19 Procurement Manager
Interview
Questions & Answers

TIP #1 – At the end of your procurement manager interview, you will have the opportunity to ask some questions of the panel. Most people will not ask any questions. However, this is your opportunity to stand out and show you are intelligent, caring and motivated. Here are 3 great questions to ask in your interview:

1. What’s the most important aspect of the procurement process to your organization? Is it timescales or budget?
2. If I am successful, what would be the first thing you would want me to focus on as your procurement manager?
3. I noticed on your website you have launched a new product – has this been successful and how did you find the procurement process?

TIP #2 – Procurement Manager’s need to have solid project manager skills, and on that basis, it is important you understand the project life cycle. Within the Procurement Interview Questions and Answers guide, we have provided you with suggested responses to these types of questions to help you succeed.

TIP #3 – During your Procurement Manager interview, you will get asked questions based on behavioural and situational scenarios. These scenario-based questions include: “Tell me about a situation when you managed a difficult procurement project?”, or “How would you manage an underperforming member of your procurement team?” When answering these questions, we recommend you utilize the STAR technique, which will be fully explained within this guide.

TIP #4 – The key skills to focus on in your preparation to the Procurement Manager interview include an ability to IDENTIFY procurement needs, being able to SOURCE the correct products and goods; an ability to NEGOTIATE with suppliers and stakeholders in respect of MOQs and cost; managing the DELIVERY timescales, ACCEPTING the goods/product, TESTING the goods/product and SIGNING-OFF the procurement project.

TIP #5 – Although you will predominantly be assessed against your competencies in respect of the procurement role, you will also be assessed against your people and interpersonal skills. Think about times in the past when you have managed, motivated and also held people within a team responsible. Your ability to motivate your team members is a very important aspect of this procurement role, simply because the success of the project will depend on their performance.