Job Summary
Job Description – Director, Procurement
PFI India is an exciting new innovation center. We're building a future that helps people live better lives longer— and we're looking for bold thinkers and team players to help us do it.
Here, you'll tackle complex challenges, collaborate with brilliant minds across the globe, and grow your career while helping millions achieve financial security.
a Purpose Driven Company – 150 Years
While the PFI brand is new to India, you'll be a part of the Prudential Financial, Inc. family. Founded in 1875 in Newark, New Jersey, we serve 50 million customers across more than 50 countries. With $1.334 trillion in assets, we're a global leader in institutional asset management. The 2nd largest life insurer in the US and the 9th largest institutional global asset manager.
At PFI India, you'll find a high-performance culture that's flexible, collaborative and grounded in respect. We engage with candor, take calibrated risks, and hold ourselves accountable — always focused on delivering for our customers. It's the standard we choose every day as we grow, perform, and win as one team.
We offer valuable leadership, mentoring and learning opportunities, paired with the flexibility and support to help you thrive.
Whether you're just starting out or ready to take your next step, we'll help you grow with purpose and do the best work of your career.
Global Sourcing and Procurement (GSP) organization drives enterprise-wide value by cultivating strategic supplier partnerships and elevating commercial decision-making across the business. GSP provides global stakeholders with streamlined access to best-in-class products and services, informed by robust business intelligence, deep supply-market knowledge, and a clear grasp of micro and macroeconomic dynamics. Through efficient, disciplined processes and proactive commercial coaching, GSP empowers stakeholders to make informed, value-driven decisions that strengthen the company's competitive advantage.
The
Director, Senior Category Manager role plays a pivotal role in advancing this mission by leading category initiative teams, shaping value pipelines, coaching business partners, and converting market intelligence into actionable sourcing and negotiation strategies.
Operating across a global stakeholder and supplier landscape, this role ensures consistent execution of the Category Management framework, adoption of preferred buying channels, and delivery of measurable, Finance-validated value.
Categories of spend in scope are Corporate Services, which include but are not limited to Real Estate and Facilities, Human Resources, Management Consulting.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead category initiative teams to deliver year-over-year value and set savings targets (cost reductions, cost avoidance, and/or revenue opportunities) in alignment with Finance validated baselines and auditable governance.
- Curate and maintain Category Cards, preferred supplier routes, and Buying Channel rules by partnering with Systems & Analytics teams for updates, guided buying configurations, dashboards, and global adoption mechanisms.
- Prioritize initiatives within the category pipeline, ensuring accuracy of baselines, milestone tracking, and variance commentary, ensuring clarity for dashboards and reviews.
- Guide team members through opportunity assessment, RFx preparation, negotiation support, and supplier evaluation.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to business partners, providing guidance on channel selection, specification choices, negotiation preparation, and savings definitions.
- Translate complex market dynamics, internal requirements, and supplier insights into clear, value-focused recommendations.
- Conceive new and pursue supplier led innovation opportunities (e.g., process redesign and automation, alternative specifications, sustainability solutions) to improve cost, quality, resilience, and speed.
- Synthesize market data and benchmarks (e.g., indices, should-cost models, vendor peer comparisons, external insights, total cost of ownership (TCO) insights) to support robust business cases and sourcing strategies.
- Leverage AI tools to enhance category execution and promote the adoption of AI enabled workflows within the category squad and cross-functional partners.
- Coordinate sourcing, negotiation, contracting, and initiative execution activities with regional teams in the US, Japan, Ireland, India, and other markets.
- Align category initiatives with organizational priorities, stakeholder needs, procurement policy, and risk/compliance requirements.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in business, supply chain, finance, operations, economics, or a related field.
- 7-10 years of experience in procurement, category management, sourcing, or supplier management.
- Demonstrated experience influencing stakeholders, guiding sourcing decisions, and delivering measurable value.
- Experience synthesizing benchmarks, supplier data, and market intelligence into sourcing strategies.
- Exposure to or familiarity with procurement technologies (e.g., sourcing platforms, CLM systems) and AI-enabled sourcing tools.
- Professional certifications preferred (e.g., MCIPS, CPSM, CPM).
Skills And Competencies
- Stakeholder Partnership: Builds trust with business partners and guides them toward value-focused, compliant sourcing decisions.
- Clear Communication: Translates procurement, market, and financial insights into straightforward, actionable guidance.
- Analytical Rigor: Interprets benchmarks, spend data, and category metrics to inform sound commercial decisions.
- Relationship-Building: Forges strong internal and supplier partnerships.
- Cross-Regional‑ Collaboration: Works effectively with teams across multiple geographies to ensure consistent category execution.
- Commercial & Market Awareness: Applies understanding of supplier markets, cost drivers, and negotiation levers to strengthen outcomes.
- Change Agility: Adapts quickly to evolving tools, processes, and priorities, encouraging others to adopt improved ways of working.
