Procurement Specialist, Communications
Location: San Francisco, CA preferred; open to New York, NY
Work Type: Hybrid / Onsite
Onsite Schedule: 2 days per week; days may vary
Contract: 12-month W2 contract
Pay Rate: $115–$125/hour
Extension: Potential to extend
Russell Tobin is supporting a leading technology company in hiring a Procurement Specialist, Communications to support its Communications Strategy & Operations team.
This team runs all vendor and agency procurement for the Communications organization, including purchase orders, contracts and amendments, change orders, and invoicing across a multi-vendor portfolio spanning a variety of regional entities and different currencies.
This role owns execution of that process end-to-end. You will be working a high-volume queue with a daily rhythm of review, triage, and follow-up. This role requires strong relationship management, ownership, and flawless execution. You will be the go-to person for vendors and Communications teammates alike, ensuring contracts and purchase orders move accurately and on time so the team can invest in vendor strategy, process design, and other strategic improvements.
Key Responsibilities
- File and manage purchase requests and change orders in the procure-to-pay system: run structured vendor intake, submit requests, and work approval threads to unstick requests.
- Draft statements of work and contract amendments from templates and shepherd them through the contract workflow to full execution.
- Chase approvals and signatures persistently, and escalate early when a request is stuck rather than letting it stall.
- Reconcile purchase orders against contracts line-by-line: catch gaps between contract terms and PO lines, vendor math errors, missing expense lines, and overbilling; verify itemized vendor breakdowns against agreed-upon expense rates.
- Track the team’s purchase orders in real time; run regular “where are we blocked” and “who am I waiting on” sweeps; triage and troubleshoot most blockers independently.
- Feed clean PO data into monthly finance spend tracking.
- Partner day to day with Communications teammates requesting purchases, as well as Accounting, Procurement Operations, Legal, and Finance teams.
- Build and manage strong day-to-day relationships with vendors and agency partners, acting as their primary point of contact for procurement matters.
- Communicate effectively, thoroughly, and clearly — and in a timely fashion — with Communications teammates and vendors alike.
- Navigate thorny questions and occasionally difficult vendor conversations with professionalism, tact, and good judgment.
- Flex quickly to urgent or shifting requests without dropping ongoing threads.
Minimum Qualifications
- Ability to ramp up quickly on new tools and processes, and re-ramping when the process evolves.
- Meticulous, line-item-level attention to detail in contracts, purchase orders, and invoices.
- Proven follow-through on a high-volume queue; tracks 100% of requests to resolution and either follows up or escalates before anything stalls.
- Clear, professional, and prompt communication with vendors and internal partners, both written and verbal.
- Fluency with spreadsheets, especially Google Sheets, for trackers and reconciliation.
- Sound judgment about what to execute independently and what to escalate.
- Experience supporting fast-moving operations teams that not infrequently require rapid response.
- Experience owning vendor or agency relationships day to day, including navigating thorny questions, pushback, and occasionally difficult vendor conversations with tact and good judgment.
- Demonstrated ability to work as a true partner to teammates — communicating thoroughly and proactively rather than only when asked.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience procuring communications, PR, or marketing agency services.
- Experience in procurement operations, contract administration, or a similar high-volume operations role.
Ideal Background
- 5–7+ years of experience.
- Prior procurement experience preferred; alternatively, experience in a tech communications agency or another fast-moving, non-bureaucratic institution.
- Comfortable with high-volume, indirect/operations-heavy work.
- Strong, line-item-level attention to detail.
- Fluency with spreadsheets, especially Google Sheets, for trackers and reconciliation.
- Sound judgment about what to execute independently versus escalate.
- Demonstrated ability to proactively partner with teammates, not just respond when asked.
Interview Process
Two rounds, approximately 30 minutes each, via Google Meet.
Russell Tobin offers eligible employee’s comprehensive healthcare coverage (medical, dental, and vision plans), supplemental coverage (accident insurance, critical illness insurance and hospital indemnity), 401(k)-retirement savings, life & disability insurance, an employee assistance program, legal support, auto, home insurance, pet insurance and employee discounts with preferred vendors.
Equal Employment OpportunityRussell Tobin is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, reproductive health decision making, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Fair Chance EmploymentRussell Tobin is a Fair Chance employer. We consider all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable state and local Fair Chance laws and ordinances, including, the California Fair Chance Act and all applicable local Fair Chance ordinances.
AccommodationsWe are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, or to perform the essential functions of this role, please contact us.
Only applicable for San Francisco Candidates: Under the San Francisco Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance, we will provide written notice of lactation accommodation rights, and this notice will automatically be given upon hiring, any inquiry of parental leave or lactation accommodation.
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