Procurement & Commercial Manager
786 SPICES BAZAAR PTE. LTD.
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Job summary
786 SPICES BAZAAR PTE. LTD. is seeking a Procurement & Commercial Manager in Singapore to drive procurement strategy, supplier management, and commercial profitability across grocery, FMCG, and daily essentials. You will balance competitive pricing with sustainable margins and collaborate with cross-functional teams.
The role emphasizes end-to-end category ownership, supplier performance, and working capital discipline within a dynamic supermarket environment.
Responsibilities
- Develop and implement the company’s procurement strategy for grocery, FMCG, household, personal care, beverages, and other daily essential products.
- Plan purchasing based on sales history, demand forecasts, seasonality, promotional activities, lead times, and inventory levels.
- Source products from competitive and reliable suppliers.
- Evaluate and appoint suppliers based on price, quality, reliability, payment terms, delivery capability, product range, and commercial support
- Ensure continuous availability of key and fast-moving products.
- Develop alternative sources for critical products to reduce supply risk.
- Review and optimize the supplier base regularly.
- Ensure purchasing decisions are commercially justified and aligned with company objectives.
- Lead negotiations with suppliers to secure optimal commercial terms including prices, discounts, terms, and delivery.
- Maintain professional and strategic relationships with key suppliers while continuously challenging the business to obtain better commercial value.
- Conduct regular supplier performance reviews and take corrective action where suppliers fail to meet agreed standards.
- Establish and monitor target gross margins by product/category.
- Review purchase costs and selling prices regularly.
- Monitor supplier price changes and their impact on margins.
- Recommend selling prices based on purchase cost, market pricing, competition, customer sensitivity, and target margins.
- Identify opportunities to improve gross margin without negatively affecting sales volume.
- Monitor price competitiveness against key competitors.
- Identify products that are high-volume but low-margin and develop appropriate commercial strategies.
- Identify high-margin products and opportunities to increase sales.
- Review commercial performance by category, supplier, brand, and SKU.
- Report major margin risks and opportunities to senior management.
- The manager must not focus only on achieving the lowest purchase price. The objective is to maximize total commercial value and sustainable profitability.
- Take ownership of the commercial performance of key product categories.
- Review sales and profitability by category.
- Determine appropriate product assortment.
- Introduce new products based on customer demand and market opportunities.
- Remove or replace consistently underperforming products.
- Analyze SKU productivity.
- Monitor category growth and profitability.
- Review brand and supplier performance.
- Identify opportunities for private-label or exclusive products where commercially viable.
- Ensure the assortment remains relevant to the supermarket’s target customers.
- Develop and maintain an effective retail pricing strategy.
- Monitor competitor prices on key essential products.
- Establish pricing guidelines and recommended selling prices.
- Review prices following supplier cost changes.
- Ensure price increases are commercially justified.
- Protect margins while maintaining competitive pricing.
- Identify key-value items where competitive pricing is particularly important to customer perception.
- Review pricing discrepancies and margin leakage.
- Work with Finance and Store Operations to ensure correct implementation of approved prices.
- Plan and manage commercial promotions in cooperation with Marketing and Store Operations.
- Negotiate supplier-funded promotions.
- Develop promotional plans based on customer demand and sales objectives.
- Ensure adequate inventory is secured before promotions.
- Negotiate promotional discounts, rebates, and supplier contributions.
- Monitor promotional sales performance and profitability.
- Conduct post-promotion analysis.
- Identify promotions that generate sales but unnecessarily destroy margin.
- Ensure promotional activities are commercially sustainable.
- Maintain the right balance between product availability and inventory investment.
- Establish appropriate minimum, maximum, and reorder levels.
- Monitor stock coverage and inventory turnover.
- Minimize stock-outs of essential products.
- Reduce overstock and slow-moving inventory.
- Identify and manage dead stock.
- Monitor expiry and near-expiry products.
- Develop action plans for excess inventory.
- Work with Warehouse and Store Operations to improve stock accuracy and replenishment.
- Ensure purchasing decisions do not unnecessarily tie up company cash.
- Inventory must be treated as working capital, not simply as stock.
- Use commercial and sales data to support procurement decisions.
- Regularly analyze: Sales by SKU, Sales by category, Sales by supplier, Sales volume, Gross margin, Gross profit, Stock turnover, Stock coverage, Lost sales due to stock-outs, Slow-moving products, Promotional performance, Supplier performance, Purchase price trends.
- Use data to identify opportunities and make proactive procurement decisions rather than relying solely on historical purchasing practices or supplier recommendations.
- Establish clear supplier KPIs, including: On-time delivery, Order fulfillment, Product availability, Product quality, Price competitiveness, Lead time, Credit terms, Returns management, Promotional support, Responsiveness.
- Develop contingency plans for important products and suppliers.
- Identify risks such as: Supplier dependency, Product shortages, Significant price increases, Poor-quality products.
Job description
Department:Procurement & Commercial
Reports To:General Manager / Managing Director
Direct Reports:Procurement / Purchasing Team
Industry:Supermarket / Retail / FMCG
The Procurement & Commercial Manager is responsible for driving the company’sprocurement, supplier management, product assortment, pricing, promotions, and commercial profitability.
The role is accountable for ensuring that the business consistently has theright products, at the right quality, at the right price, in the right quantity, and at the right time, while maximizing gross margin and maintaining healthy inventory levels.
This is acommercially critical management position. The successful candidate must balance customer expectations for competitive prices with the company’s need to achieve sustainable margins, efficient inventory turnover, strong supplier terms, and healthy cash flow.
The Procurement & Commercial Manager will work closely withManagement, Store Operations, Finance, Warehouse, Marketing, and Salesto ensure that procurement and commercial decisions support the overall business strategy.
- Develop and implement the company’s procurement strategy for grocery, FMCG, household, personal care, beverages, and other daily essential products.
- Plan purchasing based on sales history, demand forecasts, seasonality, promotional activities, lead times, and inventory levels.
- Source products from competitive and reliable suppliers.
- Evaluate and appoint suppliers based onprice, quality, reliability, payment terms, delivery capability, product range, and commercial support.
- Ensure continuous availability of key and fast-moving products.
- Develop alternative sources for critical products to reduce supply risk.
- Review and optimize the supplier base regularly.
- Ensure purchasing decisions are commercially justified and aligned with company objectives.
Lead negotiations with suppliers to secure the best overall commercial terms, including:
- Purchase prices
- Volume discounts
- Promotional discounts
- Rebates and incentives
- Credit/payment terms
- Delivery terms
- Minimum order quantities
- Free goods / bonus quantities
- Listing and promotional support
- Product returns
- Damaged and expired product arrangements
- Marketing contributions
- New product introduction support
Maintain professional and strategic relationships with key suppliers while continuously challenging the business to obtain better commercial value.
Conduct regular supplier performance reviews and take corrective action where suppliers fail to meet agreed standards.
The Procurement & Commercial Manager will be responsible for ensuring that procurement decisions contribute directly to company profitability.
Key responsibilities include:
- Establish and monitor target gross margins by product/category.
- Review purchase costs and selling prices regularly.
- Monitor supplier price changes and their impact on margins.
- Recommend selling prices based on purchase cost, market pricing, competition, customer sensitivity, and target margins.
- Identify opportunities to improve gross margin without negatively affecting sales volume.
- Monitor price competitiveness against key competitors.
- Identify products that are high-volume but low-margin and develop appropriate commercial strategies.
- Identify high-margin products and opportunities to increase sales.
- Review commercial performance by category, supplier, brand, and SKU.
- Report major margin risks and opportunities to senior management.
The manager must not focus only on achieving the lowest purchase price. The objective is to maximize total commercial value and sustainable profitability.
Take ownership of the commercial performance of key product categories.
Responsibilities include:
- Review sales and profitability by category.
- Determine appropriate product assortment.
- Introduce new products based on customer demand and market opportunities.
- Remove or replace consistently underperforming products.
- Analyze SKU productivity.
- Monitor category growth and profitability.
- Review brand and supplier performance.
- Identify opportunities for private-label or exclusive products where commercially viable.
- Ensure the assortment remains relevant to the supermarket’s target customers.
Develop and maintain an effective retail pricing strategy.
- Monitor competitor prices on key essential products.
- Establish pricing guidelines and recommended selling prices.
- Review prices following supplier cost changes.
- Ensure price increases are commercially justified.
- Protect margins while maintaining competitive pricing.
- Identify key-value items where competitive pricing is particularly important to customer perception.
- Review pricing discrepancies and margin leakage.
- Work with Finance and Store Operations to ensure correct implementation of approved prices.
Plan and manage commercial promotions in cooperation with Marketing and Store Operations.
- Negotiate supplier-funded promotions.
- Develop promotional plans based on customer demand and sales objectives.
- Ensure adequate inventory is secured before promotions.
- Negotiate promotional discounts, rebates, and supplier contributions.
- Monitor promotional sales performance and profitability.
- Conduct post-promotion analysis.
- Identify promotions that generate sales but unnecessarily destroy margin.
- Ensure promotional activities are commercially sustainable.
Maintain the right balance between product availability and inventory investment.
- Establish appropriate minimum, maximum, and reorder levels.
- Monitor stock coverage and inventory turnover.
- Minimize stock-outs of essential products.
- Reduce overstock and slow-moving inventory.
- Identify and manage dead stock.
- Monitor expiry and near-expiry products.
- Develop action plans for excess inventory.
- Work with Warehouse and Store Operations to improve stock accuracy and replenishment.
- Ensure purchasing decisions do not unnecessarily tie up company cash.
Inventory must be treated as working capital, not simply as stock.
Use commercial and sales data to support procurement decisions.
Regularly analyze:
- Sales by SKU
- Sales by category
- Sales by supplier
- Sales volume
- Gross margin
- Gross profit
- Stock turnover
- Stock coverage
- Lost sales due to stock-outs
- Slow-moving products
- Promotional performance
- Supplier performance
- Purchase price trends
Use data to identify opportunities and make proactive procurement decisions rather than relying solely on historical purchasing practices or supplier recommendations.
Establish clear supplier KPIs, including:
- On-time delivery
- Order fulfillment
- Product availability
- Product quality
- Price competitiveness
- Lead time
- Credit terms
- Returns management
- Promotional support
- Responsiveness
Develop contingency plans for important products and suppliers.
The manager should proactively identify risks such as:
- Supplier dependency
- Product shortages
- Significant price increases
- Poor-quality products
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