Big Fish Procurement Career Signals: SSC and GBS Centres in Poland: The Value of Experience Depends on the Scope of Responsibility for the Process

The same Procurement Specialist title can represent entirely different experience in two SSC or GBS centres. In one organisation, the employee handles a defined stage of the process for a dozen or more countries. In another, they are responsible for data quality, KPIs, exception handling and the development of process standards. After several years, the two employees will be prepared for different roles, despite similar titles and the global scope of their work.

Employment in Poland’s business services sector remains at around half a million people, while the export value generated per employee increased by more than USD 10,000 in one year. ABSL links this trend to greater specialisation and to centres taking responsibility for global business processes.            

In procurement, this broadens access to roles in analytics, source-to-pay processes, supplier data, contract management and Procurement Excellence. The value of experience gained in such roles depends on the scope of responsibility transferred together with the process.

Big Fish Procurement Career Signals. The first edition covers three distinct developments: the use of AI in procurement, changes in the scope of procurement processes delivered by SSC and GBS centres, and the impact of EU regulations on the importance of supplier data. The first article examined AI. This article presents the second signal: a change in the type of experience professionals develop in centres that deliver procurement processes.

Centres increase their value by assuming greater responsibility for processes

At the end of the first quarter of 2026, 2,179 centres operated in Poland, representing 1,303 companies. They employed approximately 500,500 people. The sector accounted for 6.1% of Poland’s GDP, while the value of services exports reached USD 48.4 billion in 2025 [1][2].

The structure of the work performed is a key consideration when assessing the labour market. ABSL classifies 63% of the processes delivered by centres as mid-office and indicates that almost 60% of tasks require specialist knowledge. The share of junior positions in the workforce is declining, while the share of specialist and expert roles is increasing [1][2]. ABSL describes this trend as a shift from service delivery towards responsibility for global business processes. Hays also points to a reduction   in simple transactional processes and growth in areas requiring analytical, technological and process capabilities [3].                                                                                                                                                                                            The data cover the entire business services sector, including finance, IT, HR, customer service and procurement. They do not allow the scale of change within procurement itself to be determined, but they do illustrate a development model in which a centre increases its value by assuming responsibility for process quality, standards and performance.

Operational scale does not determine the value of a role

SSC and GBS centres use different operating models for procurement work. In some, the dominant activities are purchase order processing, supplier data maintenance, contract administration and user support. Others are responsible for the quality and development of source-to-pay processes, procurement analytics, systems, compliance, supplier risk, sourcing and category management support.                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The broadest scope includes Procurement Excellence, global process management, technology implementation and the coordination of change across multiple business units. A role may be limited    to executing an assigned process stage in accordance with an established standard. Alternatively, it may include responsibility for how the process operates: defining metrics, monitoring data quality, analysing root causes, designing improvements and developing tools and operating principles.

Work with supplier data may consist of updating records or of defining data-quality standards and linking the data to supplier qualification and regulatory requirements. Contract administration may involve registering documents or managing the contract lifecycle, contractual obligations and renewal terms.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

In procurement analytics, producing a report in a predefined format builds a different type of experience from conducting analysis that results in a recommendation concerning a category, supplier or process.

Global scope translates into transferable experience when, in addition to serving multiple countries, the role includes responsibility for how the process operates, its data, systems, control mechanisms and the implementation of change. Performing the same procedure for a larger number of markets primarily increases the scale of operations.

At managerial level, the value of experience depends on the shift from monitoring transactions and timeliness to taking responsibility for productivity, quality and process development. Team size  and the number of markets served describe the scale of operations, while the manager’s level of responsibility determines their influence on operating standards, control systems, automation and the allocation of responsibilities between units.

The scope of responsibility determines which roles the experience prepares an employee to take on

The title Procurement Specialist in an SSC or GBS centre may cover purchase order processing, data analysis, sourcing support or the coordination of part of a global process. A Process Owner in one organisation defines KPIs, standards and the direction of change; in another, they coordinate the implementation of solutions designed outside the centre. A job title indicates where a role sits in the organizational structure, while the scope of decision-making shows the level of responsibility an employee will be equipped to take on.

Responsibility for standards, data quality, systems, automation and implementations across multiple business units prepares employees for roles in process management, Procurement Excellence, process analytics and procurement transformation. Operational knowledge is highly valuable in these areas because it helps employees understand the root causes of errors, system limitations and the consequences of changes introduced globally.

A different experience profile is developed in roles that lead towards category management. Its value comes from involvement in demand and cost analysis, market assessment, setting the direction for the category, developing recommendations for the business, and taking responsibility for implementation and results. Sourcing support and results reporting help build knowledge of the category. Independently selecting a direction, agreeing it with stakeholders, leading implementation and taking responsibility for the outcome prepare a person to manage the category strategy.

For someone already working in an SSC or GBS centre, development should be measured by a broader scope of decision-making. Taking responsibility for additional countries, users or volumes increases the scale of operations. Career capital grows when the larger scale also brings responsibility for new types of problems, such as changing a process, defining a data standard, redesigning controls, implementing a tool or delivering against KPIs. Volume growth without a change in the scope of decisions deepens operational proficiency and primarily prepares the employee for roles based on a similar operating model.

A person considering an offer in an SSC or GBS centre should establish:

• Who defines the process standard and KPIs?
• Which decisions can the role holder make independently, and which are carried out on the basis of decisions made by other units?
• Is the position involved in projects concerning data, systems, automation and process changes?
• Which outcomes is the role accountable for, and which does it only report?
• What roles have people previously in this position moved into?

Career capital

Career capital consists of skills, experience, documented results, reputation and relationships that retain their value when a person changes employer. Its value is reflected in the scope of responsibility an employee can credibly take on in another organization. It grows when successive roles broaden the types of decisions made, the scale of problems solved and accountability for outcomes.

In SSC and GBS centres, career capital is strengthened by responsibility for process standards, data, systems, decisions and results. The number of countries served, team size and job title describe the context of the work. After several years, however, the value of the experience is determined by the scope of the processes, decisions and outcomes for which the employee can take independent responsibility.

Signal assessment

The 3/5 rating reflects a clear direction of change across the business services sector as a whole and the limited amount of data relating directly to procurement. ABSL and Hays show growth in specialist work, global processes and analytical and technological capabilities. The implications of these changes for the structure of procurement roles require further confirmation through recruitment data, job descriptions and continued market observation.

Methodology

Big Fish Procurement Career Signals combines broad monitoring of economic data, industry information, regulatory changes, labour market research, corporate decisions and procurement operating models with in-depth verification of selected observations. Developments are included when they are supported by several types of data or align with recurring corporate decisions, and when a mechanism can be identified through which they affect procurement and the value of professional experience.

Each signal is assessed in terms of the potential scale of its impact, the quality of available sources and the time horizon within which the change may begin to affect processes, the scope of roles and recruitment criteria. A job title is a secondary indicator. The value of a role is determined by the scope of responsibility and the consequences of the decisions made.

About Big Fish

For more than 20 years, Big Fish has specialised exclusively in procurement. We deliver executive search and specialist recruitment projects, assess competencies and support organisations in developing their procurement functions. We combine knowledge derived from our work with organisations and professionals with systematic market analysis.

Big Fish Procurement Career Signals was created to provide a structured view of developments that may affect the scope of roles, demand for competencies and the value of professional experience in procurement.

Sources used directly in the analysis

The sources below form the direct basis for the data cited in this article. They were selected from a broader set of materials included in our monitoring because of their recency, data quality and relevance to the mechanism analysed.

[1] ABSL, “Sektor usług biznesowych w Polsce 2026” [Business Services Sector in Poland 2026], 18 June 2026 — report on the scale of the sector, employment, exports, process structure and the direction of specialisation among Polish centres.

[2] ABSL, “Business services sector sets the development path for Polish economy”, 18 June 2026 — data on the number of centres and investors, employment, the sector’s share of GDP, exports per employee, mid-office processes and changes in the structure of roles.

[3] Hays Poland, “Raport Płacowy BSS 2026 – Centra usług biznesowych” [BSS Salary Guide 2026 – Business Services Centres] — observations on the reduction of simple transactional processes and the growing importance of specialist, analytical and technological capabilities.