Team Lead - Indirect Procurement
Job Description
As Team Lead of the newly established Indirect Procurement GSC team in India, you will build and manage a high-performing shared services centre responsible for contract and catalogue creation in SAP Ariba across all METRO countries, and for end-to-end supplier enablement. You will act as the primary interface between the GSC India team and global Indirect Procurement stakeholders, ensuring service quality, SLA adherence and continuous improvement. This is a foundational role — you will set up the team from scratch, define ways of working, and grow the function in line with the LUCA programme rollout.
Key Responsibilities
- Build the GSC India Indirect Procurement team from scratch — including recruitment, onboarding, role definition and team structure
- Act as primary point of contact for all country Procurement leads and global Indirect Procurement stakeholders
- Own and enforce SLAs for contract/catalogue creation and supplier enablement services
- Oversee the end-to-end contract and catalogue creation process in SAP Ariba, ensuring accuracy, completeness and compliance with global templates
- Govern the supplier enablement function — supplier onboarding, portal management, query resolution and transaction monitoring
- Manage the contract and catalogue request tracker, ensuring daily updates and full transparency to requesting countries
- Drive a quarterly capacity review, aligning team size to pipeline forecasts and escalating resourcing needs as Wave 2 volumes grow
- Report monthly on KPIs to GSC and Indirect Procurement leadership, including processing accuracy, turnaround times and supplier adoption rates
Continuous Improvement:
- Identify process inefficiencies and implement solutions — including self-service portals, automated tracking and quality gate checklists
- Drive adoption of electronic transactions (PO, invoice, order confirmation) across the supplier base
- Support the development of new service lines as the GSC matures and additional countries go live
Qualifications
Skills & Competencies
- Strong leadership and people management skills, with proven ability to build and develop teams in a shared services or GCC environment
- Deep understanding of SAP Ariba — specifically contract management, catalogue configuration and Ariba Network (AN)
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to manage expectations across multiple countries and time zones
- Structured, process-oriented mindset with high attention to detail and a quality-first approach
- Strong communication skills in English; ability to work effectively with European country stakeholders
- Experience in procurement operations, indirect procurement or supply chain in an international environment
- Ability to manage ambiguity and operate effectively in a start-up phase — building structure from a blank sheet
- Results-oriented, with a high level of ownership and accountability
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement, Economics or a related field
- 8+ years of experience in procurement, supply chain or shared services operations, with at least 3 years in a people management role
- Proven experience with SAP Ariba (contract module, catalogue management, Guided Buying or Ariba Network) — mandatory
- Experience setting up or managing a GCC, SSC or shared services function is strongly preferred
- Experience in retail, wholesale, FMCG or consumer goods is a plus
- Fluency in English is required; working knowledge of any European language is an advantage
