About the role
About Persona Persona is the configurable identity platform built for businesses in a digital-first world. Verifying individuals and organizations is harder — but more important — than ever, with AI enabling fraudsters to launch sophisticated accounts at scale and regulations evolving rapidly. We’ve built Persona to support practically every use case and industry — that’s why we’re able to serve a wide range of leading companies. For example, Reddit relies on Persona for age assurance and verification to comply with online safety regulations, protecting younger users while maintaining a seamless experience. Meanwhile, OpenAI relies on Persona to keep bad actors out, protecting one of the world’s most powerful AI platforms from large-scale abuse in a time when AI is reshaping the way we work and live. We’re growing rapidly and looking for exceptional people to join us!
About
the Role We're looking for a Director of Strategic Procurement to own Persona's highest-impact vendor relationships and contracts. This is a senior individual contributor role reporting to our VP of Finance but sitting at the intersection of Product, Engineering, and Finance — focused on the contracts that truly move the needle for the business. You'll work directly with executive leadership, leading end-to-end negotiations for our largest infrastructure, product, and data partnerships. This isn't a role for managing a sprawling portfolio of small contracts — you'll be the person in the room when it matters most, negotiating agreements that shape Persona's product capabilities and long-term financial trajectory. If you're someone who is genuinely passionate about procurement, thrives on finding mutual value, and loves doing right by the business while working alongside a strong team — this is a rare and exciting opportunity.
What you'll do at Persona Strategic Procurement & Contract Leadership Own end-to-end procurement for Persona's most significant contracts — from product and infrastructure technology to large-scale data partnerships Lead commercial and legal negotiations to secure favorable pricing, SLAs, and risk protections on high-value, high-complexity agreements Partner with Legal to drive contract review and manage redlines with vendors Build and maintain internal vendor tracking systems across all product and platform offerings Continuously evaluate vendor pricing, performance, and opportunities to consolidate or optimize spend Financial Planning & Renewal Management Partner with Finance to develop annual budgets for third-party spend and track actuals against forecasts Provide clear visibility to budget owners on spend trends, renewal timelines, and savings opportunities Own the renewal calendar, ensuring proactive negotiations and stakeholder alignment well ahead of contract deadlines Cross-Functional Partnership Work directly with Product, Engineering, and Finance leadership to understand long-term technical