Strategic Procurement Skills Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Category Managers, Strategic Sourcing Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-P-092

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience of purchasing, sourcing, supplier management, contract administration or commercial management.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Procurement teams are expected to secure supply, improve commercial outcomes, control third-party risk and support business plans without slowing operational delivery. This requires more than running tenders or negotiating unit prices. Senior buyers and category managers must interpret spend data, understand supply markets, shape demand, develop category strategies and make defensible sourcing decisions under financial, operational and regulatory constraints.

This advanced course develops the strategic skills required to manage procurement as a business function. Participants assess procurement maturity, analyse spend and supply markets, segment categories using the Kraljic Portfolio Matrix, build total cost of ownership and should-cost models, select sourcing routes, design RFx events, evaluate suppliers and negotiate commercial agreements. The course also addresses supplier relationship management, contract governance, supply risk, responsible procurement, global sourcing and procurement performance measurement.

Instruction combines short expert briefings with sector-based cases, group analysis, negotiation simulations and structured application planning. Participants work progressively on a category or sourcing challenge relevant to their organisation, using the methods introduced during the course. They leave with a completed category strategy and sourcing recommendation pack, supported by market analysis, commercial analysis, risk controls, stakeholder plans and implementation measures.

The course is suited to experienced procurement professionals moving into strategic sourcing, category management or procurement leadership roles. It is also relevant to business managers who sponsor major purchases, lead supplier-facing programmes or need to improve collaboration with procurement on high-value, high-risk or business-critical categories.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess procurement maturity using operating-model, governance and performance criteria
  • Analyse spend data and supply markets to identify category opportunities
  • Develop category strategies using Kraljic segmentation, stakeholder analysis and sourcing options
  • Build total cost of ownership and should-cost models for supplier decisions
  • Design RFx documentation, evaluation models and auditable supplier-selection processes
  • Conduct structured negotiations using BATNA, concession planning and value-trading techniques
  • Establish supplier relationship management plans, scorecards and risk-control actions
  • Present a complete category strategy and sourcing recommendation to senior stakeholders

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produces defensible category strategies for high-value or business-critical spend
  • Builds confidence in supplier negotiations beyond unit-price reductions
  • Improves promotion readiness for category management and procurement leadership roles
  • Strengthens commercial credibility with finance, legal and operational stakeholders
  • Creates reusable analysis and planning materials for live sourcing assignments

For your organisation

  • Improves sourcing decisions through structured market, cost and risk analysis
  • Reduces avoidable total cost through demand management and commercial modelling
  • Raises consistency in supplier selection, approvals and procurement documentation
  • Strengthens supply continuity through supplier-risk and relationship-management plans
  • Creates clearer links between procurement activity and business performance measures

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can define procurement's strategic role, decision rights and value measures.

  • Procurement operating model aligned with enterprise strategy and budget accountability
  • Distinguishing strategic sourcing, category management, buying and contract administration responsibilities
  • RACI mapping for business owners, procurement, finance, legal and operations
  • Defining value beyond price through cost, risk, quality, continuity and innovation
  • Procurement policy thresholds, delegated authority and documented approval routes
  • Translating corporate objectives into measurable category objectives and procurement priorities

Participants can assess current procurement capability and establish improvement priorities.

  • Procurement maturity assessment across process, people, technology, governance and supplier management
  • Baseline metrics for savings, compliance, cycle time, service and supply continuity
  • Separating realised savings, cost avoidance, budget variance and working-capital effects
  • Process mapping from requisition through payment using swimlane diagrams
  • Identifying control failures, duplicate effort and unmanaged spend through process evidence
  • Improvement roadmap prioritised by value, feasibility, ownership and implementation timing

Participants can convert spend data into actionable category and sourcing opportunities.

  • Cleansing supplier, category, cost-centre and transaction-level spend data
  • Pareto analysis identifying concentration, tail spend and high-value sourcing priorities
  • Supplier normalisation revealing fragmented spend across related legal entities
  • Analysing price, volume, demand and specification drivers behind spend movements
  • Maverick-spend analysis against contracted suppliers, approved channels and buying policies
  • Opportunity pipeline quantified through demand, price, process and supplier interventions

Participants can assess supply-market conditions and their implications for sourcing strategy.

  • Porter's Five Forces applied to supplier power and market attractiveness
  • PESTLE analysis covering regulatory, currency, technology and geopolitical supply pressures
  • Market structure analysis using supplier concentration, capacity and entry barriers
  • Tracking commodity indices, labour rates, freight costs and exchange-rate exposure
  • Supplier financial analysis using liquidity, profitability, debt and cash-flow indicators
  • Market intelligence sources evaluated for reliability, timeliness and commercial relevance

Participants can segment categories and select appropriate procurement interventions.

  • Kraljic Portfolio Matrix positioning categories by profit impact and supply risk
  • Validating portfolio positions with spend evidence, stakeholder dependency and market conditions
  • Routine-category strategies using catalogue controls, standardisation and process automation
  • Leverage-category strategies using aggregation, competitive tension and specification discipline
  • Bottleneck-category strategies using continuity plans, inventory buffers and supplier development
  • Strategic-category strategies using executive sponsorship, collaboration and joint planning

Participants can create an evidence-based category strategy with clear commercial actions.

  • Category strategy charter defining scope, objectives, constraints and decision requirements
  • Stakeholder mapping using power-interest analysis and engagement priorities
  • Demand-management options including standardisation, consumption control and specification challenge
  • Sourcing-option appraisal covering competition, partnership, outsourcing and internal provision
  • Strategy-on-a-page linking analysis, choices, risks, milestones and accountabilities
  • Benefits case distinguishing savings, service gains, risk reduction and capability improvements

Participants can improve specifications and demand controls before approaching the market.

  • Functional specifications describing required outcomes rather than incumbent supplier solutions
  • Value analysis separating essential requirements from convenience features and legacy preferences
  • Demand forecasting using consumption history, business plans and operational assumptions
  • Standardisation opportunities across sites, business units, products and service requirements
  • Make-buy analysis comparing internal capability, supplier economics and strategic control
  • Stakeholder challenge sessions testing demand assumptions, volumes and service levels

Participants can develop cost models that support sourcing and negotiation decisions.

  • Total cost of ownership covering acquisition, operation, maintenance, failure and disposal
  • Should-cost models built from materials, labour, overheads, margin and logistics
  • Cost-driver trees linking supplier prices to operational and market variables
  • Activity-based costing for services with labour, utilisation and service-volume drivers
  • Price-indexation clauses matched to relevant commodities, currencies and labour indices
  • Sensitivity analysis testing volume, inflation, exchange-rate and demand scenarios

Participants can choose sourcing routes that match category risk and market conditions.

  • Single-source, dual-source and multi-source models compared against continuity requirements
  • Competitive tendering decisions based on market contestability and switching costs
  • Framework agreements structured for recurring demand, controlled call-offs and supplier performance
  • Direct award justifications supported by evidence, governance and market testing
  • Supplier-prequalification criteria covering capability, capacity, finance and compliance
  • Sourcing timetable integrating approvals, market engagement, evaluation and mobilisation activities

Participants can design fair, focused and auditable supplier-selection processes.

  • Request-for-information design testing market capability before formal sourcing decisions
  • Request-for-proposal documentation linking requirements, commercial schedules and contract terms
  • Weighted evaluation models balancing technical, commercial, risk and sustainability criteria
  • Scoring guidance distinguishing evidence, assumptions, qualifications and unsupported claims
  • Bid clarification protocols preserving fairness, auditability and equal supplier treatment
  • Evaluation consensus meetings resolving scoring differences through documented evidence

Participants can prepare and conduct structured negotiations for sustainable value.

  • BATNA analysis establishing walk-away positions and credible alternative supply options
  • Negotiation objectives separated into targets, limits, priorities and tradable variables
  • Concession planning using conditional trades rather than unilateral price movement
  • Interest-based bargaining identifying underlying business needs behind stated positions
  • Supplier negotiation teams assigned roles for lead, analyst, recorder and authority
  • Closing techniques confirming agreements, unresolved issues, owners and next actions

Participants can specify contract structures and commercial controls for procurement agreements.

  • Contract-form selection for goods, services, projects and outcome-based arrangements
  • Statement-of-work drafting with deliverables, acceptance criteria, milestones and dependencies
  • Service-level agreements defining measures, reporting frequency, remedies and escalation
  • Pricing mechanisms covering fixed price, unit rate, cost reimbursable and gainshare
  • Change-control procedures governing scope, price, time and approval authority
  • Key contract risks allocated to parties best able to manage them

Participants can establish supplier relationship management arrangements matched to supplier criticality.

  • Supplier segmentation combining spend, risk, dependency, performance and innovation potential
  • SRM governance defining executive sponsors, relationship owners and review forums
  • Quarterly business reviews structured around performance, risks, opportunities and commitments
  • Supplier scorecards using quality, delivery, cost, service, compliance and improvement measures
  • Joint improvement plans with root causes, actions, owners and due dates
  • Relationship health checks identifying trust, transparency, conflict and dependency issues

Participants can identify, assess and control third-party supply and sustainability risks.

  • Supplier-risk registers covering financial, operational, geopolitical, cyber and compliance exposures
  • Risk heat maps scoring likelihood, impact, control effectiveness and residual exposure
  • Business continuity requirements covering recovery times, stock buffers and contingency suppliers
  • Due-diligence checks for beneficial ownership, sanctions, fraud and conflicts of interest
  • ISO 20400 principles applied to environmental, social and ethical procurement requirements
  • Supplier corrective-action plans addressing audit findings, incidents and recurring nonconformance

Participants can assess international sourcing opportunities alongside landed-cost and continuity implications.

  • Landed-cost models covering purchase price, freight, duty, insurance and inventory
  • Incoterms 2020 selection allocating transport, customs, risk and delivery responsibilities
  • Country-risk assessment covering political stability, infrastructure, trade restrictions and currency
  • Nearshoring and offshore sourcing compared through responsiveness, cost and supply resilience
  • Customs documentation requirements affecting lead times, duty exposure and border clearance
  • International supplier onboarding addressing language, time zones, payments and quality controls

Participants can strengthen purchasing controls while reducing avoidable process friction.

  • Purchase-to-pay control points from requisition approval through invoice payment
  • Three-way matching between purchase orders, goods receipts and supplier invoices
  • Catalogue management controlling approved items, prices, specifications and preferred suppliers
  • Delegated-authority checks preventing unauthorised commitments and retrospective approvals
  • Contract-compliance reporting comparing actual purchases with negotiated terms and volumes
  • Exception management for urgent purchases, sole-source requests and policy waivers

Participants can define useful procurement measures and reporting routines for decision-makers.

  • Procurement dashboards linking category plans to savings, risk, service and compliance
  • Leading indicators tracking sourcing pipeline, contract coverage and supplier-risk actions
  • Supplier-performance data validated through agreed definitions, sources and review cycles
  • Data-quality controls for duplicate suppliers, miscoding, missing fields and stale records
  • E-sourcing platforms assessed for workflow, audit trail, evaluation and supplier access
  • Executive reporting tailored to decisions, exceptions, trends and required interventions

Participants can secure stakeholder commitment to procurement strategies and sourcing decisions.

  • Stakeholder influence plans based on interests, authority, concerns and decision timing
  • Business cases framed around financial, operational, risk and customer-service outcomes
  • Challenging specifications constructively using evidence, alternatives and operational consequences
  • Conflict-resolution methods for competing requirements between functions and business units
  • Governance meeting packs presenting decisions, options, recommendations and supporting evidence
  • Implementation communications clarifying changes, affected users, timing and support arrangements

Participants can convert sourcing decisions into controlled implementation and measurable benefits.

  • Implementation plans sequencing award, contracting, onboarding, transition and performance reviews
  • Mobilisation checklists covering systems, users, inventory, training and supplier readiness
  • Benefits-realisation plans assigning baselines, calculation methods, owners and reporting dates
  • Savings tracking reconciled with finance through agreed evidence and booking rules
  • Change-impact assessments identifying process, role, supplier and customer implications
  • Post-implementation reviews capturing outcomes, lessons, deviations and corrective actions

Participants can build, review and present a complete category strategy and sourcing recommendation pack.

  • Category baseline integrating spend profile, stakeholder needs and procurement maturity findings
  • Supply-market assessment supporting the chosen category position and sourcing approach
  • Total-cost model comparing supplier options, demand scenarios and commercial assumptions
  • Risk register defining supply, contractual, financial and implementation control actions
  • Supplier-selection plan specifying RFx stages, evaluation criteria and governance gates
  • Implementation roadmap linking negotiated outcomes, ownership, milestones and benefits tracking

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Category strategy-on-a-page template
  2. Spend analysis and opportunity pipeline model
  3. Supply-market assessment framework
  4. Total cost of ownership model
  5. Supplier evaluation scorecard and RFx checklist
  6. Supplier relationship and risk management plan

Who should attend

  • Category Managers — need stronger methods for building and executing category strategies
  • Strategic Sourcing Managers — need disciplined approaches to complex sourcing decisions
  • Senior Buyers — need to move from transactional purchasing into strategic procurement work
  • Procurement Managers — need governance, performance and supplier-management tools for their teams
  • Contract and Commercial Managers — need stronger sourcing, negotiation and supplier-performance capabilities
  • Business Unit Managers — need to sponsor major procurement decisions and work effectively with procurement

Skills and tools covered

Category strategy developmentSpend and market analysisCommercial cost modellingStrategic supplier managementComplex negotiation planningProcurement risk governance

Tools and standards

Kraljic Portfolio Matrix, Porter's Five Forces, ISO 20400, Incoterms 2020

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce methods, followed by case work, group analysis, commercial simulations and peer review. Participants interpret spend data, assess supplier markets, construct cost models, prepare negotiation positions and evaluate sourcing options. Cases reflect procurement challenges found in manufacturing, financial services, public bodies, infrastructure and international operations. Individual application planning connects each method to a live category or sourcing issue. Trainers provide structured feedback on the final strategy and sourcing recommendation pack.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience of purchasing, sourcing, supplier management, contract administration or commercial management. They should understand common procurement documents such as purchase orders, quotations, contracts and supplier evaluations, and be comfortable discussing cost, service, quality and delivery requirements. Experience with spreadsheet-based analysis is useful because the course uses spend, cost and evaluation data. Formal procurement qualifications are not required. Prior experience of category management, advanced negotiation, public tendering or complex cost modelling is not assumed.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should already understand core purchasing or supplier-management work and common procurement documentation. The course assumes professional experience, but it does not require a formal procurement qualification or prior category-management role.

Participants should bring a laptop for analysis work and, where permitted, a non-confidential example of a current category, sourcing challenge or supplier issue. Templates and case materials are provided during the course.

It is designed for experienced buyers, sourcing managers, category managers, procurement managers and commercial professionals. Business leaders responsible for major supplier spend also benefit when they need to work more effectively with procurement teams.

Basic purchasing courses focus on requisitions, orders, quotations and routine supplier transactions. This course focuses on category strategy, market analysis, cost modelling, complex sourcing choices, negotiation and strategic supplier management.

Participants build reusable materials for a live or representative category throughout the programme. They can use the resulting strategy, analysis models, sourcing plan and supplier-management tools in subsequent procurement assignments.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. The first part establishes analysis and strategy tools, while the later modules apply them to negotiation, contracting, supplier management, implementation and the final capstone.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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