This role is for one of the Weekday's clients
Salary range: Rs 1800000 - Rs 3600000 (ie INR 18 - 36 LPA)
Min Experience: 14+ years
Location: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
JobType: full-time
We are looking for an experienced Head of Procurement to lead and transform our procurement function, with a strong focus on indirect procurement across enterprise software and services. This leadership role is ideal for a procurement professional with 14–22 years of experience who has successfully developed sourcing strategies, negotiated high-value contracts, optimized vendor relationships, and delivered measurable cost savings while ensuring operational excellence.
As the Head of Procurement, you will define procurement strategies that align with business objectives, drive commercial value, and establish best-in-class procurement processes. You will work closely with business leaders, finance, legal, IT, HR, and other functional teams to manage enterprise-wide procurement initiatives while ensuring compliance, governance, and supplier performance.
Requirements
Key Responsibilities
- Develop and execute a comprehensive procurement strategy focused on indirect procurement categories, particularly software, SaaS platforms, cloud solutions, consulting, and professional services.
- Lead end-to-end sourcing activities, including supplier identification, RFP/RFQ management, commercial negotiations, contract execution, and vendor onboarding.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with strategic suppliers to improve service quality, innovation, pricing, and long-term value.
- Drive procurement transformation initiatives through process standardization, automation, and continuous improvement.
- Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to understand business requirements and develop sourcing strategies that balance cost, quality, speed, and risk.
- Monitor supplier performance using KPIs and implement vendor governance frameworks to ensure service excellence.
- Partner with finance and legal teams to ensure procurement compliance, contract governance, and risk mitigation.
- Lead budget planning, spend analysis, demand forecasting, and procurement reporting to identify cost optimization opportunities.
- Mentor and develop procurement professionals while fostering a high-performance, collaborative team culture.
- Stay informed on market trends, supplier capabilities, emerging technologies, and industry best practices to support strategic decision-making.
Required Skills & Qualifications
- 14–22 years of progressive procurement experience, with significant leadership responsibility.
- Proven expertise in indirect procurement, including sourcing and managing enterprise software, SaaS products, cloud subscriptions, consulting engagements, and business services.
- Strong experience negotiating complex commercial agreements and enterprise-level contracts.
- Deep understanding of procurement lifecycle management, strategic sourcing methodologies, supplier governance, and category management.
- Excellent commercial acumen with strong analytical, negotiation, and decision-making skills.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional procurement initiatives and influence senior leadership.
- Strong communication, leadership, and people management capabilities.
- Experience working with procurement platforms, ERP systems, spend analytics tools, and contract management solutions.
Good to Have
- Experience managing procurement within large corporate environments with complex organizational structures.
- Exposure to procurement for Staff Augmentation services, including contingent workforce sourcing and vendor management.
- Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to build trusted relationships across business functions and executive leadership.
- Knowledge of procurement automation, digital transformation, and supplier risk management frameworks.
- Professional certifications such as CPSM, CIPS, PMP, or equivalent procurement credentials are an advantage.