Top Interview Questions for a Strategic Sourcing Manager
- Group CPO
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read

Sourcing Managers play an important role in how a company engages suppliers and the cost analysis and return on investment of its goods and services. Here are some sample questions:
General questions
1-What are you looking for from this position
2-Why do you want to work for this company
3-Why are you leaving your current company
4-Describe a time you had to lead a challenging team
6-How do you manage your time, and during time constraints how do you prioritise your work
7-Do you belong to any professional organisations?
Specific Experience Questions
1-How many years experience do you have in the sourcing field
2-Tell me about a time where the deal did not go as expected
3-Share a time where you have had to cancel a contract with a supplier
4-How do you stay informed about changes in the market, industry trends, and new technologies that could impact your sourcing strategies?
5-How do you typically develop a sourcing strategy for a new category or supplier? What factors do you prioritise?
6-What tools and systems do you use for supplier sourcing and management? Can you provide an example of how you've used these to optimise sourcing processes?
7-How do you ensure that sourcing strategies align with short term and long term business goals?
8-How do you evaluate and select suppliers? What key criteria do you consider in the decision making process?
9- Can you describe a time when you had to manage a difficult supplier relationship? How did you resolve the situation?
10- What are the most common challenges you have faced when negotiating with a supplier and how do you overcome them?
11-How do you ensure the sourcing process is both cost effective and delivers quality products/services?
12-What role does sustainability play in sourcing decisions? How do you incorporate sustainability into your strategy?
20- Can you describe your experience with vendor management systems? How have you used them to improve supplier performance and contract compliance?
21- Describe a situation where you had to work with multiple stakeholders (e.g. finance, operations, legal) to develop a sourcing strategy. How did you ensure alignment across departments?
22- What metrics do you track to measure the success of your strategic sourcing initiatives?
23- How do you handle situations when a supplier fails to meet performance or delivery expectations?
24-Whats your approach to managing risks in the sourcing process, especially in global sourcing scenario's?
25-How do you ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements during the sourcing and contracting process?
26- Can you share a recent example of a successful strategic sourcing ptoject you led? What were the outcomes, and what did you learn from the experience?
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