About the founder
Ellie Davies
Founder &
Principal Consultant
"Good procurement is rarely about price. It is about understanding what an organisation actually needs, cutting through complexity, removing ambiguity, and turning commercial decisions into outcomes that align with business goals, community expectations and long-term value."
Ellie is the Founder of Sustain Procurement, an independent advisory practice based in Melbourne. Her career has moved through logistics, supply chain, contract management and strategic procurement, starting on the commercial floor in transport and logistics, moving into contract management in healthcare, and then leading strategic procurement across the utilities sector and the Victorian public sector.
That journey shapes how she works. Ellie has sat on every side of a procurement conversation, as the supplier trying to win the work, the practitioner running the tender, the manager holding the contract, and the leader answering for the outcome. It is why her advice is practical rather than theoretical, and why she is trusted to walk into complex environments and quietly bring order to them.
Ellie brings more than 25 years of commercial experience, over 15 years leading procurement, contract management and governance, and more than a decade lecturing in logistics, procurement and supply chain management at a leading Australian university. She holds a Master of Business in Global Logistics & Supply Chain Management and a Bachelor of Business in Marketing and International Trade, and has completed doctoral coursework benchmarking sustainable procurement practices in public sector reform.
She is a published writer on LinkedIn at the intersection of AI, digital procurement, modern slavery reform and ESG. Ellie actively participates in industry webinars, working groups and communities of practice to stay across regulatory change, and translates what she learns into practical guidance for the clients she works with.
Her professional credentials include PRINCE2 Agile Foundation & Practitioner, Contract and Commercial Management Practitioner (ACCM) with CIPS Australia & New Zealand, Commercial and Contract Management Masterclass with Cullen Group, and executive certifications in Writing for Ministers and the Secretary, Manager as Coach, and Stakeholder Engagement. Outside of client work, she serves as a Fundraising Committee Member with Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place, supporting culturally safe spaces for Indigenous communities in Melbourne's east.
Selected engagements
Case
Statewide tender simplification
Reduced a 100-page statewide procurement tender pack into 11 clear, curated and compliant documents. Cut supplier response effort, broadened market participation and lifted competitiveness without weakening rigour.
Case
Social and sustainable procurement uplift
Embedded a social and sustainable procurement framework into a major utility, aligned to state policy and independently benchmarked, with measurable supplier requirements built into evaluation and contract KPIs.
Case
Contract management framework
Designed and rolled out a KPI-driven contract management framework across a multi-million-dollar portfolio, lifting supplier accountability and value realisation over the life of the contracts.
Case
AI and ERP readiness
Advised on ERP consolidation across business units, translating divisional user pain-points into a fit-for-purpose digital procurement roadmap grounded in operating reality.
Case
Governance and probity uplift
Refreshed procurement governance, probity and delegation frameworks so decisions were faster, more defensible and easier for the team to apply day to day.
Case
Capability building and coaching
Delivered procurement training, mentoring and reusable templates that lifted internal capability and confidence long after the engagement ended.
Sustain Procurement operates independently and maintains strict confidentiality and conflict-of-interest management practices across all engagements.
Selected career experience
A quarter century across transport, healthcare, utilities, higher education and the Victorian public sector.
Areas of expertise
- Independent procurement advisory across Australian public and private sectors
- Procurement governance, probity and contract management frameworks
- Social and sustainable procurement
- Capability uplift and training
Sectors
- Public and private sector organisations across Australia
- Infrastructure, utilities and construction
- ICT, healthcare and education
- Retail, logistics and supply chain
Professional ethics
The principles that shape every engagement.
Independence
Advice is provided independently, free from external influence, endorsement or affiliation.
Confidentiality
Client information, documentation and commercial context are held in strict confidence at all times.
Integrity
Honest, evidence-based advice, delivered without fear or favour, and grounded in professional standards.
Conflict-of-interest management
Actual, potential and perceived conflicts are proactively identified, disclosed and managed across every engagement.
Sustainable value creation
Every engagement is designed to deliver enduring commercial, social and environmental value for the organisations we serve.
Working with Ellie
What people ask before we start.
How Ellie engages, how independence and confidentiality are protected, and what to expect from the first conversation.