“What I love most about procurement is the negotiation phase. I love meeting the challenge of creating a sustainable and value for money outcome…”
Get to know Justin Sara, Executive Regional Manager for SA & WA, and our Public Sector Lead
What project has been the most rewarding to work on at ArcBlue?
It would be the Bid Advisory project we completed for an ICT supplier. Fantastic local family run business that was looking to supply to a major Government client and after a detailed procurement process, they were successful and thrilled with the support we provided.
How do you spend most of your days?
My days are highly mobile, sometimes working at four or five different client locations on the same day. I enjoy being out and about interacting with different procurement teams here in South Australia.
What are you working on at the moment?
We have just finished a series of Procurement Frameworks for a range of Government clients. I am also working with our Project Contracting resources who are working on-site with clients delivering a range of procurement projects. I am also gearing up to deliver category management training for a resource company in Perth in the next few weeks. I am also working on several Probity Advisor projects. No two months are the same so there is always an interesting problem to solve for our ArcBlue clients.
What trends do you see in your work?
Capability, finding capable resources and developing capability within procurement teams are topical right now. I also see the growth in the use of technology and a focus on supply chain resilience (post COVID-19) as key areas of focus for many procurement leaders and teams.
What do you love best about procurement?
Negotiation – the challenge of creating a sustainable and value for money outcome.
What is the one thing you wish everyone would understand about procurement?
What it is! It still surprises me the lack of awareness about what procurement is and more importantly, the value it can deliver.
What are you currently trying to upskill in?
I am spending more time on where procurement technology is headed and the role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play in automating the classification of spend data.
What’s the reason you love to work at ArcBlue?
I really enjoy the opportunity to deliver advisory projects – working collaboratively with clients to solve problems and realise new opportunities.
What’s something not many people know about you?
I started my working career in Defence as a Commissioned Officer within the Royal Australian Air Force.
Want to know more? Reach out to Justin
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