Assistant Purchase Manager

Job description: Assistant Manager – Purchase

The Assistant Manager – Purchase is responsible for the uninterrupted, cost-effective, and compliant sourcing of all Raw Materials (RM) and Packaging Materials (PM) required for the fruit juice manufacturing plant. This role specializes in managing high-risk, time-sensitive supply chains where material shelf-life, volatile agricultural markets, cold chain logistics, and strict food safety regulations directly impact plant profitability.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic & Tactical Sourcing
• Portfolio Sourcing: Procure temperature-sensitive raw materials, fresh agricultural commodities, fruit & vegetable pulps, flavourings, and specialized food-grade packaging.
• Supplier Development: Identify, onboard, and evaluate specialized RM/PM vendors capable of meeting strict food safety criteria.
• Contract Management: Execute and monitor service level agreements (SLAs) with suppliers to secure volume discounts and stable pricing.
• Supply Chain & Shelf-Life Management
• Cold Chain Logistics: Monitor inbound cold chain transportation to guarantee strict temperature compliance during transit and prevent raw material spoilage.
• Inventory Optimization: Minimize working capital lock-up while ensuring zero production downtime due to stock-outs.
• Waste Mitigation: Enforce strict First Expired, First Out (FEFO) purchasing guidelines to completely eliminate factory material write-offs.
• Compliance & Food Safety
• Regulatory Compliance: Audit suppliers alongside the Quality Assurance (QA) team to ensure 100% alignment with FSSAI, FDA, and global food safety standards.
• Traceability Maintenance: Ensure immediate batch and lot traceability for all inbound direct materials to mitigate product recall risks.
• Risk Management: Adapt procurement schedules rapidly to handle seasonal crop fluctuations, yield variances, and sudden demand spikes.
• Management Systems & Reporting
• Data Management: Manage Material Masters, Purchase Info Records, Source Lists, and Shelf-Life Expiration Date (SLED) tracking.
• MIS Reporting: Generate weekly and monthly procurement cost saving, vendor performance, and inventory variance reports for management review.

Candidate Profile & Qualifications

• Educational Background: Bachelor's degree (B.Tech / B.Sc) in Food Technology, Agricultural Sciences, Chemical Engineering, or Supply Chain Management. An MBA or Post Graduate Diploma in Materials Management is highly preferred.
• Professional Experience: 3 to 5 years of progressive procurement experience directly within food manufacturing, beverage plants, or F&B sectors.
• Core Competencies: Expert fruit cycle forecasting, cold storage vendor vetting, sensory evaluation awareness, rapid inventory turnover strategies, and elite contract negotiation skills.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Material Availability (OOS): Achieve 0% production line stoppages due to raw material stock-outs.

Purchase Price Variance (PPV): Meet or exceed annual cost-saving and price-mitigation targets against market indices.

Inventory Spoilage Rate: Maintain direct material write-offs and aging expiration stock below

Supplier OTIF (On-Time In-Full): Maintain a vendor delivery compliance rate of ≥ 98%.

Quality SLA Adherence: Zero critical non-compliance reports (NCRs) from QA during inbound material audits.