head of Projects – Category Acquisition
51. Procurement Marketing Manager
52. Resource Consultant
53. Graduate Buyer
54. Procurement Advisor
55. Programme Manager
56. Programme Lead
57. Manager – Category Systems
58. Internal Buyer
59. In-house Buyer
60. Global Category Selection Manager
61. Corporate Buyer
62. Technical Buyer
63. Corporate Procurement Lead
64. Technical Procurement Lead
65. Category Buyer
66. Lead Sourcing Consultant
67. Executive Category Acquisition
68. HR Manager – Procurement
69. Lateral Buyer
70. Lateral Procurement Manager
71. Deputy Head of Procurement
72. Director – Executive Procurement
73. HR Purchasing Specialist
74. University Purchasing Consultant
75. Hybrid Buyer
76. Direct Buyer
77. Indirects Buyer
78. Direct Procurement Specialist
79. Category Sourcing Lead
80. Category Scout
81. Relationship Manager
82. Director – Strategic Resourcing
83. Category Identification Manager
84. Procurement Strategy & Planning Manager
85. Procurement Team Lead
86. Procurement Team Leader
87. Supplier Relationship Manager
88. Category Attraction Consultant
89. Procurement Officer
90. Procurement Consultant
91. Category Specialist
92. Category Consultant – Executive Search
93. Procurement Agent
94. Procurement Executive
95. Procurement & Engagement Manager
96. Project Purchaser
97. Category Attraction Specialist
98. Lead Category Scout
99. Resourcing Associate

If you think I’ve missed any of your favourites (and no doubt I have), please let me know in the comments – it would be good to grow the list and get your view.  Always learning!