Regional Director – Indirect Material and Services (IDM) Purchasing, APAC

Responsibilities

• Implement global purchasing strategies and compliance initiatives in APAC.
• Lead critical supplier negotiations and strategic sourcing projects.
• Manage regional budgets, cost planning, and performance dashboards.
• Drive cost reduction through professional sourcing methodologies.
• Oversee contract management and supplier development programs.
• Advise senior leadership on purchasing matters and present performance reports.
• Lead and coach a team of 35+ purchasing professionals across divisions.
• Champion digital transformation and process standardization.
• Foster collaboration across global and regional functions.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree / MBA or equivalent,
• Multilingual capabilities (preferred: English, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Thai)

Required Skills

• Strategic sourcing and negotiation
• Procurement systems (SAP, Ariba, WAVE)
• Leadership and team development
• Analytical mindset with experience in cost planning and KPI tracking
• Data-driven decision-making (Power BI, analytics)
• Strong communication and stakeholder management
• Highly ethical in the approach

Detailed job info

• Strategic Implementation & Governance

• Contribute regional insights to global purchasing strategy development.
• Implement global initiatives (e.g., Sustainability, CSR audits, Cybersecurity, Compliance) across APAC.
• Collaborate with APAC Legal to maintain a multilingual supplier contract library.

• Program & Project Leadership

• Lead mission-critical supplier projects including high-stakes negotiations and development contracts.
• Oversee strategic sourcing and supplier collaboration initiatives.

• Budgeting & Resource Allocation

• Define annual targets and coach local purchasing teams.
• Manage material cost planning in coordination with Finance (STRAP, MOP, MTP).

• Performance Management

• Develop and maintain dashboards (e.g., Power BI) to monitor KPIs.
• Organize regional workshops to drive process improvements and KPI achievement.
• Implement cost reduction strategies (e.g., auctions, benchmarking, volume consolidation).

• Contracting & Market Intelligence

• Negotiate large-volume contracts and define SLAs.
• Monitor market trends for potential partnerships, M&A opportunities, and new technologies.

• Executive Advisory

• Consolidate and present regional KPIs to global leadership.
• Provide strategic counsel to local purchasing teams and senior management.

• Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain relationships with key suppliers and regulatory authorities.
• Align with tax/customs bodies to optimize transaction costs.

• Team Leadership

• Lead a team of 35+ purchasing professionals, including 7 Category Managers and 12 Purchasing Directors.
• Standardize training and reporting practices across APAC using tools like SAP, Ariba, and WAVE.

• Change Management & Digital Transformation

• Drive process automation and digitization (e.g., RPA, eSignatures).
• Lead implementation of new tools and systems with structured rollout plans.

• Global Collaboration & Networking

• Support global sourcing initiatives in APAC.
• Foster cross-functional and cross-regional collaboration to leverage synergies.