About The Opportunity
Operating in the Apparel & Innerwear manufacturing and retail sector, this leadership role drives end-to-end sourcing strategy across fabrics, trims and finished-goods for fast-moving collections and seasonal lines. The role is based in India and requires hands-on, on-site leadership to secure cost-effective, compliant, and high-quality supplier networks that enable margin improvement and on-time delivery.
Primary Title: Head of Strategic Sourcing (Apparel & Innerwear) On-site, India
Role & Responsibilities
- Define and execute a category-based strategic sourcing roadmap for fabrics, elastics, trims and packaging to meet cost, quality and lead-time targets.
- Lead supplier selection, qualification and performance management; drive vendor development and consolidation to strengthen capacity and reliability.
- Negotiate commercial terms, long-term agreements and cost-down initiatives using cost modelling and bill-of-material (BOM) analysis.
- Partner with design, production and quality teams to embed sourcing inputs into PLM/ERP workflows and accelerate speed-to-market.
- Establish and enforce supplier compliance, quality assurance and audit programs (social, environmental and technical standards).
- Build and coach a high-performing sourcing team; manage stakeholder communication with procurement, logistics and senior leadership.
Skills & Qualifications
Must-Have
- Proven track record in strategic sourcing for apparel or innerwear categories, including fabrics, trims and accessories.
- Demonstrable success delivering cost savings and margin improvements through negotiation and supplier optimisation.
- Experience integrating sourcing with PLM and ERP systems and using BOM-driven sourcing processes.
- Strong capability in supplier selection, development and conducting vendor audits for quality & compliance.
- Hands-on commercial negotiation skills and experience creating supplier contracts and long-term purchase agreements.
- Comfortable with frequent on-site supplier visits and cross-functional collaboration across design, production and logistics.
Preferred
- Experience in innerwear/knitwear manufacturing hubs and knowledge of global sourcing markets (e.g., Bangladesh, China, India).
- Familiarity with sustainable sourcing standards and certifications (e.g., GOTS, OEKO-TEX, Sedex).
- Exposure to Ariba, SAP MM or Oracle Procurement Cloud and data-driven procurement (Power BI/Tableau).
Benefits & Culture Highlights
- Leadership role with direct impact on product margins and supply chain resilience in a growth-focused apparel business.
- Opportunity to build and scale supplier networks, own strategic initiatives and partner with senior leadership.
- Fast-paced manufacturing environment with frequent hands-on supplier engagement and travel across sourcing regions.
Location: India (On-site). Interested candidates with deep apparel/innerwear sourcing experience are encouraged to apply.
Skills: leadership,negotiation,global sourcing,vendor management,sourcing,strategic sourcing,apparel,product costing,plm
