Senior Manager Direct Procurement

INTRODUCTION:

• The Busway business is one of the fast-growing product lines within Low Voltage Power Products, manufacturing sheet-metal fabricated busway enclosures, housings, joints and copper/aluminium bus-bar assemblies for power distribution.
• This position is a Strategic Sourcing Buyer for the Busway category who will also act as the Procurement Manager, owning end-to-end procurement for the plant – sheet metal, fabrication, bus-bar/conductor materials, hardware, insulation and packaging.
• The role requires deep, hands-on understanding of sheet metal costing (clean-sheet / should-cost), press-shop and fabrication processes (laser cutting, CNC punching/bending, welding, powder coating), and sourcing from vendors in switchgear, busway, panel-building or similar sheet-metal-intensive industries.

The incumbent will design and implement the annual procurement operating plan for the plant, driving cost, quality, delivery and localization targets while managing the local supplier base end-to-end.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. CATEGORY BUYER / PROCUREMENT MANAGER:

Spend Management:

• Own the full procurement spend of the plant for sheet metal, fabricated parts, bus-bar/conductor material, hardware and consumables – supplier selection, development and Supplier Qualification (SAM).
• Manage supplier performance management, spend analytics, needs preparation and Annual Procurement & Purchasing Planning (APOP) for the Busway category.
• Coordinate effectively with Regional and Global Busway/sheet-metal category teams to formulate and execute category strategies at plant level.
• Own contract management and procurement risk management, including single/mono-source mitigation.

Sheet Metal & Part / Component Development:

• Lead RFQ/RFP issuance, negotiations, PPAP/APQP coordination, pricing agreements and MSA/LTC/QTC coordination with fabrication and sheet-metal suppliers.
• Drive tooling and capex negotiations for press tools, dies and fixtures with fabrication vendors.
• Validate supplier quotes using clean-sheet costing / should-cost models for sheet metal (material yield, cycle time, press tonnage, tooling amortization, surface treatment/powder coating cost build-up).

Cost Reduction / Productivity:

• Deliver annual cost reduction targets through negotiation preparation, should-cost analysis, external benchmarking, multi-year agreements, change of supplier, Value Engineering/Value Analysis (VAVE) and localization.
• Identify and implement design-for-sourcing and design-for-manufacturing opportunities in sheet metal parts jointly with Engineering.

Plant Procurement Management & Supply Continuity:

• Act as the single point of contact for all plant-level procurement activities, ensuring uninterrupted material flow to the shop floor (line-side feeding, inventory norms, VMI where applicable).
• Collaborate with the plant Supply Chain team to ensure smooth material flow from suppliers and resolve day-to-day supply escalations.
• Drive alternate sourcing / change of supplier initiatives to secure supply continuity and avoid single-source or mono-source risk.

Collaboration with Cross Functions:

• Partner closely with Plant Operations, Quality and Engineering to improve productivity, quality and on-time delivery for the Busway line.

REQUIRED COMPETENCIES:

• Proven, hands-on experience in the Busway business or a closely related sheet-metal-intensive electrical/switchgear industry.
• Deep, practical understanding of sheet metal costing and sourcing – clean-sheet costing, press-shop processes, laser cutting, CNC bending, welding, fabrication and powder coating/surface finishing.
• Working knowledge of busway/switchgear components – enclosures, bus-bar assemblies (copper/aluminium), joints, insulation and their supplier base.
• Demonstrated experience acting as a Plant Procurement Manager – owning plant-level supply continuity, vendor management and cross-functional coordination.
• Strong negotiation, project management and cross-functional leadership skills in a matrix, multi-BU environment.
• Entrepreneurial, customer-focused, comfortable challenging status quo and driving change.
• Digitally savvy – keen to apply digital tools to improve procurement efficiency.
• Strong communication skills; fluent in English.

REQUIREMENTS

B.Tech / B.E. – Mechanical Engineering (Electrical background also considered)

• Minimum 7-12 years of experience in Strategic Sourcing / Procurement, with substantial exposure to the Busway business or a similar sheet-metal-fabrication-intensive industry (switchgear, panel building, enclosures, electrical equipment manufacturing).
• Deep, hands-on understanding of sheet metal costing and sourcing – clean-sheet cost methodology, press shop economics, tooling investment, laser cutting, CNC bending/punching, welding and powder coating.
• Strong knowledge of buy analysis, should-cost/clean-sheet costing and BOM-level cost breakdowns for fabricated and bus-bar/conductor parts.
• Prior experience acting as a Plant Procurement Manager – owning end-to-end plant procurement, supplier management and supply continuity.
• Hands-on experience with rebalancing / localization of critical sheet metal and fabricated parts.
• Experience working in a matrix environment across organizations and functions.
• Strong leadership, negotiation and performance management skills.

Domain expertise in Busway / Sheet Metal Fabrication and technically sound in cost engineering

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