Purpose of the Role
Lead end-to-end vendor and category management across APAC for Promotional Items and Premiums, driving cost efficiency, quality, innovation, and compliance. Partner with country teams and regional stakeholders to execute vendor strategy and support business growth.
Category Scope Promotional Items / Premiums
- Includes sourcing, development, and supply of:
- Corporate gifts and promotional merchandise
- Consumer promotion items (GWPs, gift sets, giveaways)
- Branded merchandise and retail promotional products
- Seasonal and campaign-based promotional items
- Custom product development and sourcing (OEM/ODM)
- Packaging, kitting, and fulfillment
- Compliance, product safety, and sustainability standards
- Value engineering and cost optimization
Key Responsibilities
Regional Vendor Management
- Manage vendor ecosystem across multiple markets for promotional items.
- Align country teams to regional sourcing and vendor strategy.
- Act as escalation point for vendor performance, quality, delivery, and compliance issues.
- Standardize vendor onboarding, evaluation, and governance across markets.
- Drive vendor partnerships, performance reviews, audits, and risk mitigation.
- Ensure ethical sourcing, product safety, and sustainability compliance
Category & Commercial Management
- Lead regional category strategy, sourcing, and vendor consolidation.
- Manage rate cards, benchmarking, and pricing frameworks.
- Support commercial teams with competitive sourcing and product costing.
- Lead vendor negotiations, contracts, and cost optimization initiatives.
- Drive value engineering, innovation, and new product sourcing.
Operations & Governance
- Oversee vendor accreditation, product compliance, and quality audits.
- Manage performance scorecards and corrective action programs.
- Coordinate with Finance, Legal, Quality, and Sustainability teams.
- Support vendor capability development and process/system adoption.
Skills, Knowledge, and Experience
- 1015 years in procurement/vendor management with strong promotional items / premiums experience.
- Experience managing regional / multi-country vendor operations.
- Deep knowledge of promotional merchandise sourcing, product development, and compliance.
- Strong strategic sourcing, vendor governance, and quality management.
- Proven negotiation, cost optimization, and commercial acumen.
- Experience working with cross-functional and regional teams.
- Strong stakeholder management, analytical, and communication skills.
- Fluent in English.
Mindset & Temperament
- Strategic, commercially driven, and execution focused.
- Strong regional coordination and collaboration capability.
- Influential, structured, and solution oriented.
- High ownership with ability to manage complexity across markets.
Role Requirements
- Experience in a regional / APAC role.
- Willingness to travel across markets.
- Ability to work across time zones.
