Procurement Lead

Key Responsibilities

1. Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, mentor, and manage the Chennai procurement team (buyers and sourcing manager).
• Establish BU-level procurement KPIs, SLAs, and ensure adherence to PSA India procurement standards.
• Act as the escalation point for supplier disputes and complex procurement issues.
• Build team capability through training, coaching, and system adoption.
• Ensure timely start and close of procurement process flows in order to meet the agreed project timelines with user department
• Develop and maintain an end user scoring matrix to evaluate effectiveness of scope of work delivered by user departments. Score cards to be shared on a quarterly basis.

2. Procurement Operations

• Ensure smooth PR-to-PO cycle, with focus on accuracy, timeliness, and compliance.
• Manage day-to-day sourcing, spot buys, and vendor follow-ups to support BU operations.
• Consolidate demand, engage stakeholders, and optimize BU-level procurement processes.
• Work with Finance to ensure budget adherence and compliance with DOA (Delegation of Authority).
• Ensure user department compliance to procurement and finance policies
• Ensure vendor onboarding, license provision and oracle fusion training is done well ahead of tender launch

3. Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Management

• Execute BU-level strategic sourcing projects in collaboration with central procurement.
• Support country-wide ARC/BPA initiatives and strategic vendor negotiations.
• Lead vendor identification, negotiations, and contracting within BU thresholds.
• Monitor vendor performance through KPIs, scorecards, and regular reviews.
• Maintain and expand supplier base, ensuring resilience, quality, and cost competitiveness.

4. Compliance & Governance

• Ensure all procurement activities comply with PSA India and PSA Group policies, SOPs, and regulatory requirements.
• Review existing processes and update according to best practices stipulated by PSA India and PSA Group Procurement policies
• Drive adoption of Oracle Fusion for end-to-end procurement transactions.
• Provide accurate BU-level reports for savings, compliance, vendor performance, and cycle times.
• Maintain and track KPIs as encouraged by PSA Group Procurement
• Act as the first line of defense for compliance lapses, escalating as necessary.

5. Stakeholder & Cross-Functional Engagement

• Partner with BU stakeholders to align procurement with operational priorities.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Operations, Finance, and IT teams for seamless procurement execution.
• Provide insights and market intelligence to BU leadership and central procurement.
• Actively challenge status quo and recommend innovative procurement solutions.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Business Administration, Engineering, or related field.
• –10 years of procurement experience, with at least 3–5 years in a leadership role.
• Proven ability to manage both operational and strategic procurement in a complex environment.
• Strong track record of vendor negotiations, contract management, and supplier performance.
• Mandatory experience in using Oracle Fusion (or equivalent ERP/S2P systems).
• Experience in port operations, logistics, or heavy engineering environment preferred.

Key Competencies

• Fluent and highly competent in written and spoken English
• Fluent in spoken tamil/hindi
• Fluent Communicator – able to influence, challenge, and engage stakeholders.
• Leadership & Team Development – build and mentor a high-performing team.
• Strategic & Tactical Balance – execute sourcing projects while managing day-to-day operations.
• Compliance & Governance Orientation – strict adherence to PSA policies.
• Analytical & Process Driven – use dashboards, KPIs, and systems to drive decisions.
• Change Driver – challenges status quo and implements new solutions.