In today’s Procurement & Supply Chain world, simply chasing hierarchical job titles isn’t enough. The market is evolving, and smart employers are waking up to a reality that traditional recruitment models are struggling to reflect: what people can do matters far more than what they have been called in the past.
If your hiring strategy still over-indexes on titles and tenure alone, you’re likely missing out on the talent that will drive real performance, innovation, and resilience across your supply chain.
The limits of title-driven hiring
We’ve all seen it - CVs stacked with “Director”, “Head of”, “Senior Manager” and yet, when interviewed, candidates lack the core capabilities that the role genuinely requires. Titles can vary wildly between companies, especially in procurement and supply chain functions where organisations of different sizes arbitrarily title roles for internal politics or pay bands.
Relying on titles leads to a false sense of qualification, narrowing your talent pool and overlooking candidates who possess the real operational and leadership skills your business needs but were never labelled with the “right” job title.
This antiquated view simply doesn’t work in the context of today’s fast-changing digital and strategic landscape.
Skills first: The strategic advantage
Forward-thinking employers are shifting to skills-based hiring - placing competence at the centre of recruitment strategy. This isn’t just a HR fad; it’s a structural shift backed by data and market trends:
- A majority of UK organisations now prioritise assessing candidates on key skills rather than relying on job histories and titles. Recruitment reports show a significant uptick in skills testing and competency-focused hiring practices across industries.
- Skills-based recruitment improves hiring accuracy, widens talent pipelines, reduces time-to-hire, and boosts retention - because you’re hiring capability not just credentials.
- The most in-demand roles today, from data analytics and digital procurement to sustainability strategy and supplier intelligence, require demonstrable hands-on skills that simply can’t be inferred from a job title alone.
What skills matter most in Procurement & Supply Chain
In our market, there’s been a definitive shift towards integrated, outcome-oriented talent:
Technical Skills
- Digital transformation tools (eProcurement, analytics platforms)
- Spend forecasting
- Supplier performance technology
Strategic & Leadership Skills
- Cross-functional stakeholder management
- Change management and transformation delivery
Soft and Transferable Skills
- Critical thinking & problem solving
- Communication & negotiation
- Agile decision-making under pressure
Hard and soft skills together drive real performance - leadership without technical knowledge stalls projects, and technical knowledge without leadership can’t scale impact.
Ready to build a skills-led Procurement & Supply Chain team in 2026?
If your organisation is struggling to find the right talent, not just the right titles, it may be time to rethink how you hire.
At Procurement People, we partner with employers to identify and secure mid-level to senior procurement and supply chain professionals based on the skills that truly drive performance, transformation, and long-term value. Our deep market knowledge allows us to look beyond job titles and uncover candidates who can deliver measurable impact from day one.
Speak to our specialist consultants today to discuss your current hiring challenges or upcoming workforce plans and discover how a skills-first approach can give your business a genuine competitive advantage.
