Top Interview Questions for a Strategic Sourcing Manager

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?