Chief Procurement Officer Josh Dubroff shared this message with supply chain and shared services staff:
Good afternoon,
I hope you and your family are doing well and you are as excited about the start of the in-person school year as I am! I’ve seen several of you over the last couple weeks at the DCC and it’s been great to be back in person again.
Each of you are a highly valued member of my team here at UC Merced, and with that I wanted to be the first to share some exciting personal news, although the decision has been a very challenging one to make.
I have accepted an opportunity to become a system-wide CPO for a university system on the East Coast. The job is also very close to much of my family, whom I have not been able to spend much time with these last few years.
This decision was very difficult because I am extremely proud of each of you and the amazing supply chain and shared services organization we have built together, and there are still many great things to be accomplished. However, the opportunity at this point to spend time with close family is an important consideration and the opportunity to move into a larger role that is also close to family is quite rare.
I could not be more proud of the organization we’ve built or the storms we’ve weathered over my almost five years at UC Merced. We’ve reorganized our supply chain team into a center of excellence model, incorporated key business partners in logistics into our organization, and increased our annual benefit value to the campus by millions of dollars by engaging more strategically with our key suppliers.
Our shared services team has grown substantially from a unit that supported administrative and facilities departments to a campus-wide organization that incorporates all procurement and travel across campus as well as support for Human Resources and Finance for many departments. With this, CBS2 supports approximately four times as many units as it did just a few years ago, and the benefits to the campus as we’ve worked through large, complex projects such as Oracle and Concur with instrumental support from CBS2 have been clear.
COVID-19 has been a true test for all of our teams as we’ve needed to take on additional responsibilities in our day-to-day jobs and in EOC support roles while working in an increasingly complex environment to provide the campus the services needed to maintain business continuity and continue to push forward with the mission of research, teaching and public service. You all have demonstrated your commitment and resolve in amazing ways.
Knowing how strong of a team we have, how much our organization has grown, and how much we have accomplished together and will continue to accomplish in the future makes the decision to move on very difficult, but I leave with the sound knowledge that you will continue to grow and excel in supporting the campus. I also know that the campus and our senior leadership team clearly understand the value each of you and our organization deliver to the campus and that there is a firm commitment to building on the great work you have done.
I will watch from afar and cheer on your successes both as individuals and as a team and look forward to seeing the great things you accomplish for our campus!
Best wishes,
Josh
