Assistant Manager/Manager - Purchase

Teabox; Siliguri; On-site; INR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Teabox is seeking an experienced professional for a full-time role focused on tea procurement, product storytelling, and strategic execution based in Siliguri, India. The incumbent will oversee sourcing high-quality teas and creating compelling narratives for our website.

The ideal candidate should have 4-6 years of experience in tea procurement and strong communication skills to effectively translate tea characteristics into clear narratives. A background in Tea Management or related fields is preferred.

Qualifications

• 4–6 years of experience in tea procurement, sourcing, tasting, or allied roles within the tea industry.
• Strong understanding of tea types, seasons, estates, and quality parameters.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and operate cross-functionally.

Responsibilities

• Execute end-to-end procurement of teas across regions in line with quality benchmarks.
• Build and maintain relationships with tea estates and producers.
• Create and curate content related to tea for the website.

Skills

Tea procurement

Sourcing

Storytelling

Communication skills

Sensory evaluation

Education

Graduate in any discipline; background in Tea Management, Agriculture, Supply Chain, or Business preferred

Job description

4-6

Siliguri

Full-Time

About the Role

This role sits at the intersection of tea procurement, product storytelling, and strategic execution. The incumbent will be responsible not only for sourcing and managing high-quality teas from estates but also for owning the tea narratives that go on the website—tasting notes, estate write-ups, seasonal context, and batch-level descriptions.

The role will work closely with the Catalogue, Marketing, and Supply Chain teams, ensuring that what is sourced is accurately, authentically, and compellingly represented to customers. The position reports to the Senior Manager and plays a key role in implementing the company’s broader sourcing and brand strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

Tea Procurement & Sourcing

• Execute end-to-end procurement of teas across regions (Darjeeling, Assam, Nilgiris, etc.) in line with quality, cost, freshness, and availability benchmarks.
• Build and maintain direct relationships with tea estates, factories, and producers.
• Participate in seasonal buying decisions, sample evaluations, and batch selection.
• Support strategic sourcing initiatives aligned with portfolio expansion and quality positioning.

Inventory Planning & Execution

• Support planning to ensure availability of key teas across seasons without overstocking.
• Assist in managing demand–supply alignment to avoid stock-outs or distressed buying.
• Provide inputs for assortment rationalisation and portfolio optimisation.

Strategic Implementation

• Execute procurement and content initiatives in line with company strategy under the guidance of the Senior.
• Contribute insights from the ground (estate trends, crop conditions, pricing movements) to strategic discussions.
• Support continuous improvement in sourcing processes, quality benchmarks, and internal knowledge systems.
• Monitor supplier performance on quality consistency, timelines, pricing, and compliance.
• Strengthen long‑term partnerships with estates through regular engagement and feedback.
• Ensure traceability and documentation at estate and batch levels.

Tea Knowledge & Content Ownership

• Create and curate tea-related content for the website, including:
• Tasting notes (aroma, flavour, mouthfeel, finish)
• Estate and plantation stories
• Seasonal and flush‑specific context
• Batch‑level differentiation and uniqueness
• Ensure content is accurate, authentic, and aligned with the brand voice, while remaining accessible to customers.
• Act as the internal point of reference for tea characteristics and provenance.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the Catalog team to ensure correct product information, naming, classification, and presentation.
• Partner with the Marketing team to support campaigns, launches, and storytelling initiatives with strong tea inputs.
• Coordinate with Operations, Quality, and Planning teams to align procurement decisions with demand forecasts and inventory cycles.

Qualifications & Experience

• Graduate in any discipline; background in Tea Management, Agriculture, Supply Chain, or Business preferred.
• 4–6 years of experience in tea procurement, sourcing, tasting, or allied roles within the tea industry.
• Strong understanding of tea types, seasons, estates, and quality parameters.
• Strong spoken and written communication skills with the ability to translate tea complexity into clear narratives.
• Sensory evaluation capability and attention to detail.
• Ability to work across teams and manage multiple priorities.
• Commercial acumen combined with brand and quality sensitivity.

Key Attributes

• Deep interest and respect for tea, provenance, and craftsmanship.
• Structured, disciplined, and execution‑oriented.
• Comfortable operating between field realities and consumer‑facing storytelling.
• Ownership mindset with the ability to grow into higher responsibility over time.