Javier  Baranda

Javier Baranda

Group CPO

Intrigued by challenge and enriched by decades of global procurement initiatives, Javier Baranda found the right fit at Comdata...

Javier Baranda, Group Chief Procurement Officer at Comdata, specialises in operational efficiencies identifying and leveraging synergies in the supply chain and transforming strategic vision into bottom-line results.

Holding over 20 years of professional development at Telefónica, Baranda has lead transformation projects and process implementations in Brazil, Germany, China and the UK. He has held a wide range of responsibilities within procurement throughout his career, including organisational and digital transformation, planning and strategic sourcing, system and process implementations, and contract management and compliance. Regardless of the project, Baranda always remains tightly focused on operational excellence, value generation and maximising outcomes.

Baranda started his career back in 1996 at Telefonica. After university, he was moved into a new procurement project Telefonica had launched. “At the time, the project presented a significant shift in the way Telefonica was approaching procurement and allowed me to start my career as a category manager, leading categories that were more in the parameter of technology.

“A few years later, I moved into a challenging role in Asia and China, as part of a small team that took the responsibility to open an office up, to explore the opportunities that the market represented for Telefonica in terms of business development but also regarding cost efficiencies and new suppliers. That was an amazing experience both personally and professionally, and gave me more of a grasp on international labour and culture differences in terms of working relationships.”

“Four years later, I returned to Spain to take the lead on new functions related to strategic alliances and procurement where we built a network of strategic partners, where we could exploit synergies, aggregate demand and share best practices. I was then able to see procurement from a different angle, one where we could align our requirements and leverage our combined volume of spend to present a more attractive proposition to our vendors. 

“And then, in 2013, I moved to the UK. The idea was to support the UK business to get more into the Telefonica culture and mindsets in procurement. I had the opportunity to lead a big team of more than fifty people at that time. I was heading all the procurement activity of one of the largest business units of Telefonica. That was an immense challenge to me but an amazing experience with a great team from which I think I learned a lot about leadership and the human part of leadership. 

“After that project, I felt that I needed other challenges. I was keen to have my own transformation journey, a project which would allow me to utilise all of my learnings after twenty years in procurement. At that point, I was pretty confident that I had mastered all the aspects of procurement, from category management to operations to strategic alliances, as well as the operational running of a big procurement organisation with a massive volume of spend, and I was ready to take on that challenge.

“So I left Telefonica, and I found an opportunity at Comdata. It wasn’t the sector that I had in mind initially, but it was appealing because Comdata wanted to explore how they could better leverage the relationship with suppliers. BPO customer services is a sector that has significant challenges in terms of cost-efficiency. Our margins are not typically high, which means cost efficiencies are paramount for the sustainability of the business. And I liked the approach. I liked the challenge. I liked the CEO’s vision regarding the transformation he wanted to achieve, and am enjoying the opportunity to embark on my own transformation journey.”

Read the full article HERE 

Share

Featured Interviews

Featured

Max Caballero-Vieyra

SVP of Devices & Supply Chain at T-Mobile

Max Caballero-Vieyra shares his strategy for implementing the flexible, pioneering supply chain required to remain America’s telecoms value leader

Read More

Sue Spence

Vice President, Global Sourcing & Procurement at FedEx Corporation

Sue Spence, Vice President, Global Sourcing & Procurement at FedEx Corporation, on driving the organisation’s procurement transformation

Read More
“Take a leap of faith and be more confident in your abilities. There is never a perfect time to go for the big job or challenge”
Sue Spence
Vice President, Global Sourcing & Procurement at FedEx Corporation

Dr. Garr Chau

Supply chain and strategic planning manager at TotalEnergies

TotalEnergies’ Garr Chau, supply chain and strategic planning manager & Rick Ashton, Market Development Manager, on the road to sustainable solutions

Read More

Brendan O’Toole

VP of Procurement at Nutrabolt

Nutrabolt’s VP of Procurement shares his storied career, as well as the motivations and inspirations that keep him going day-to-day

Read More

Diana Monterrubio

Procurement Global Strategic Director at Teleperformance

Diana Monterrubio, Procurement Global Strategic Director at Teleperformance on her career journey, dedication to empowering women, and future trends

Read More

Max Caballero-Vieyra

SVP of Devices & Supply Chain at T-Mobile

Max Caballero-Vieyra shares his strategy for implementing the flexible, pioneering supply chain required to remain America’s telecoms value leader

Read More