The Procurement Assistant Manager is a hands-on individual contributor role responsible for leading sourcing and contract negotiations while balancing speed, commercial judgement, and stakeholder alignment. The role requires the ability to operate independently within defined governance, translate business needs into sourcing strategies, and make sound recommendations under time and cost pressure. This position is not administrative in nature and is expected to actively shape sourcing outcomes, supplier selection, and commercial decisions.
Key Responsibilities:
Commercial & Sourcing Execution
- Lead end-to-end sourcing activities for assigned categories, including urgent and ad-hoc requirements.
- Translate business requirements into clear sourcing and negotiation strategies.
- Lead commercial negotiations on pricing, terms, scope, and contract conditions; prepare clear award or no-award recommendations.
Contract & Supplier Management
- Own contract negotiation, renewal, and variation discussions with suppliers.
- Identify and mitigate commercial and contractual risks (e.g. pricing escalation, lock-in, service gaps).
- Monitor supplier performance and intervene early to address delivery, quality, or commercial issues.
Stakeholder & Cross-functional Engagement
- Partner with Finance, Operations, Legal, and business teams to align sourcing decisions with broader business objectives.
- Push back constructively on incomplete, biased, or pre-selected sourcing requests while maintaining relationships.
Judgement & Continuous Improvement
- Make pragmatic trade-offs between speed, cost, risk, and compliance
- Identify inefficiencies or recurring issues and propose targeted improvements (not blanket process redesigns).
- Prepare concise analysis and recommendations for management decision-making.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, or related discipline.
- Minimum 58 years of procurement experience with exposure to strategic sourcing and contract negotiation.
- Demonstrated ability to lead negotiations and make sourcing recommendations, not just support or compile.
- Strong analytical and logical thinking skills; able to structure problems and options clearly.
- Clear, concise communicatorable to explain decisions, risks, and trade-offs confidently.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment.
- Proficient in Google Workspace or Microsoft Office (Sheets/Excel must be strong)
