Manager – Procurement, MARCOM & Events

Ascendion; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Ascendion in Bengaluru is seeking a Manager – Procurement, MARCOM & Events to lead a balanced portfolio across strategic procurement and global events. You will develop sourcing strategies, manage vendors, negotiate contracts, and drive cost optimization while delivering MARCOM events across regions.

The role requires strong end-to-end procurement experience, stakeholder collaboration, and ability to manage budgets and timelines.

Qualifications

• End-to-end procurement experience across Marketing, MARCOM, Travel and Events.
• Strong category management and sourcing experience with cost optimization.
• Hands-on experience planning and executing global events across regions.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute sourcing and category strategies for Marketing, MARCOM, Travel, Events, and related services.
• Lead end-to-end procurement activities including requirement gathering, RFx, negotiations, and supplier selection.
• Lead commercial negotiations, contract finalization, renewals, and vendor governance.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings, vendor consolidation, and process improvements.
• Build partnerships with internal stakeholders including Marketing, Finance, Legal, Administration, HR and Leadership.
• Ensure compliance with procurement policies and governance standards.
• Manage supplier performance through SLAs and KPIs.

Skills

Procurement leadership

Category management

Vendor negotiation

Stakeholder management

Sourcing strategies

Event planning

Budget management

Contract management

End-to-end Source-to-Pay

Global operations

Tools

Ariba

SAP

Oracle

Coupa

Job description

Job Title: Manager – Procurement, MARCOM & Events

Shift: Split shift (1 PM – 10 PM or 2 PM – 11 PM IST)

About the Role

We are looking for an experienced Manager – Procurement, MARCOM & Events to manage a balanced portfolio across strategic procurement and global events. The role will have approximately 50% focus on procurement and 50% focus on events, requiring strong experience in categories such as Marketing, MARCOM, Travel, Events, and related corporate services.

The ideal candidate will have strong end-to-end procurement experience along with hands‑on experience in planning and executing global events. The person will be responsible for developing sourcing strategies, managing vendors and commercial negotiations, driving cost optimization, and ensuring successful execution of global events within defined budgets and timelines.

Key Responsibilities

Procurement & Category Management

• Develop and execute sourcing and category strategies for Marketing, MARCOM, Travel, Events, and related corporate service categories.
• Lead end-to-end procurement activities including requirement gathering, defining SOW/SOS, supplier identification, RFx processes, proposal evaluation, negotiations, and supplier selection.
• Lead commercial negotiations, contract finalization, renewals, and vendor governance.
• Identify opportunities for cost savings, vendor consolidation, process improvement, and value creation.
• Build strong partnerships with internal stakeholders including Marketing, Finance, Legal, Administration, HR, Compliance, Leadership, and other business teams.
• Ensure compliance with procurement policies, risk controls, audit requirements, and corporate governance standards.
• Manage supplier performance through SLAs, KPIs, regular reviews, and business reviews.
• Monitor market trends, pricing benchmarks, supplier capabilities, and emerging solutions across relevant categories.

Global Events Management

• Plan, coordinate, and execute global corporate events, conferences, leadership meets, client events, employee events, and other MARCOM initiatives.
• Own the complete event lifecycle from requirement gathering and budgeting to vendor selection, contracting, logistics, execution, and post-event evaluation.
• Manage event agencies and vendors across venues, production, branding, AV, technology, travel, accommodation, catering, and other event-related services.
• Develop and manage event budgets while ensuring effective cost control and adherence to approved budgets.
• Negotiate commercial terms with event agencies, venues, suppliers, and service providers.
• Coordinate with global stakeholders and external partners to ensure smooth execution of events across geographies.
• Establish event execution plans, timelines, checklists, and governance mechanisms to ensure consistent and high-quality delivery.
• Evaluate event outcomes, vendor performance, stakeholder feedback, and overall spend to identify areas for continuous improvement.
• Act as a strategic procurement partner to Marketing, MARCOM, Administration, Finance, and business leadership.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with global suppliers, event agencies, and internal stakeholders.
• Lead supplier discussions, performance reviews, escalations, and resolution of commercial or service-related issues.
• Balance cost, quality, timelines, business requirements, risk, and supplier capabilities when making sourcing and event-related decisions.
• Support global transformation, spend management, sourcing, and process improvement initiatives.

Required Skills & Experience

• 10–15 years of overall experience in end-to-end procurement, with relevant experience across Marketing, MARCOM, Travel, Events, or related categories.
• Strong experience in strategic procurement and sourcing, ideally with an approximately 50% procurement / 50% events profile.
• Hands‑on experience in planning and executing global events across multiple regions.
• Strong understanding of the end-to-end Source-to-Pay cycle, including stakeholder requirement gathering, SOW/SOS definition, sourcing, RFx, proposal evaluation, contract review, negotiations, recommendations, savings, and supplier selection.
• Experience managing global vendors and working with global stakeholders.
• Strong commercial negotiation, contract management, supplier management, and cost optimization skills.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Knowledge of procurement tools such as Ariba, SAP, Oracle, and Coupa is preferred.
• Experience working with event management agencies, marketing agencies, travel partners, and other MARCOM‑related suppliers will be an advantage.