Senior Procurement & Contracts Analyst

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Procurement team—operating within Appian’s Finance and Operations organization—is the strategic and operational engine driving global corporate initiatives forward. As Appian expands its footprint in AI-Powered Process Automation, Procurement ensures our internal business resilience and shared services scale safely, swiftly, and cost-effectively. We act as the critical operational bridge between technology investments, vendor ecosystem management, and corporate governance.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Appian is scaling rapidly, and we are looking for a sharp, commercially minded professional to join our Procurement team as a Senior Procurement & Contracts Analyst. In this role, you will take day-to-day ownership of technology vendor sourcing, intake governance, Purchase Order (PO) execution, and Vendor Contract Management (VCM) workflow governance. This position sits at the vital intersection of Procurement operations, financial execution, and risk governance. Success requires strong organizational awareness, sound business judgment, and the agility to navigate ambiguous requirements with poise. You will triage incoming procurement requests, lead commercial negotiations, generate POs within our P2P system, and manage contract flows in VCM to ensure cross-functional approvals proceed without friction.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Drive Intake & Triage Operations: Manage the inbound procurement request queue, applying established governance rules, triage protocols, and SLAs. Analyze incoming requests to determine appropriate review paths, contract templates, and delegated approval thresholds.
• Navigate Ambiguity & Apply Corporate Judgment: Thrives in dynamic, high-growth environments by translating ambiguous business needs into structured procurement strategies, applying pragmatic business sense to balance velocity with risk mitigation.
• Leverage Organizational Awareness: Build influence and drive cross-functional alignment across Legal, Finance, IT, and executive business partners, adeptly navigating internal structures and decision-making processes to accelerate approvals.
• Oversee VCM Workflows & Approvals: Manage the operational usage of our Vendor Contract Management (VCM) system. Ensure seamless execution of contract workflows, monitor pending approvals, drive bottleneck resolution, and enforce digital signature policies across corporate stakeholders.
• Execute P2P Workflows & PO Creation: Drive end-to-end Procure-to-Pay (P2P) execution, including generating, validating, and issuing Purchase Orders (POs) aligned with executed contract terms, budget approvals, and accounting codes.
• Lead Commercial Sourcing & Negotiation: Manage assigned corporate and technology sourcing engagements. Lead commercial negotiations, evaluate vendor pricing models, and structure commercial terms to maximize ROI.
• Coordinate Cross-Functional Risk Alignment: Serve as a key Procurement liaison to Legal and risk oversight functions. Facilitate contract handoffs, track redlines, and ensure non-standard commercial or legal terms are properly escalated.
• Monitor Vendor Records & Data Integrity: Manage long-term supplier relationships, SLAs, and performance metrics. Define and enforce data taxonomies, repository structures, and data validation rules to maintain audit-ready vendor and contract records.
• Deliver FinOps Analytics & Executive Reporting: Maintain operational procurement reports and dashboards, providing visibility into spend metrics, PO volumes, VCM turnaround times, and renewal pipelines for leadership.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Finance, Legal Studies, Procurement, or a related functional discipline.
• Experience: 4–6+ years of progressive experience in corporate procurement, strategic sourcing, P2P operations, technology category management, or commercial contracting.
• Domain Mastery: Solid command of commercial terms, P2P processes, PO processing, financial mechanics, and cross-functional triage workflows.
• Professional Competencies: Demonstrated ability to operate effectively amidst ambiguity, applying sound corporate judgment, organizational awareness, and clear communication to drive consensus.
• System Proficiency: Hands-on experience navigating and operating Vendor Contract Management (VCM) tools, P2P software, intake ticketing systems, and enterprise Procurement platforms.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Direct experience handling technology contracts (SaaS, software licensing, IT services) in growth-stage enterprise software companies.