Assistant Category Manager

Job Description

Assistant Manager - Category Management - Direct

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Roles and Responsibilities:

Assist annual procurement strategy

•Accountable for providing input to Synergy overall Category strategy through annual projection of items and purchase plans within own category.

•Derive insight from historical purchase data and industry trends to project an annual Category plan within own category for Synergy vessels.

•Assist Head, Category in the development of Category strategy with derived insights and align category plan with developed procurement strategy.

Source for potential suppliers

•Accountable for sourcing potential suppliers within category and managing a supplier database.

•Identify and shortlist a selection of qualified suppliers based on RFQ specifications from Group Managers, and assigned budget.

•Document a list of qualified suppliers for each category to assist category strategy in developing a database of approved suppliers.

Meet category saving targets

•Accountable for meeting category saving targets as determined by Head, Procurement.

•Develop negotiation, cost comparison and purchasing strategies to ensure professional relationships and Synergy economy of scale are leveraged upon to achieve saving targets.

•Work with Procurement Analysts to document the final cost of purchase to track actual spending against target to measure success of category saving efforts, and report findings to Head, Category management to inform budget decisions.

Drive continuous improvement within the department

•Responsible for implementing and driving continuous improvement initiatives through employees within the department.

•Collaborate with Head, Category Management and employees within the department to identify improvements that can be made to policies, processes or technological infrastructure.

•Drive the operationalization and implementation of improvement initiatives within the department through employees in the department.

•Monitor adherence to timeline and budget for continuous improvement projects and technological implementations within the department and report progress to Head, Category Management.

•Monitor and report improvement in outcomes within the department.

Day-to-day operations

•Accountable for leading negotiation efforts between Synergy and suppliers.

•Lead negotiations efforts between Synergy and suppliers to ensure Synergy's economy of scale and leveraged upon for cost control and professional relationships are built and strengthened

•Collaborate with Purchasing Officers and Technical Assistants to clearly communicate details of agreed upon contract to develop accurate purchase orders

Manage costs

•Responsible for adherence of all department operations to budget

•Accountable for the aggregation, projection and presentation of the annual budget for the department

•Assist Head, Procurement in the identification, escalation and resolution of areas of anomaly in budget reports for the department

Develop human capital

•Develop capabilities of junior team members through formal or informal mentorship

•Drive the identification and addressing of gaps in competencies through observation of day-to-day operations and provide feedback to junior team members and their direct reports for improvement.

•Analytical approach with ability to determine Make vs. Buy cost models TCO /TVO (total cost of operations/ total value of operations)

•Competent in building cost models

•Skilled negotiator inclined towards building supplier partnerships and year on year deflationary spend profile of categories

Skills:

8 - 14 years Category strategy development and long-term sourcing planning

Strong negotiation and contract management skills

Vendor development, evaluation, and performance management

Cost optimization, budgeting, and spend analysis

Handling global sourcing, tenders, and framework agreements

Knowledge of procurement systems (ERP / SAP / Prodigy / AMOS) and advanced Excel

KPI setting, target monitoring, and reporting to management

Stakeholder management and cross-functional coordination

Risk assessment, compliance, and policy adherence

Ability to manage multiple projects and lead procurement initiatives

Team management / mentoring of buyers (for senior role)

Strong decision-making and problem-solving skills