THE HEALTHCARE INTERVIEW

Building partnerships beyond procurement While Jacqui may want procurement leaders to rise to the top, she also recognises the importance of collaboration. Long-term partnerships, as opposed to one-off supplier transactions, are particularly crucial for the success of Vision 2030. Looking ahead to 2030, smaller suppliers’ involvement is projected to grow by 70 %, unlocking innovation, inclusion and more dynamic supply chains.

“ Collaboration is key and it ' s absolutely critical to all of the strategies and everything we ' re putting in place,” notes Jacqui.

“ What’ s really interesting about Saudi Arabia is that we are actually reaching out and forming these partnerships with the view of: invest in us, invest in Saudi Arabia.”

The approach moves far beyond short-term thinking.

increase in participation of smaller companies in procurement activities by 2030( ProcureAbility)

“ Let’ s not make this just a transactional [ relationship ],” she says.“ Let’ s not just make it,‘ you are selling, we are buying’. Let’ s make these long-term partnerships; let’ s move from just procurement to real outcomes.”

This view reflects a broader trend among procurement leaders. According to Deloitte’ s 2025 Chief Procurement Officer( CPO) survey, based on responses from more than 250 senior procurement leaders across 40 countries, 61 % say enhanced supplier collaboration through data sharing is a key strategy to improve resilience and value creation.

Jacqui sees these skills as essential in today’ s market:“ Procurement, category management, supply chain sourcing – these are all absolutely key things, but you need to have an overall commercial head.”

When looking for talent or external partners, Jacqui is clear about what stands out.

“ I always look, especially when I ' m recruiting or when I ' m partnering with people, for people that are thinking bigger than just the traditional procurement or the traditional sourcing parts,” she reveals.

For Saudi Arabia, that bigger picture includes attracting international investors, embedding long-term suppliers and establishing procurement as a driver of national success.

For procurement professionals, it signals a new standard of strategic, collaborative thinking in order to deliver outcomes beyond a contract.

20 December 2025