The role can be based out of anywhere in Asia- especially in Singapore, China, Taiwan.
Position Purpose:
The Procurement Manager ESS Asia is accountable for establishing and leading the regional procurement function across Direct and Indirect spend for ESS Asia, while personally owning sourcing, negotiation, and supplier management for the highest-value and highest-risk categories.
The role combines strategic leadership with hands-on execution. It translates global category frameworks into regionally optimized sourcing strategies, secures continuity of supply, delivers measurable cost and working capital improvements, and builds procurement capability and discipline across country teams and sites.
Acting as a business partner to ESS Asia leadership, the role ensures procurement decisions balance cost, security of supply, quality, sustainability, and total cost of ownership.
Dimensions (Annual):
- Budget controlled (annual purchase spend): USD amount 30M
- Number of direct reports: none at present, and needs to build future team
- Number of indirect / matrix reports: 5 approx cross region Korea, Japan, China & Thailand
- Geographic scope: ESS Asia sites and country organizations [Thailand, China, Japan, Korea]
Significant Non-Departmental Internal and External Relationships:
- Internal: ESS Asia leadership, site operations, engineering, quality, finance, country HR, global procurement and regional category leads in other regions
- External: Suppliers, logistics providers, auditors, regulatory and official bodies
Main / Key Responsibilities:
1. Regional Procurement Strategy
- Define and execute the procurement strategy for Direct and Indirect spend across ESS Asia, aligned with global category direction and regional business priorities.
- Translate global frameworks into country-level sourcing approaches that reflect local market conditions, regulations, and supply realities.
2. Hands-On Category Ownership
- Personally lead sourcing events, negotiations, and contracting for the most critical and highest-spend categories.
- Own key supplier relationships end to end, including commercial terms, performance reviews, and issue resolution.
- Maintain full transparency of the contract portfolio, regularly reviewing terms, validity, and compliance.
3. Supply Continuity and Risk Management
- Ensure continuity of supply through proactive risk assessment, dual sourcing, and contingency planning.
- Lead escalation and resolution of critical supply, quality, and commercial issues, with both financial and technical accountability.
4. Value Delivery
- Own the regional savings pipeline and deliver measurable results in cost optimization, working capital, demand management, and total cost of ownership.
- Track and report savings in line with finance and global procurement standards.
5. Team Coordination and Capability Building
- Guide and develop country buyers and site procurement contacts, setting standards, sharing best practices, and raising category management maturity across the region.
- Build consistent procurement processes, data discipline, and ways of working across countries.
6. Stakeholder Partnership
- Act as the procurement partner to ESS Asia leadership, operations, engineering, quality, and finance.
- Represent ESS Asia in global category forums and regional governance discussions.
7. Compliance, ESG and Digitalization
- Ensure all purchasing activity complies with company policies, regulatory requirements, and ESG, KAITEKI, and HSE commitments.
- Drive digitalization of transactional procurement and maintain data integrity across purchasing systems.
Accountabilities: Freedom to Act:
- Operates within global procurement governance, delegated authority levels, and company compliance, ESG, and HSE requirements.
- Authorized to define regional sourcing strategies, lead negotiations, select suppliers, and commit spend within delegated authority.
- Exercises significant discretion in category strategy, supplier selection, and negotiation approach; work is largely self-managed with oversight through KPIs, savings reporting, and alignment with the GM and global procurement.
- Expected to create new approaches where regional structures do not yet exist, including processes, supplier panels, and governance routines.
Impact on Results:
The role has a direct and significant impact on financial results through personally managed spend, negotiated outcomes, and supply continuity, and an enabling impact through the standards and capability it builds across country teams.
It carries direct accountability for savings delivery, contract compliance, supplier performance, and resolution of supply and quality issues within ESS Asia.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
- Education: Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred
- Major: Business, engineering, economics, supply chain, or equivalent
Work-Related Experience:
- Minimum 8 to 10 years of procurement experience in an international industrial environment, including both Direct and Indirect categories.
- Proven track record leading complex contract negotiations and competitive sourcing events with measurable savings outcomes.
- Experience working across Asian supply markets and in matrix or multi-site organizations.
Knowledge and Technical Skills
- Advanced category management and sourcing expertise across Direct and Indirect spend.
- Strong commercial, financial, and risk management acumen.
- Working knowledge of ESG, compliance, and responsible sourcing requirements.
- Proficiency in ERP and e-procurement systems, spend analytics, and MS Office.
- Business fluency in English; additional regional language capability is an advantage.
- Strong stakeholder management across cultures and functions; high ownership and resilience.
MCC Competency Framework:
Leadership role (applicable to those leading teams)
- Putting team and organizational goals first
- Making good decisions in a timely manner
- Empowering others
- Showing maturity and resilience
- 4 Successful delivery of activities
