Reporting to the Senior Manager, Supply Chain Operations, the Specialist - Supply Chain Operations & Contract Performance is responsible for driving operational procurement excellence, supplier performance management, contract governance, and end-to-end supply chain execution across the Safaricom Group. The role provides specialist oversight of supplier lifecycle management, contract performance, sourcing execution, operational risk management, and procurement governance to ensure the delivery of compliant, efficient, and value-driven supply chain outcomes aligned with business objectives.
The role serves as the key backbone of the Supply Chain function, ensuring seamless coordination between business units, suppliers, logistics teams and procurement stakeholders (both internally and externally). The incumbent is accountable for operational procurement performance, supplier service delivery, tender execution, contract administration and process compliance while driving continuous improvement and operational excellence.
The role plays a critical part in ensuring supply chain processes remain agile, digitally enabled and customer-focused while driving Safaricom’s business growth, transformation and operational objectives.
Responsibilities
Supply Chain Operations Management
- Manage day-to-day supply chain and procurement operations.
- Manage operational service levels and delivery commitments.
- Resolve operational issues impacting supply continuity and business performance.
- Coordinate activities between sourcing, suppliers and logistics teams.
- Ensure compliance and implementation of supply chain policies and procedures.
- Drive operational discipline and adherence to approved processes.
- Ensure supply chain activities support business priorities and timelines.
Supplier Lifecycle Management
- Manage supplier onboarding and qualification processes.
- Coordinate supplier performance monitoring and review activities.
- Maintain supplier records and operational governance documentation.
- Support supplier engagement and issue resolution processes.
- Monitor supplier compliance with contractual obligations.
- Coordinate supplier improvement and corrective action plans.
- Track supplier performance metrics and service levels.
- Support supplier risk management activities.
- Promote effective supplier collaboration and operational partnerships.
- Manage supplier due diligence and risk assessments to ensure compliance with ethical, regulatory, and governance requirements.
Contract Administration & Operational Governance
- Support implementation and administration of supplier contracts.
- Monitor contract compliance and service delivery obligations.
- Track supplier commitments and performance outcomes.
- Ensure contract documentation is maintained and up to date.
- Support contract renewal and amendment processes.
- Identify operational risks associated with supplier contracts.
- Ensure compliance with procurement controls and governance requirements.
- Promote transparency and accountability across supplier engagements.
- Lead contract close-out processes, ensuring all contractual, financial, operational, and compliance obligations are fulfilled.
- Provide oversight of strategic supplier relationships to maximize value, performance, and supply assurance.
- Ensure compliance with contractual obligations, including SLAs, SOWs, payment terms, OSH, and Code of Conduct requirements.
Performance Monitoring & Service Delivery
- Manage supply chain operational KPIs and service levels.
- Develop operational performance reports and dashboards.
- Analyse operational trends and identify improvement opportunities.
- Drive delivery against service commitments and performance targets.
- Support governance reviews and operational performance discussions.
- Escalate material service delivery issues where necessary.
- Ensure timely closure of operational actions and commitments.
- Support stakeholder reporting requirements.
- Drive performance accountability across operational teams.
- Establish contract-specific SLAs and performance metrics to drive accountability and value realization
Operational Excellence & Process Improvement
- Lead change management and process governance initiatives to support business growth and operational resilience.
- Identify opportunities to improve supply chain efficiency and effectiveness.
- Support implementation of automation and digitization initiatives.
- Simplify operational processes and eliminate inefficiencies.
- Drive continuous improvement and best practice adoption.
- Support SCM transformation initiatives and operational enhancements.
- Promote data-driven decision-making within operations.
- Improve customer and stakeholder experience through process optimization.
- Support capability development across operational teams.
- Foster a culture of operational excellence and continuous improvement.
Health and Safety
- Uphold the company code of conduct, policies and procedures, ensuring integrity and accountability in every aspect of your work.
- All employees have a responsibility to adhere to safety, health, and wellbeing policies, guidelines and procedures in all actions and decisions.
Key performance indicators:
- Stakeholder Satisfaction Score
- Procurement Cycle Time Achievement
- Supplier Onboarding Turnaround Time
- Operational SLA Achievement (%)
- Supplier Performance Compliance Rate
- Supplier Performance Index
- Contract Compliance Rate
- Supplier Risk Mitigation Effectiveness
- Master Data -Accuracy and completeness
- Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Commerce, Business Administration or related field.
- Professional certification such as CIPS, CPSM or equivalent is preferred.
- Minimum 5–8 years’ experience in procurement, supply chain operations or sourcing.
- Experience managing operational procurement and supplier management activities.
- Strong understanding of procurement governance and sourcing processes.
- Experience supporting tender management and contract administration.
- Knowledge of supplier performance management practices.
- Experience using ERP and procurement systems.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong attention to detail and operational discipline.
- Experience within telecommunications, technology or large enterprise environments is an added advantage.
- Demonstrated commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.
How to apply If you feel that you are up to the challenge and possess the necessary qualification and experience, kindly proceed to create/update your candidate profile on the recruitment portal, fill in your necessary work experiences and then click on the apply button. Remember to attach your resume.
Safaricom is the leading technology company in East Africa. Our purpose is to transform lives by connecting people to people, people to opportunities and people to information. We keep over 60 million customers connected across Kenya and Ethiopia, and play a critical role in the society, supporting over 1.13 million jobs both directly and indirectly while our total economic value was estimated at KES 1.1 trillion ($ 8.5 billion) for the 12 months through March 2025.
Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and with annual revenues of close to KES 388 billion as at March 2025, Safaricom provides connectivity through wide range of technology. Our 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G network in aggregate covers over 99% of Kenya’s population.
We run the world’s largest mobile payment system and Africa’s largest Fintech, M-PESA, the world’s first mobile money transfer system. By empowering millions of customers to transact, save or borrow money through their mobile phone, M-PESA has driven financial inclusion in Kenya to 84.8% of the adult population in 2024, from a low of 26.7% in 2006, and generated over KES 161 billion in revenue as at FY25.
Our subsidiary, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia, has deployed world class network and services to contribute to Ethiopia’s digital transformation.
Safaricom is an equal opportunity employer, actively recruiting staff from different backgrounds reflecting the communities that we serve. We are committed to equal gender representation at all levels.
As part of our ongoing commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we continue to work towards improving energy and resource efficiency in our network and facilities to reduce carbon emissions and our fuel consumption. We remain committed to becoming a Net Zero carbon-emitting company by 2050.
