What are Nordic procurement functions hiring for right now? During the summer of 2026, EBG has read more than 60 live Nordic procurement job ads to see what the picture looks like. Not manually. AI made it possible to read this many, this fast — which is part of the point.
The analyst and vendor houses have been describing where procurement is going: agentic AI, digital sourcing agents, hybrid workforces where procurement professionals coexist with automation. We wanted to read Nordic procurement ads alongside that picture.
Here is some of what the ads describe.
Some ads describe explicit AI capability
Novo Nordisk has posted a Digital Lead in Corporate Procurement, explicitly categorised as Data & AI. Ten-plus years of procurement experience combined with hands-on experience developing AI solutions. An internal AI Centre of Excellence is referenced by name. A second connected role appeared this summer — Digital & Process Lead — naming Coupa, Rossum, SAP, and Coupa/NAVI agents, RPAs and similar technologies. Novo Nordisk manages global indirect spend of approximately 130 billion DKK.
Ericsson has posted a Head of Sourcing Digital Transformation that opens with: “The world of sourcing is changing faster than ever before.” The mission is described as leading the evolution to an AI-enabled operating model where humans and intelligent automation work together. 15+ years, MBA-level, explicit interest in AI and emerging technologies.
Sandvik has posted an Indirect Sourcing role with AI in the job title itself: Indirect Sourcing with AI as an enabler. Microsoft Copilot named as required. Three years of experience.
Three ads. Three different framings. One categorised as Data & AI. One framed as leading a digital transformation. One with AI in the title. All three were live and public this summer.
Some ads name specific procurement platforms
In the ads read this summer, several named a specific procurement platform in the profile section. SEB’s Sourcing & Category Manager ad mentions Coupa as preferred. Magna’s Indirect Buyer ad notes SAP or Coupa preferred. Billerud names SAP S/4HANA and SAP Ariba across two related roles. Alfa Laval names Microsoft Dynamics D365. Polypeptide names SAP and Dynamics.
A single ad at a time, this is a small note in the profile. Read across ads and sectors — banking, automotive, pulp and paper, industrial, pharma — the pattern is present in this batch.
Many ads describe procurement much as it looks today
Category strategy, supplier negotiation, cross-functional stakeholder alignment. Years of experience as the qualifier. Excel and Office as the named tools. That is what many of the ads describe.
Different framings appear across Nordic procurement ads this summer, sometimes inside the same organisation. What we are hiring for looks different in different ads.
What comes back when you read the ads side by side
One reflection comes back after reading 60+ ads. The picture is genuinely varied — and so is what each ad seems to be preparing an organisation for. If we start thinking about which future the ads are being written toward, the reflection opens rather than closes.
That is what tomorrow’s article picks up.
About CPO Outlook 2026
CPO Outlook 2026 takes place at Hotel Birger Jarl in Stockholm on 14–15 October. Now in its 23rd edition, it is the annual gathering EBG builds each year around what senior Nordic procurement leaders most need to work through together. The programme mixes keynotes with sponsor-hosted Theme Discussions, practitioner-led Peer Labs (including Tobias Lindberg’s “Who do you hire in 2027?”), the inaugural Nordic CPO of the Year Award ceremony, and Day 2 plenary sessions and workshops. Participants leave with concrete material to take back to their own function. See the full programme and registration.
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