procurement-process-runner
Agent: Vendor Management & Procurement
L1 vendor management and procurement function (1x) reporting to the COO, responsible for vendor contracts, risk assessment, procurement process, and vendor performance reviews.
Department ethos: ideal-technical-operations.md
Tool policy: allowed-tools.yaml
Skill Description
The procurement process runner manages the end-to-end vendor procurement process from requirements gathering through RFP issuance, proposal evaluation, and final vendor selection to ensure the organisation selects vendors that meet technical, commercial, and risk requirements.
When to Use
- When a team requests a new tool, service, or vendor engagement that exceeds the self-service procurement threshold.
- When an existing vendor contract is ending and a competitive evaluation is needed for replacement.
- When a strategic initiative requires sourcing a vendor for a capability the organisation does not have in-house.
- When compliance requirements mandate a formal procurement process for certain spend categories.
Workflow
- Gather requirements: Work with the requesting team to document functional, technical, security, and budget requirements. Deliverable: procurement requirements document.
- Identify candidates: Research the market and compile a shortlist of vendors that meet baseline requirements. Deliverable: vendor shortlist.
- Issue RFP: Draft and distribute the RFP to shortlisted vendors with clear evaluation criteria and response deadlines. Deliverable: issued RFP.
- Evaluate proposals: Score vendor responses against the evaluation criteria, conduct demos or trials as needed. Deliverable: scored evaluation matrix.
- Negotiate terms: Negotiate pricing, SLA, and contract terms with the top-ranked vendor. Deliverable: negotiated term sheet.
- Approve and award: Present the recommendation to the approval authority, obtain sign-off, and notify the selected vendor. Deliverable: approved vendor selection with signed contract.
Anti-Patterns
- Single-vendor evaluation: Selecting a vendor without competitive comparison. Why: without alternatives, there is no leverage on pricing and no validation that the chosen vendor is actually the best fit.
- Requirements drift during evaluation: Changing requirements mid-process based on vendor demos. Why: shifting criteria undermines fair comparison and delays the selection timeline.
- Skipping security review: Evaluating only on features and price without assessing the vendor's security posture. Why: a cheap tool with poor security creates risk that far exceeds the cost savings.
Output
On success: A completed procurement process with a signed vendor contract, an evaluation matrix documenting why the vendor was selected, and a handoff to vendor contract management for ongoing oversight.
On failure: Report which stage the process stalled at (e.g., no vendors met requirements, budget not approved), what was evaluated, and recommend next steps such as revising requirements or increasing budget.
Related Skills
1---2name: procurement-process-runner3description: This skill runs the procurement process for new vendor selection including RFP, evaluation, and approval. Use when asked to source a new vendor, run an RFP, or evaluate vendor proposals. Also consider when an existing vendor relationship ends and a replacement is needed. Suggest when a team requests a new tool or service that requires formal procurement.4---56# procurement-process-runner78## Agent: Vendor Management & Procurement910L1 vendor management and procurement function (1x) reporting to the COO, responsible for vendor contracts, risk assessment, procurement process, and vendor performance reviews.1112Department ethos: [ideal-technical-operations.md](../../../../departments/technical-operations/ideal-technical-operations.md)13Tool policy: [allowed-tools.yaml](../../../../allowed-tools.yaml)1415## Skill Description1617The procurement process runner manages the end-to-end vendor procurement process from requirements gathering through RFP issuance, proposal evaluation, and final vendor selection to ensure the organisation selects vendors that meet technical, commercial, and risk requirements.1819## When to Use2021- When a team requests a new tool, service, or vendor engagement that exceeds the self-service procurement threshold.22- When an existing vendor contract is ending and a competitive evaluation is needed for replacement.23- When a strategic initiative requires sourcing a vendor for a capability the organisation does not have in-house.24- When compliance requirements mandate a formal procurement process for certain spend categories.2526## Workflow27281. **Gather requirements**: Work with the requesting team to document functional, technical, security, and budget requirements. Deliverable: procurement requirements document.292. **Identify candidates**: Research the market and compile a shortlist of vendors that meet baseline requirements. Deliverable: vendor shortlist.303. **Issue RFP**: Draft and distribute the RFP to shortlisted vendors with clear evaluation criteria and response deadlines. Deliverable: issued RFP.314. **Evaluate proposals**: Score vendor responses against the evaluation criteria, conduct demos or trials as needed. Deliverable: scored evaluation matrix.325. **Negotiate terms**: Negotiate pricing, SLA, and contract terms with the top-ranked vendor. Deliverable: negotiated term sheet.336. **Approve and award**: Present the recommendation to the approval authority, obtain sign-off, and notify the selected vendor. Deliverable: approved vendor selection with signed contract.3435## Anti-Patterns3637- **Single-vendor evaluation**: Selecting a vendor without competitive comparison. *Why*: without alternatives, there is no leverage on pricing and no validation that the chosen vendor is actually the best fit.38- **Requirements drift during evaluation**: Changing requirements mid-process based on vendor demos. *Why*: shifting criteria undermines fair comparison and delays the selection timeline.39- **Skipping security review**: Evaluating only on features and price without assessing the vendor's security posture. *Why*: a cheap tool with poor security creates risk that far exceeds the cost savings.4041## Output4243**On success**: A completed procurement process with a signed vendor contract, an evaluation matrix documenting why the vendor was selected, and a handoff to vendor contract management for ongoing oversight.4445**On failure**: Report which stage the process stalled at (e.g., no vendors met requirements, budget not approved), what was evaluated, and recommend next steps such as revising requirements or increasing budget.4647## Related Skills4849- [`vendor-risk-assessor`](../vendor-risk-assessor/SKILL.md) -- risk assessment is a required input to the procurement evaluation.50- [`vendor-contract-manager`](../vendor-contract-manager/SKILL.md) -- contract management takes over once procurement awards the contract.51- [`saas-stack-manager`](../../../technical-operations/it-operations-manager/saas-stack-manager/SKILL.md) -- SaaS stack manager identifies when a new procurement is needed for software tools.
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