Associate Director - Procurement Operations

Role: Associate Director - Procurement Operations

Exp: 12 to 20 Yrs

Qualification: BE / B.Tech

The role will be responsible for delivering procurement operational excellence, ensuring efficient procure-to-pay execution enabled by SAP, Ariba, and Ivalua, stakeholder satisfaction, operational governance, compliance, and system-driven standardization.

Key Accountabilities:

1. Service Ownership (PR to PO):

- Own end to end PR intake, validation, approval flow management, PO creation, PO dispatch, PO change/cancel, and exception handling

- Deliver speed, quality, and stability (SLAs, backlog health, first time right conversion)

2. Standardization & Transformation:

- Design and implement a standard PR to PO operating model across Europe

- Reduce process variation, eliminate manual workarounds, and improve adoption of guided buying/catalog

- Build a structured continuous improvement (CI) and automation pipeline

3. Systems Standardization (SAP / Ariba / iValua):

- Ensure consistent usage and integration hygiene across platforms

- Drive workflow standardization, controls by design, and touchless processing where possible

4. Compliance & Controls working closely with SPC Team in Europe (Systems Processes and Compliance):

- Embed DoA / approval compliance, preferred supplier compliance, and policy adherence

- Maintain audit-ready documentation and traceability; partner with Internal Audit/Controls

5. Leadership & Talent:

- Lead ~120 FTE via managers and team leads; build capability across tools, policies, and service mindset

- Create training, quality routines, knowledge management, and succession depth

6. Stakeholder & Governance:

- Act as the single accountable owner for PR to PO outcomes for European stakeholders

- Run governance routines; manage escalations and service recovery

Experience & Skills:

- 12 - 15+ years in procurement operations / PR to PO shared services / transformation

- Proven leadership of large ops teams (100+ FTE) in a matrix environment

- Strong exposure to SAP + Ariba + iValua (or equivalent suites)

- Operational excellence, Lean/CI mindset, control orientation, data-driven management