Job Title: Associate Manager – Strategic Sourcing & Manufacturing Partnerships
Location: Bangalore
Employment Type: Full-Time
About Agrizy
Agri-food tech startup Agrizy, founded in 2021 by Saket Chirania and Vicky Dodani, is dedicated to transforming the agrifood processing sector. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies, Agrizy addresses the common challenges encountered by FPOs and MSME agrifood processors. Through Agrizy, the underutilized capacities of MSME agrifood processors are linked with the customized processing needs of major buyers in both domestic and global markets. Additionally, Agrizy assists these processors in sourcing raw materials from farm-gate aggregators and FPOs, standardizing their operations and processing facilities through technology, obtaining quality certifications, and enabling access to working capital from formal lenders at competitive rates.
Role Overview
We are looking for an experienced
Associate Manager – Strategic Sourcing & Manufacturing Partnerships to identify, evaluate, and onboard manufacturing partners across food, beverages, and functional ingredients. The role involves supplier evaluation, commercial negotiations, project coordination, and cross-functional collaboration to support new product development and commercialization. The ideal candidate should have strong experience in strategic sourcing, contract manufacturing, and stakeholder management, with a focus on optimizing cost, quality, delivery, and building long-term manufacturing partnerships.
Key Responsibilities
- Identify, evaluate, and onboard manufacturing partners based on customer requirements across food, beverages, and functional ingredients.
- Assess manufacturers for technical capability, certifications, quality systems, production capacity, regulatory compliance, and commercial viability.
- Develop and maintain a robust database of qualified manufacturing partners across multiple product categories.
- Negotiate pricing, MOQs, lead times, payment terms, and commercial agreements with manufacturing partners.
- Match customer briefs with the most suitable manufacturing partners while optimizing cost, quality, flexibility, and speed.
- Coordinate with manufacturers for product development, sample preparation, approvals, pilot trials, and commercialization activities.
- Track project milestones from enquiry to commercial production and ensure timely execution.
- Build and maintain long-term relationships with manufacturing partners through regular performance reviews and continuous engagement.
- Collaborate closely with Business Development, R&D, Quality, Regulatory, Supply Chain, and Operations teams to ensure seamless project execution.
- Monitor market trends, supplier capabilities, manufacturing technologies, and ingredient pricing to identify new sourcing opportunities.
- Maintain sourcing documentation, supplier evaluations, commercial comparisons, project trackers, and MIS reports.
- Track key sourcing KPIs including supplier responsiveness, sample turnaround time, project conversion, and commercialization timelines.
Skills & Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Food Technology, Food Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Business Administration, or a related field.
- MBA preferred.
- 5+ years of experience in Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, Vendor Development, Contract Manufacturing, Supply Chain, or Manufacturing Partnerships within the Food, FMCG, Ingredients, or Process Manufacturing industry.
- Strong understanding of food ingredients, manufacturing processes, supply chain economics, and contract manufacturing.
- Experience in supplier evaluation, vendor onboarding, commercial negotiations, and relationship management.
- Knowledge of MOQ optimization, pricing analysis, and sourcing strategies.
- Excellent project coordination and stakeholder management skills.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
- Advanced proficiency in Google Sheet and reporting tools.
- Excellent communication skills in English; knowledge of Hindi and/or a South Indian language (Kannada, Tamil, or Telugu) will be an added advantage.
- High ownership mindset with the ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
Why Join Agrizy
- Innovative Environment: Be a part of a forward-thinking company in the exciting AgTech space.
- Impactful Work: Contribute to meaningful projects that shape the future of agrifood processing.
- Growth Opportunities: At Agrizy, we prioritize employee development and growth. We encourage individual success along with the organization.
- Inclusive Culture: We are an inclusive and diverse team, where every individual's voice is heard and valued.
Our Core Values
At Agrizy, our core values define who we are and how we work:
- Ownership: We take responsibility for our actions and outcomes, empowering every team member to drive results and lead their success.
- Passion: We are deeply passionate about innovation and sustainability, continuously striving to solve the toughest challenges in agrifood processing.
- Impact: Our work creates meaningful change, making a real difference in the world around.
- Collaboration: We believe in the power of working together, fostering an open, supportive environment where diverse perspectives lead to success.
Skills: contract manufacturing,sourcing,partnerships,manufacturing
