Head - Procurement & Planning - Manufacturing

ROLE OVERVIEW:

We are looking for a hands-on Procurement & Planning leader to drive procurement, vendor management, material planning and inventory optimisation across a multi-plant manufacturing business. This is a high-visibility, high-stakes role given the scale of raw material spend and its direct link to margins, and one of the most urgent leadership hires for the business currently.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead procurement of key raw materials, consumables and manufacturing requirements across all plants.
• Drive vendor consolidation, cost negotiation, alternate sourcing and payment discipline to rebuild vendor pricing leverage.
• Build structured production and material planning processes from the ground up, as the function does not currently exist in a formal form.
• Ensure optimum inventory levels and timely availability of materials to support plant throughput.
• Work closely with Operations to align raw material procurement with plant capacity, throughput and inventory needs, as planning sits within this role rather than as a siloed buying function.
• Partner with Finance on working capital, cash flow planning and vendor payment discipline.
• Establish procurement processes, MIS, vendor performance metrics and internal controls.
• Support ERP and process integration or harmonisation across the business entities.

CANDIDATE PROFILE:

• 12-18 years of experience in Procurement, Materials, Supply Chain or Production Planning.
• Strong manufacturing background, preferably in Packaging, Printing, Paper, FMCG, Plastics, Chemicals or allied industries.
• Proven track record in cost reduction, vendor negotiation and inventory management.
• Exposure to multi-plant operations, with working knowledge of MRP or production planning systems preferred.
• Strong commercial acumen and negotiation skills, with the ability to operate hands-on in a lean, transformation-oriented environment.
• Comfortable building processes from scratch, and working closely with Operations and Finance leadership.