Subject Matter Expert : EPC Supply Chain

Subject Matter Expert EPC Supply Chain & Procurement (elsAI Product Team)

Product: elsAI (elsai.ai) – OptiSol’s Enterprise AI Agent Platform

Experience: Typically 5–8 years in Supply Chain / Procurement, with strong EPC exposure

Location: Chennai

Engagement: Full-time / Contract

About elsAI

elsAI is OptiSol’s enterprise AI agent platform. It works alongside the systems an enterprise already uses, helping business teams execute workflows with governance, human review, evidence-backed recommendations, and an audit trail. The platform can be deployed in the cloud, a customer VPC, or on-premises where data residency requirements apply.

We are expanding elsAI’s capabilities in Supply Chain & Procurement and are looking for an experienced EPC procurement professional to bring deep domain expertise into our product development journey.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Supply Chain & Procurement Subject Matter Expert with strong EPC industry experience to work closely with the elsAI Product team in shaping AI-enabled procurement solutions. Having delivered multiple enterprise procurement engagements across manufacturing, metals, EPC, aerospace, and process industries, we are looking to deepen our understanding of complex, project-driven procurement environments.

This role is suited to someone who has hands-on experience managing high-value, multi-year procurement cycles involving long-lead equipment and materials, subcontract packages, tendering, techno-commercial evaluations, supplier negotiations, contract management, expediting, inspections, claims, and variation orders.

The ideal candidate will have worked as a Procurement Leader, Project Procurement Manager, Supply Chain Leader, Materials Manager, or another relevant functional expert in shipbuilding and shipyards, aerospace and defence, power plants, heavy engineering, or large infrastructure projects.

You will serve as the domain authority within the elsAI Product team, bringing real-world procurement knowledge into product discovery, workflow design, requirements definition, and product validation. Working with Product Managers, Engineering, and customer-facing teams, you will translate complex procurement processes and business challenges into practical use cases, product requirements, business rules, and acceptance criteria.

Your expertise will help identify where AI agents can improve procurement operations, distinguish tasks suitable for automation from those requiring human approval, and ensure that the resulting product capabilities reflect real enterprise requirements.

Key Responsibilities

1. EPC Procurement & Supply Chain Expertise

• Map end-to-end project procurement workflows, from demand and material planning through vendor qualification, RFQ/RFP, bid evaluation, negotiation, purchase orders, expediting, delivery, inspection, goods receipt, invoice matching, and close-out.
• Explain procurement practices across shipbuilding/shipyards, aerospace and defence, power plants, heavy engineering, and large infrastructure projects.
• Identify project-critical materials, long-lead items, BOM/BOQ requirements, technical specifications, approved substitutions, quality documentation, and delivery dependencies.
• Bring practical knowledge of project schedules, budget controls, supplier delays, change orders, claims, and coordination across engineering, planning, stores, finance, and project teams.
• Share real-world examples of procurement challenges, exceptions, and decisions to help the Product team understand actual user needs.

2. Work Closely with the elsAI Product Team

• Collaborate directly with Product Managers to translate procurement challenges into product use cases, workflow maps, functional requirements, user stories, business rules, and acceptance criteria.
• Participate in requirement-gathering sessions, customer discussions, and domain workshops.
• Help the Product team understand how procurement decisions are made, including technical-commercial evaluations, approval hierarchies, supplier selection, contract obligations, and escalation processes.
• Review product concepts, prototypes, demos, and new features to validate domain accuracy, workflow completeness, and practical usability.
• Support product prioritisation by identifying high-impact procurement problems and distinguishing reusable product capabilities from customer-specific requirements.
• Work with Engineering and other technical teams to clarify functional requirements, business logic, exceptions, and expected outcomes.
• Help ensure that product capabilities solve genuine procurement problems and fit naturally into existing enterprise workflows.

3. Procurement Systems & Digital Transformation

• Provide functional knowledge of SAP Ariba, SAP MM/S/4HANA Procurement, Oracle Procurement, Coupa, or comparable ERP and procurement platforms.
• Explain procurement master data, approval workflows, delegation-of-authority matrices, value thresholds, vendor onboarding, contract records, and audit requirements.
• Identify gaps in existing ERP and procurement processes where AI agents, automation, and improved user experiences can add value.
• Help define integration-related business requirements and validate proposed workflows against actual enterprise procurement processes.
• Support the design of solutions that complement existing procurement systems rather than unnecessarily replacing them.
  

4. AI Use Case Identification & Workflow Validation

• Identify practical AI opportunities in tender and bid analysis, technical-commercial comparisons, supplier risk assessment, contract and obligation tracking, BOM/specification review, document processing, procurement recommendations, and post-award monitoring.
• Assess which activities can be automated, which require AI-assisted recommendations with human approval, and which must remain human-led.
• Help define approval checkpoints, exception handling, evidence requirements, traceability, and audit trails for AI-assisted procurement decisions.
• Validate AI-generated outputs against domain knowledge and real-world procurement scenarios, identifying inaccuracies, missing information, and operational risks.
• Help define measurable business outcomes and acceptance criteria to evaluate the value of AI-enabled procurement workflows.

5. Customer & Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work with customer-facing teams to understand procurement challenges, gather domain requirements, and support solution discussions and demonstrations.
• Engage with procurement leaders, project managers, engineering teams, finance stakeholders, and technology teams to validate requirements.
• Explain complex procurement processes clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute domain expertise to customer workshops, product demonstrations, and solution validation sessions as needed.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Typically 5–8 years of relevant experience in procurement, project procurement, materials management, supply chain, or commercial operations, with strong EPC exposure. Candidates with deeper domain experience will be preferred where the role requires substantial procurement ownership.
• Hands-on experience in one or more of the following sectors: shipbuilding/shipyards, aerospace and defence, power plants/energy, heavy engineering, or large infrastructure development.
• Strong understanding of complex project procurement, including RFQ/tendering, technical and commercial bid evaluation, vendor selection, purchase orders, expediting, contract management, delivery tracking, inspections, and invoice/goods-receipt processes.
• Experience working with an enterprise procurement platform such as SAP Ariba, SAP MM/S/4HANA, Oracle Procurement, Coupa, or a comparable system.
• Ability to translate operational challenges into clear workflows, business requirements, business rules, and documented exceptions.
• Strong stakeholder-management skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with Product, Engineering, Procurement, Project, Finance, and customer-facing teams.
• Excellent communication and problem-solving skills, with the ability to explain complex domain concepts to product and technology teams.
• Interest in applying AI and automation to enterprise procurement workflows.
  

Good to Have

• Experience as a Procurement Lead, Project Procurement Lead, Supply Chain Lead, Materials Lead, Category Lead, or Procurement Transformation Lead.
• Direct experience handling high-value procurement packages, long-lead equipment, technical-commercial comparative statements, subcontract packages, supplier expediting, inspections, claims, or variation orders.
• Exposure to digital transformation, ERP implementation, procurement process re-engineering, or enterprise software rollouts.
• Previous involvement in product management, business analysis, solution consulting, functional consulting, or defining requirements for software products.
• Familiarity with AI/LLM-enabled workflow automation, document intelligence, supplier analytics, or decision-support tools.
• Experience with project BOM/BOQ, engineering specifications, quality documentation, and vendor delivery coordination.

What Success Looks Like

• The elsAI Product team gains a reliable domain expert who can explain and validate complex EPC procurement workflows.
• Real-world procurement challenges are translated into clear, actionable product requirements.
• AI-enabled procurement features are validated against realistic scenarios, exceptions, and business rules.
• Product capabilities address meaningful operational challenges while maintaining appropriate human oversight, evidence, and auditability.
• The gap between customer procurement needs and product capabilities is reduced through continuous domain input and product feedback.