HEAD OF PROCUREMENT EXCELLENCE & OPERATIONS

Job Description

The Head of Procurement Excellence and Operations is a strategic leader responsible for driving operational excellence, governance, and continuous improvement across the procurement function. The role requires strong strategic planning capabilities, expertise in project management methodologies (including Agile and PMI), and a robust approach to risk management and mitigation. The incumbent will lead cross-functional initiatives, build strong stakeholder relationships, and foster collaboration to deliver business objectives. Success in this role requires excellent negotiation and conflict resolution skills, combined with strong financial and commercial acumen to optimize procurement performance, enhance value delivery, and support sustainable business growth. 

Key Responsibilities

Procurement Operations & Source-to-Pay (S2P)

• Process Optimization: Lead and optimize end-to-end P2P and contracting workflows, ensuring consistent process execution across the organisation.
• Operational SLA Management: Oversee procurement operations, including Purchase Requisition (PR) to Purchase Order (PO) processing, vendor onboarding, contract administration, and catalog management (including creation of catalogs as well as deletion when not in use).
• Vendor Master Data: Responsible of onboarding of Suppliers including carrying out Due Diligence and Financial Analysis. Maintain a centralized, single source of truth for spend visibility, vendor taxonomy, and contract lifecycles.
• Material Master: Responsible for managing Material Master for the company
• Open Purchase Order (PO) Review and Maintenance: Responsible to review Open Pos on a regular basis and short close the PO’s which are not required
• Helpdesk Support: Manage procurement queries and help desk tickets, ensuring adherence to turnaround times and internal satisfaction SLAs.

Procurement Excellence, Governance & Systems

• Digital Transformation: Drive the adoption and integration of procurement tech stacks (e.g., SAP Ariba, Oracle, Coupa) and support User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for system enhancements.
• Policy & Compliance: Design, implement, and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Delegation of Authority (DOA) matrices, and anti-fraud controls.
• Performance Management: Develop and implement performance reporting frameworks, dashboards (Tableau, Power BI or any other tool), and KPI monitoring for senior management.
• Audit Readiness: Ensure segregation of duties and audit trails aligned with SOX compliance frameworks and internal audit requirements.

Telecom-Specific Sourcing & Risk Management

• Network & IT Sourcing Enablement: Support the strategic sourcing teams by operationalizing contracts for high-value telco requirements
• Supplier Risk & Performance: Support Head of SRM to implement supplier performance scorecards, manage third-party risk/due diligence, and drive continuous supplier improvement.

Your Merits

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field; MBA or professional certifications (e.g., CPSM, CIPS) will have extra advantage.
• Experience: Minimum 10–12 years of experience in procurement operations and excellence, with at least 5 years in a leadership capacity.
• Industry Knowledge: Deep understanding of the telecommunications landscape, including network infrastructure rollouts, managed services, and IT/SaaS spends.
• Tech Stack: Hands-on experience designing and implementing P2P processes within ERP environments (SAP, Oracle, or Coupa).
• Data & Analytics: Strong proficiency in procurement analytics and reporting tools (Power BI, Tableau, Advanced Excel).