Position Details
Position Information
Announcement Number STAFF - VA - 27060
For questions regarding this position, please contact:
Megan Lasso
406-994-4391
megan.lasso@montana.edu
Classification Title Administrative Director
Working Title Director of Procurement & Contract Services
Brief Position Overview
Montana State University is seeking a strategic and collaborative leader to serve as Director of Procurement and Contract Services. This role provides executive oversight of the university's procurement function, contracts for goods and services, and guides the strategic use of the university procure-to-pay system (Jaggaer), collaborating across Financial Services to ensure an efficient and all-inclusive process.
Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Financial Services, the Director is responsible for setting strategy, ensuring compliance with state law, Board of Regents policy, and university procedures, and delivering a seamless, customer-focused experience for campus stakeholders.
Position Number 4C3504
Department Procurement Services
Division Office of VP for Administration & Finance
Appointment Type Professional
Contract Term Fiscal Year
Semester
If other, specify From date
If other, specify End date
FLSA Exempt
Union Affiliation Exempt from Collective Bargaining
FTE 1.0 FTE
Benefits Eligible Eligible
Salary Salary commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications.
Contract Type MUS
If other, please specify
Recruitment Type Open
Position Details
General Statement
The Director develops, administers, and implements policies to assure compliance with state procurement law, and university purchasing policies, rules, and procedures. The Director liaises with the university faculty and staff, affiliate campuses of Montana State University, and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. The Director has the purchasing authority for MSU and its affiliated campuses.
The Director of Procurement and Contract Services provides strategic leadership and executive oversight for Montana State University's procurement function, contracts for goods and services, and governs the university procure-to-pay system (Jaggaer), collaborating across Financial Services to ensure an efficient and all-inclusive process that is seamless to end users. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Financial Services, this role is responsible for establishing strategy, driving consistent and service-oriented operations, ensuring compliance with state law, Board of Regents policy, and university procedures, and advancing a modern, integrated, and institutionally responsive procure-to-pay model. At MSU , SmartBuyMSU (Jaggaer) serves as the university's online platform for purchasing, contracting, receiving invoices, and issuing payments. This role has oversight of the system, including guiding necessary enhancements and upgrades. University Financial Services is charged with providing efficient, effective, and timely university-wide business services in compliance with applicable rules and regulations .
The Director sets direction for procurement, contracting, and strategic purchasing. They will accomplish this by aligning work across unit teams, establishing service standards and performance expectations, and ensuring that campus departments experience these functions as a coordinated service. They work closely with the Accounts Payable team to ensure they are included as a part of the improvements and changes to the system which affects the entire procure-to-pay lifecycle.
The role is expected to exercise sound judgment, solve complex problems, make defensible determinations in ambiguous situations, and balance compliance with responsiveness to the academic, research, and operational needs of the university.
Duties and Responsibilities
Lead and integrate procurement and contracting while coordinating with accounts payable to deliver a cohesive, service-oriented procure-to-pay experience.
Maintain Procurement Delegation from State Procurement Bureau, by ensuring the following: university compliance with Title 18 of the Montana Code Annotated, creation and maintenance of university procurement and contract management policy, university compliance with required training certification of procurement staff, proper tracking and retention of procurement and contract records in accordance with laws/rules/policies.
Maintain clear lines of communication between departmental staff, the university staff and faculty (including affiliated campuses), University legal counsel, University Information Technology, and other units of the Montana University System, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, and vendors.
Provide oversight of the unit in coordination with the management team in place.
Oversee contracts for goods and services, including review of terms and conditions and coordination with Legal Counsel
Lead governance, enhancements, and long-term strategy for the university's procure-to-pay system (Jaggaer/SmartBuyMSU)
Drive continuous improvement to reduce administrative burden, improve cycle times, and enhance the campus user experience
Identify and mitigate institutional risk across the procure-to-pay lifecycle
Liaise with the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education ( OCHE ) Chief Procurement Officer on delegations, policy interpretation, and system-level initiatives
Identify strategic sourcing opportunities to provide university wide goods and services with greatest value
Required Qualifications - Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills
Bachelor's degree in business, finance, public administration, law, or related field (or equivalent experience)
7 years of progressive leadership experience in procurement
Demonstrated experience in public procurement including preparing and analyzing RFPs and IFBs.
Demonstrated experience in management and leadership
Demonstrated ability to lead through managers, solve complex problems, and operate in a highly regulated environment
Preferred Qualifications - Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills
Advanced degree or professional certification (e.g., MBA , J.D., CPPO , CPSM )
Demonstrated experience in higher education environments with R1 research status
Demonstrated experience negotiating contract terms and conditions
Demonstrated experience with Jaggaer or similar procure-to-pay systems
The Successful Candidate Will
Be a strategic and service-minded leader
Have excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills.
Ability to quickly learn and apply organization/institution compliance policies and regulations
Ability to balance compliance, risk, and effective delivery of services to faculty and staff across the university
Utilize discretion and sound decision-making to come to independent decisions in line with established policies and procedures.
Maintain a positive, effective, and professional approach while working on complex, high impact projects.
Represent the division to others in a professional and courteous manner.
Position Special Requirements/Additional Information
This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements, but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University's rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.
Physical Demands
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
This position has supervisory duties? Yes
Posting Detail Information
Number of Vacancies 1
Desired Start Date At the conclusion of a successful search
Position End Date (if temporary)
Open Date
Close Date
Applications will be:
Screening of applications will begin on September 18, 2026; however, applications will continue to be accepted until an adequate applicant pool has been established.
Special Instructions
This position is not eligible for sponsorship.
EEO Statement
Montana State University is an equal opportunity employer. MSU does not discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, political ideas, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, national origin, physical or mental disability, or any other protected class status in violation of any applicable law.
In compliance with the Montana Veteran's Employment Preference Act, MSU provides preference in employment to veterans, disabled veterans, and certain eligible relatives of veterans. To claim veteran's preference, please complete the veteran's preference information located in the Demographics section of your profile.
