International Purchase Manager

Tata International; Ludhiana; On-site; INR 4,200,000 - 6,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Tata International is seeking a Senior Global Sourcing Lead in India to drive category strategies for steel, tubes, sheets, components, and paint materials across domestic and international suppliers.

You will identify and onboard vendors, negotiate terms, and build robust vendor management processes, ensuring quality and timely supply for critical production lines. Collaboration with manufacturing, Quality, and R&D is essential.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category sourcing strategy for steel and paint materials for domestic and international vendor bases.
• Lead vendor identification, evaluation, negotiation, and onboarding for new sourcing categories and geographies, balancing cost, quality, and lead-time objectives.
• Build and institutionalize robust vendor management processes including vendor scorecards, performance reviews, risk categorization, and escalation frameworks.
• Drive cost optimization through should-cost modeling, commodity price trend analysis, and structured negotiation cycles.
• Manage international sourcing operations including import documentation, INCOTERMS, LC/payment terms, customs and logistics coordination, and landed-cost analysis.
• Partner with manufacturing, quality, and R&D teams to ensure vendor-supplied materials meet technical specifications and qualify new vendors/materials for new development.
• Establish dual/backup sourcing strategies to mitigate supply risk for critical steel and paint categories, ensuring uninterrupted production.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 3-4 sourcing executives with KPIs and category ownership.
• Track and report sourcing performance metrics such as cost savings, OTIF/fill rate, quality rejection rates, and lead time adherence to senior leadership.
• Ensure sourcing practices comply with policy, ethical sourcing standards, and regulatory requirements (domestic and cross-border).
• Collaborate with Finance on hedging inputs, payment terms, and working capital optimization tied to inventory and vendor credit cycles.
• Stay current on steel and paint industry trends and global supply market shifts to inform sourcing strategy.

Job description

Role & responsibilities

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute category sourcing strategy for steel (tubes, sheets, components) and paint/coating materials, covering both domestic and international vendor bases.
• Lead vendor identification, evaluation, negotiation, and onboarding for new sourcing categories and geographies, balancing cost, quality, and lead-time objectives.
• Build and institutionalize robust vendor management processes vendor scorecards, performance reviews, risk categorization (single-source vs multi-source), and escalation frameworks.
• Drive cost optimization through should-cost modeling, commodity price trend analysis (steel and paint input costs), and structured negotiation cycles.
• Manage international sourcing operations including import documentation, INCOTERMS, LC/payment terms, customs and logistics coordination, and currency/landed-cost analysis.
• Partner with manufacturing, quality, and R&D teams to ensure vendor-supplied materials meet technical specifications, and to qualify new vendors/materials for new product development.
• Establish dual/backup sourcing strategies to mitigate supply risk for critical steel and paint categories, ensuring uninterrupted production continuity.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 3-4 sourcing executives - setting KPIs, building category ownership within the team, and ensuring capability development.
• Track and report sourcing performance metrics - cost savings, vendor OTIF/fill rate, quality rejection rates, and lead time adherence - to senior leadership.
• Ensure sourcing practices comply with company policy, ethical sourcing standards, and relevant statutory/regulatory requirements (domestic and cross-border trade).
• Collaborate with Finance on commodity hedging inputs, payment terms structuring, and working capital optimization tied to inventory and vendor credit cycles.
• Stay current on steel and paint industry trends, alternate material developments, and global supply market shifts to proactively inform sourcing strategy.