Procurement Mentor December 2025

Albert Bass

Procurement Director Transport for NSW

We ask Albert to share his career journey with us to help up and coming leaders progress in theirs:

Can you share your journey into the procurement field and how you rose to your current leadership role and did you have mentors along the way to support you?

I didn’t start my career “in procurement” as such. I started on the front line in public transport operations and business support, working in depots, managing rosters, budgets and customer-facing services. That gave me a very grounded view of what it takes to run essential services for the community.

From there I moved into finance and then into regional purchasing and strategic procurement roles. Over time, I found I enjoyed the mix of commercial problem-solving, governance and working with different parts of the business to get things done. That led to progressively larger roles as Procurement Officer, Strategic Procurement Manager, Chief Procurement Officer and then Executive Director roles leading finance, procurement and shared services across the Transport cluster, and more recently Director, Procurement for infrastructure and engineering programs at Transport for NSW.

I’ve had a few key mentors along the way: a depot manager who taught me to look after people before processes, a CFO who showed me how to link commercial decisions to strategy, and CPOs who were generous with their time and advice. They all helped me see procurement not as a back-office function, but as a leadership role in shaping how the organisation delivers value.

In your experience, what are the key skills that distinguish great procurement leaders from the rest?

Great procurement leaders do three things well.

First, they translate complexity into clarity. They can take legislation, policy, probity and commercial risk and turn it into a simple, workable path for the business.

Second, they build trust. That’s not just technical credibility, it’s how they show up: listening first, being transparent about trade-offs, and following through on commitments. Stakeholders will bring you into the real conversations when they trust your intent.

Third, they lead systems, not just teams. The best leaders think in terms of operating models, data, technology, capability and culture as one system. They understand that changing a template is easy; changing behaviours and incentives takes patience, consistency and a lot of conversations.

Underpinning all of that is judgement, curiosity and resilience. Procurement leaders are often carrying unpopular messages or saying “no” to powerful people. How you do that, and whether you can maintain relationships while holding the line, is what separates good from great.

How is procurement different in your current industry compared to where you have worked before?

Most of my career has been in NSW Government, but I’ve worked across different parts of public sector: frontline transport operations, shared services, an infrastructure delivery agency and now a merged Transport cluster with one of the largest infrastructure portfolios in Australia.

In a heavy infrastructure and transport environment, procurement is very tightly connected to safety, asset reliability and community impact. The sums are large, the contracts are long-term, and the consequences of failure are very visible to the public. That means a much stronger focus on governance, risk, assurance and whole-of-life thinking than you might see in more transactional environments.

What has changed over time is the degree of integration. Today, procurement is far more embedded with finance, asset management, project delivery and technology. The conversations are less about “who can raise a PO” and more about “how do we shape the market, manage portfolio risk and support the organisation’s strategic direction”.

Procurement leaders often work across various departments. What strategies have you found most effective in building trust in cross-functional relationships?

Trust starts with genuinely understanding what matters to the other person.

When I step into a new environment, I spend time with project directors, finance leads, people and culture partners, legal, IT and operational leaders just asking questions: What are you trying to achieve? What’s keeping you awake? Where has procurement helped or hindered you in the past? Then I reflect that back in plain language, so they know they’ve been heard.

I’m very deliberate about not “policing” people. My approach is: “Help me understand what you need to deliver, and let’s work out how procurement can de-risk that and create options for you.” Once people experience you solving their problems, not creating new ones, they bring you in earlier.

I also try to be transparent about constraints. If a rule is non-negotiable (legislation, probity, delegations), I say so upfront and explain why. But around that, I’ll work hard to design flexible pathways. Over time, that combination of honesty and creativity builds strong cross-functional relationships.

How do you continuously stay updated with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in procurement?

I use a mix of formal and informal channels.

Formally, I’ve invested in professional qualifications over time, including MCIPS, project management, policy development and asset management. That structured learning helped me connect the dots between procurement, finance, projects and asset life cycles.

Informally, I learn just as much from peers and my own teams. Chairing and participating in CPO forums, cross-agency working groups and accreditation reviews keeps me very close to emerging practice and what is actually working on the ground.

I also pay attention to what our data and systems are telling us. Implementing dashboards, automation and digital tools is not just about efficiency; it exposes patterns in behaviour, risk and supplier performance that I can learn from and improve. And finally, I read widely outside of procurement on leadership, behavioural science, systems thinking because most procurement problems are really people and system problems.

What advice would you give to an aspiring procurement leader looking to advance their career to the C-suite?

First, learn the language of the business. If you want to sit at the top table, you have to talk about outcomes, risk, service delivery, strategy, and adding value not just tenders and panels. Spend time with finance, operations and customers so you understand what success looks like for them.

Second, deliberately broaden your experience. Take roles in policy and governance, in operations, in shared services, maybe even outside procurement for a time. My stint as Business Manager to the Group CFO, and later leading a large shared services function, gave me a much deeper appreciation of how the whole machine works and what executives really worry about.

Third, invest in your leadership capability as much as your technical skills. At C-suite level, your impact is through others. Your ability to set direction, build culture, handle conflict and influence stakeholders will matter more than your ability to write the perfect procurement plan.

Procurement is often seen as a cost center. How do you shift that perception and prove the value of procurement to the organization?

I change the story from “saving money” to “enabling the mission”.

Savings matter, but they’re not the only, or even the most compelling, story. When I talk about procurement’s value, I talk about enabling safer operations, keeping critical services running during crises, improving customer experience, strengthening integrity and supporting social and environmental outcomes.

For example, during COVID-19 our shared services and procurement teams helped secure PPE, keep our fleets on the road and protect essential workers. That wasn’t a cost-cutting story; it was a business continuity and public safety story.

I also make value visible through data and narrative. Dashboards that show reduced risk, improved supplier performance, faster cycle times and accreditation outcomes are powerful. So are short, human stories: the regional supplier we helped grow, the community benefit from a social procurement initiative, or the project we de-risked through better commercial structuring.

As a procurement executive, how do you measure the success of your procurement function? And what role does data/ data analytics play in your decision-making process, and how you seek to improve procurement outcomes?

Success for me shows up on a balanced scorecard, not a single metric.

Yes, we track financial benefits, cost avoidance and contract leakage. But we also look at risk and assurance results, accreditation status, supplier performance, ESG outcomes, customer satisfaction with our services, and how quickly and predictably we help the business get to market.

Data and analytics sit at the heart of that. Implementing real-time dashboards for procurement and contract management has been a big step forward. It allows us to see where spend is concentrated, where risks are emerging, where contracts are under-performing and where processes are stuck.

We use that insight to prioritise our effort: which categories need strategic attention, which suppliers need deeper engagement, which processes need redesign. Over time, you can see the maturity lift: fewer surprises, better planning, and a more proactive, not reactive, procurement function.

Looking back, what would you have done differently in your own career, and what advice would you give your younger self starting out in procurement?

I would tell my younger self two things.

First, back yourself earlier. For a long time I waited to feel “ready” before stepping into bigger roles. In reality, you grow into them. If you have solid values, are willing to learn and surround yourself with good people, you can take on more than you think.

Second, I’d have looked outward earlier. I eventually chaired the NSW Chief Procurement Officers Network and worked across agencies, but I could have broadened my external perspective sooner learning from other sectors, jurisdictions and professions.

Practically, my advice to someone starting out is: learn the basics really well (policy, probity, analysis), get as close as you can to the frontline to understand the impact of your work, and actively seek mentors who will challenge you, not just reassure you.

How do you maintain a work-life balance while managing the demands of a senior procurement leadership role?

There are periods - major reforms, crises, big tenders, where work is intense. In those times, I try to be very intentional: clear priorities, a strong team around me, and honest conversations at home about what the next few weeks will look like.

Outside those peaks, I protect time for family, health and thinking. I’m better now at setting boundaries around non-essential meetings, delegating, and trusting my team to make decisions without me. When I stopped trying to be across everything, both my effectiveness and my wellbeing improved.

I also pay attention to the signals from my team. If everyone is constantly exhausted, that’s usually a sign of a leadership or system problem, not just “busy times”. As leaders we have a responsibility to design ways of working that are sustainable for ourselves and our people.

How do you approach talent development within your procurement team, and what skills do you prioritize when hiring new team members?

I start from the view that procurement is a professional discipline, not just a job you “fall into”. So I invest my time in setting clear role expectations, development plans and rotations that give people exposure to different parts of the function.

When hiring, I look for three things before technical skills: curiosity, judgement and the ability to build relationships. I can teach someone how to run a tender; it’s much harder to teach them how to listen well, think strategically or hold a difficult conversation with a stakeholder.

I also try to build blended teams - mixing deep category expertise with policy, data, legal, operational and project backgrounds. That diversity of experience is incredibly powerful when you are redesigning processes, implementing new systems or leading reform.

Finally, I make it clear that part of my job is to help people grow, even if that eventually takes them out of my team. When people know you are invested in their development, they give a lot back.

Looking ahead, how do you see emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain reshaping procurement, and how can procurement leaders prepare for these changes?

We’re already seeing technology change the nature of procurement work. Automation and analytics have shifted us from manual processing to more strategic, insight-driven roles. AI will accelerate that: better demand forecasting, smarter contract analytics, risk scanning, supplier due diligence and guided buying.

Blockchain and similar technologies may play a bigger role in areas like supply chain traceability and smart contracts, especially where integrity, sustainability claims or regulatory compliance are critical.

For procurement leaders, the key is not to become technologists, but to become very good problem-framers. Start with the problems you are trying to solve such as poor visibility, slow cycle times, high risk exposure and then work with IT and vendors to explore how technology can help. Build foundational data quality and governance now, because AI on poor data will just give you poor decisions faster.

And don’t forget the people side. New tools will change skills, roles and even identity for many practitioners. Investing in change management, training and clear communication will be just as important as the tech itself.

What steps do you take to ensure that procurement operations are aligned with the organization’s broader corporate strategy? And the increasing focus on digital transformation and automation

Alignment starts with being plugged into the corporate strategy from the beginning, not after the fact. I make sure procurement is present in discussions about corporate strategy, major programs, asset plans and digital roadmaps. That way, we can shape sourcing strategies, operating models and system designs that support where the organisation is heading.

Practically, we translate strategic goals into our procurement functional plan and operating model: which categories are most critical to delivering the strategy, what capabilities we need, where we standardise versus allow flexibility, and how our governance and delegations support decision-making at the right level.

On digital, we’ve deliberately integrated procurement with finance and contract management systems, introduced automation and built dashboards that leaders actually use. That’s not just a technology exercise; it’s changing how decisions are made, how performance is monitored and how we engage with suppliers.

Ultimately, I see procurement as both a guardian of integrity and an enabler of strategy. If we are doing our job well, the organisation can move faster, with more confidence, and with a clearer line of sight between public money spent and outcomes delivered.

Thank you Albert for being so generous with your story and your time. There are many gems in there for many of us to take away.