Hello, Dilyana. At our institution (University of Minnesota) procurement is within the Finance organization, and reports to an Assistant VP for finance and financial operations. I would mention a few other considerations that you may not have already thought of regarding organizational positioning of the procurement function.
The first is - how high do you think it should report at your institution? My view is you want it visible enough and reporting to someone who is high enough in the institution to provide appropriate visibility, clout, and support for those times when someone feels they absolutely MUST bypass critical rules or practices (such as competitive bidding or purchasing something from a vendor that the university already has a contract with versus going through the process of establishing a new vendor relationship).
The second consideration is whether you want the procurement function combined with other functional areas that make up the "buy to pay" cycle. For example, do you want a combined procurement and accounts payable function, or do those two functions stand separately? Obviously they need to be connected functionally, but I've learned they are two very distinct disciplines and it is difficult to find a leader that is experienced and strategic in both areas.
Good luck.
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Michael Volna
Vice President, Finance & Assistant Chief Financial Officer
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
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