Lois Seear
Head of Procurement Services @Southern Water
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WORK HISTORY
Head of Procurement Services @Southern Water
South coast, GB
Implemented threshold strategy to address tail-end spend, including implementation of a Buying Desk and facilitation of additional purchase via Purchasing Card. Buying Desk delivered £350K of benefit p/a; whilst also establishing an entry route into a Procurement career pathway at Southern Water. • Embedded Operational Field Services team into Procurement fostering two-way knowledge share. Nurturing talent and capability development, and facilitating CIPS qualification pathways. Through headcount rationalisation through full employee consultation, achieved Opex reduction of two FTE (from 12) to budget.• Delivered innovation through system improvements to both to SAP SRM and Jaggaer, to reduce handoffs between systems, automate governance approvals, improve data availability and cycle time of processes. Implemented query handling via Service Now to automate tracking of SLAs, outcomes and benefits. Enabled BPO to move 2 FTE from manual reporting to processing, in turn delivering robust 2 working day SLA performance to business customers and Supply Chain partners. • Digitised signatures via integration with eSourcing solution, reducing delays via paper processing, contract storage and postage costs, delivering cost reduction of £10k p/a. Reduced cycle time for contract execution by 5 working days. • Oversaw design and implementation of procurement policies and Standard Operating Procedures for all channels of spend, created consistent approach and ability to report non-compliance. Integration into P2P platform, to reduce manual intervention to deliver compliance by design. Developed and implemented a savings policy, automated sign off process via eSourcing and hand off to our Business Partners in Finance to realise cost savings in budgets.
ABOUT LOIS SEEAR
I help organisations regain control of procurement and supplier operations when growth, change or complexity has outpaced their structures. My experience has been built within regulated and complex environments, where governance, assurance and stakeholder confidence really matter.In practice, this means stabilising procurement functions that feel reactive or unclear, re-establishing governance and clear decision routes; giving leaders confidence in the information they rely on to make financial and operational decisions. My work typically spans operating model redesign, governance uplift, P2P optimisation and digital enablement.At Southern Water, I led large-scale transformation spanning governance, digital workflow enhancement, performance reporting and organisational redesign, increasing financial visibility, improving audit assurance and rebuilding stakeholder confidence during a period of significant change.Alongside transformation delivery, I build inclusive, capable teams, introducing structured career pathways, mentoring frameworks and leadership clarity that strengthen resilience and long-term performance.I’m particularly energised by organisations undergoing growth, reset or strategic evolution, where clarity, discipline and thoughtful leadership turn ambition into measurable outcomes.I’m most often brought in at points where confidence has dipped, visibility is limited, or ways of working have become unclear; my aim is to leave the function stable, trusted and able to operate independently.I’m always open to a conversation about procurement, P2P or operating model challenges. South East (open to hybrid/remote)| Head of Procurement, P2P, Supply Chain & Transformation leadership roles
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