Assistant Manager - Procurement

Sun Life Financial; India; On-site; INR 2,500,000 - 4,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Sun Life Financial in India seeks an experienced Team Leader - Procurement to provide quality assurance, oversee daily procurement activities, and drive improvements. You will guide a team in handling requisitions, catalogs, contracts, and P2P processes while ensuring policy adherence and performance against SLAs.

The role requires hands-on procurement leadership, a strong background in SAP Ariba, and the ability to coordinate across US and Asia hours.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent graduation qualification.
• 9+ years of procurement operations, tactical buying, purchasing or related.
• Hands-on buyer experience including validation, execution or approvals.
• Experience in team coordination, coaching, and quality review.
• Strong knowledge of procurement controls and SAP Ariba.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational and analytical support across tactical procurement activities.
• Approve purchase requisitions, validate requirements, supplier details and approvals.
• Quality-assure contract workspaces and define necessary corrections.
• Create and maintain Contract Terms for new or revised contracts.
• Monitor purchase orders and invoices to resolve mismatches.
• Coordinate cross-training and coverage for US and Asia hours.

Skills

Team coordination

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent graduation qualification

Tools

SAP Ariba

Job description

You are as unique as your background, experience and point of view. Here, you’ll be encouraged, empowered and challenged to be your best self. You'll work with dynamic colleagues - experts in their fields - who are eager to share their knowledge with you. Your leaders will inspire and help you reach your potential and soar to new heights. Every day, you'll have new and exciting opportunities to make life brighter for our Clients - who are at the heart of everything we do. At Sun Life, we're driven by our Purpose: helping our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our values shape how we work: caring, authentic, bold, inspiring, and impactful. When you join Sun Life, you'll work with passionate colleagues and empowering leaders who support your growth and celebrate your contributions, so you can make a meaningful difference in our Clients' lives. Discover how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world.

Job Description

Role Summary We are seeking an experienced Team Leader - Procurement to provide quality assurance, operational oversight, analytical support, and day-to-day team coordination across tactical procurement activities. The role will act as an experienced buyer and control point for purchase requisitions, contract workspaces, Contract Terms, purchase orders, catalogs, invoices, and process exceptions. The Team Leader will guide team members and stakeholders, safeguard compliance, support service delivery, and drive continuous improvement and procurement transformation initiatives.

What You Will Do

• Provide operational and analytical support across tactical procurement activities and act as an experienced buyer for assigned transactions or commodities.
• Perform quality assurance and approval of purchase requisitions, validating business requirements, sourcing or contract references, supplier details, financial coding, approvals, and supporting documentation.
• Quality-assure contract workspaces for accuracy and completeness and provide clear guidance on required corrections.
• Create and maintain Contract Terms for new, renewed, amended, or revised contracts, ensuring alignment with approved documentation.
• Review and reconcile contract workspaces against purchase orders and invoices and resolve identified mismatches.
• Close or cancel purchase orders as required and communicate outcomes to affected stakeholders.
• Resolve process exceptions, coordinate corrective action, document decisions, and escalation control or policy risks.
• Manage supplier catalogs for assigned commodities, including content review, data-quality checks, issue resolution, and maintenance.
• Ensure adherence to Enterprise Operating Guidelines, procurement policies, delegated authority, financial controls, and operating procedures.
• Monitor delivery against SLAs and provide transparent updates on volumes, aging, risks, exceptions, and dependencies.
• Coordinate daily work allocation, prioritize requests, monitor team capacity, and support balanced operational coverage.
• Provide functional guidance, coaching, and on-the-job support to strengthen team knowledge, transaction quality, and consistent ways of working.
• Conduct quality calibration, identify recurring errors or knowledge gaps, and coordinate corrective and preventive actions.
• Act as the first point of escalation for team members and business partners on complex or time-sensitive transactions.
• Support cross-training, knowledge sharing, backup planning, and team readiness for rotational coverage across US and Asia hours.
• Provide clear operational updates to the manager on workload, SLA risks, quality trends, escalations, and improvement actions.
• Identify and implement continuous-improvement opportunities and contribute to procurement transformation and project initiatives.

What You Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent graduation qualification.
• Minimum 9+ years of relevant experience in procurement operations, tactical buying, purchasing, contract administration, procure-to-pay, or a related function.
• Prior hands-on buyer experience, including validation, execution, or approval of procurement transactions.
• Prior experience in team coordination, work allocation, coaching, quality review, or acting as a procurement subject-matter lead.
• Demonstrated ability to guide team members, manage operational priorities, handle escalations, and support consistent delivery in a high-volume environment.
• Advanced working knowledge of SAP Ariba, including requisitions, purchase orders, contract workspaces or Contract Terms, catalogs, and approvals.
• Strong knowledge of procurement controls, contract-to-PO alignment, invoice reconciliation, policies, and exception management.
• Experience in quality assurance, maker-checker review, procurement transformation, process improvement, automation, or change delivery.
• Project management expertise covering planning, governance, risks, stakeholder communication, and execution tracking.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and collaboration tools.

Core Skills and Capabilities

• Team coordination, coaching, delegation, feedback, and capability development.
• Workload, capacity, SLA, quality, and escalation management.
• Ability to influence without relying solely on formal authority and promote accountability across the team.
• Strong quality-assurance mindset with exceptional accuracy and attention to detail.
• Sound judgment and risk-based decision-making within defined policies and authority.
• Advanced analytical, reconciliation, problem-solving, and root-cause analysis skills.
• Strong stakeholder-management, communication, and influencing skills.
• Strong planning, prioritization, ownership, resilience, and continuous-improvement mindset.

Measures of Success

• High first-time quality and accuracy of reviewed procurement transactions.
• Achievement of SLAs and effective management of transaction aging and exceptions.
• Effective work allocation, team coverage, coaching, and knowledge development.
• Timely escalation and transparent reporting of operational risks and delivery concerns.
• Consistent compliance with policies, controls, approval requirements, and audit standards.
• Measurable contribution to continuous improvement, transformation, and team capability building.

Working Hours and Flexibility

The role requires flexibility to support both US and Asia business hours. The successful candidate must be willing to work rotational schedules and adjust working hours based on operational coverage, team requirements, and business priorities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification in procurement, supply chain, or project management is an advantage.
• Experience in a global, shared-services, or matrixed procurement environment is preferred.

Job Category: Office Administration Posting End Date: 08/10/2026

Shine together At Sun Life, you can be your most brilliant self. Our supportive, flexible, and inclusive work environment is one where you – and your career – can thrive. Whatever your aspirations, collaborative leaders and colleagues are ready to help you learn, grow, and succeed.

Make life brighter We’re a global company with a passion for people. Our purpose is to help Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. As a team of 30,000 across 26 countries, our impact is far-reaching, and locally relevant There’s power in numbers. As part of Sun Life’s growing team, you have an impact on people in your community and around the world. Shape the future With an optimistic eye on a brighter future, we drive to innovate. Be part of leading change, push boundaries and try new ways of working. Use data to drive bold actions. Be agile and pivot as we test and learn. At Sun Life, we’re driving transformation, sustainability and innovation for our Clients, employees, partners, and communities. Join us. Together, we can make the future brighter. Join a top employer for a brighter future. Visit Sun Life Careers