Director of Strategic Procurement

About Persona Persona https://withpersona.com/ is the configurable identity platform built for businesses in a digital-first world. Verifying individuals and organizations is harder — but more important — than ever, with AI enabling fraudsters to launch sophisticated accounts at scale and regulations evolving rapidly. We’ve built Persona to support practically every use case and industry — that’s why we’re able to serve a wide range of leading companies. For example, Reddit relies on Persona for age assurance and verification to comply with online safety regulations, protecting younger users while maintaining a seamless experience. Meanwhile, OpenAI relies on Persona to keep bad actors out, protecting one of the world’s most powerful AI platforms from large-scale abuse in a time when AI is reshaping the way we work and live. We’re growing rapidly and looking for exceptional people to join us! ABOUT THE ROLE We're looking for a Director of Strategic Procurement to own Persona's highest-impact vendor relationships and contracts. This is a senior individual contributor role reporting to our VP of Finance but sitting at the intersection of Product, Engineering, and Finance — focused on the contracts that truly move the needle for the business. You'll work directly with executive leadership, leading end-to-end negotiations for our largest infrastructure, product, and data partnerships. This isn't a role for managing a sprawling portfolio of small contracts — you'll be the person in the room when it matters most, negotiating agreements that shape Persona's product capabilities and long-term financial trajectory. If you're someone who is genuinely passionate about procurement, thrives on finding mutual value, and loves doing right by the business while working alongside a strong team — this is a rare and exciting opportunity. WHAT YOU'LL DO AT PERSONA Strategic Procurement & Contract Leadership - Own end-to-end procurement for Persona's most significant contracts — from product and infrastructure technology to large-scale data partnerships - Lead commercial and legal negotiations to secure favorable pricing, SLAs, and risk protections on high-value, high-complexity agreements - Partner with Legal to drive contract review and manage redlines with vendors - Build and maintain internal vendor tracking systems across all product and platform offerings - Continuously evaluate vendor pricing, performance, and opportunities to consolidate or optimize spend Financial Planning & Renewal Management - Partner with Finance to develop annual budgets for third-party spend and track actuals against forecasts - Provide clear visibility to budget owners on spend trends, renewal timelines, and savings opportunities - Own the renewal calendar, ensuring proactive negotiations and stakeholder alignment well ahead of contract deadlines Cross-Functional Partnership - Work directly with Product, Engineering, and Finance leadership to understand long-term technical requirements and roadmap needs - Lead vendor business reviews to ensure alignment on deliverables, service levels, and strategic value - Serve as the primary point of contact for vendors and senior internal stakeholders WHAT YOU'LL BRING TO PERSONA - 8+ years of experience in strategic sourcing, procurement, or vendor management — ideally in a technology, SaaS, or data-heavy environment - Track record of leading and closing high-value, complex contracts (infrastructure, data, or platform agreements) - Strong financial acumen with experience in budget tracking, cost modeling, and spend optimization - Excellent negotiation skills with the ability to find creative deal structures that serve both Persona and its vendors - Comfortable operating at the executive level and with technical stakeholders — able to translate complex product and engineering requirements into procurement strategy - Exceptional project management skills with the ability to juggle multiple high-stakes negotiations and renewals s…