Strategic Buyer – Wood & Panel Products

Job Description

Position Title: Strategic Buyer – Wood & Panel Products

Department: Purchase & Vendor Development

Industry Focus: Wood-Panel, Engineered Wood, and Furniture Manufacturing

Reports To: Head of Supply Chain / Procurement Manager

Location: [Plant / Corporate Office]

1. Position Purpose

Secure cost-effective, timely, and quality supplies of wood-panel materials, furniture

components, and packaging by developing a robust supplier base, optimising logistics, and

enforcing rigorous process controls.

2. Key Responsibilities

Functional Area Responsibilities Typical Outputs

Product & Supplier

Research

• Source MDF, HDF, particle board, plywood,

veneers, laminates, edge-band tapes, adhesives, and

furniture hardware.

• Benchmark global and domestic suppliers;

introduce alternates to lower total cost of ownership

(TCO).

Qualified supplier shortlist,

cost-saving proposals

Vendor Management

& Negotiation

• Build long-term supplier partnerships; negotiate

pricing, payment terms, and service levels.

• Conduct supplier plant audits (quality systems,

capacity, ESG compliance).

Signed contracts / rate

agreements, audit reports

Process & SOP

Compliance

• Own Purchase-to-Pay SOP for wood & panel

category; ensure full documentation at RFQ, PO,

GRN, and payment stages.

• Lead continuous-improvement projects (cycle-

time, paperwork reduction).

Updated SOPs, CAPA logs

Inventory & Stock

Control

• Maintain min/max levels for boards, veneers, and

consumables in ERP.

• Coordinate with production planners to prevent

stock-outs / over-stocking.

Weekly inventory

dashboard, slow-moving

stock alerts

Supply-Chain Resolve logistics or quality issues to ensure on- OTIF (%) metrics, freight-

Continuity time supply to plants.

• Optimise load planning for bulky panel products to

reduce freight cost.

cost reductions

Market Intelligence

• Track timber prices, resin trends, freight indices,

and competitor sourcing strategies.

• Present quarterly cost forecasts to management.

Market-insight reports,

cost-impact models

Purchasing

Operations

• Raise POs, call-offs, and scheduling agreements; verify documents and authorise supplier invoices in line with contracts.

PO accuracy rate, invoice- to-payment TAT Supplier

Performance & Compliance

• Scorecard suppliers on quality, delivery, and cost;

manage improvement plans.

• Ensure compliance with FSC, ISI, CARB, E1/E0

emissions, or other industry standards.

Supplier scorecards,

corrective-action trackers

3. Qualifications & Skills

 Graduate in Supply-Chain, Mechanical / Wood Technology, or related field; MBA /

PGDMM preferred.

 4–6 years of strategic buying experience in wood-panel / furniture industry.

 Proven negotiation and contract-management skills; familiarity with Incoterms and

logistics.

 Hands-on with ERP/MRP systems (SAP, Oracle, etc.) and advanced Excel / Power BI.

 Knowledge of plywood grades, MDF specifications, veneer slicing, lamination, and

packing norms.

 Strong analytical, communication, and cross-functional collaboration abilities.

 Willingness to travel for supplier audits and trade-fair sourcing (~20-30%).

4. Performance Indicators

 Cost Savings Achieved (% of spend)

 On-Time In-Full (OTIF) Delivery

 Inventory Turns / Days of Stock

 Supplier Quality PPM & Audit Scores

 Process-Compliance Score (SOP adherence)

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: ₹420,141.54 - ₹1,487,987.70 per year

Experience:

• Furniture Manufacturing: 5 years (Preferred)
• Wood-Panel: 5 years (Preferred)

Work Location: In person