Procurement Category Management

We are seeking a strategic and commercially driven Procurement Category Manager to lead the External Manufacturing Procurement category across Southeast Asia.

Our Requirements:

•  Minimum 10 years of strategic procurement experience within Consumer Health, Pharma, FMCG, or related industries.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, Engineering, Science, Supply Chain, or related discipline; MBA is an advantage.
•  Proven regional procurement/category management experience across Southeast Asia, APAC, or multiple international markets.
• Strong expertise in External Manufacturing, CDMO/CMO management, or other direct procurement categories.
• Demonstrated success in strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations, and delivering measurable cost savings.
• Experience supporting innovation projects, new product launches, supplier scouting and development initiatives.  
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and negotiate across senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Familiarity with procurement systems such as SAP, Ariba, or equivalent platforms.
• Fluent in English; additional languages such as French, Bahasa Indonesia/Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, or Filipino are advantageous.
• Experience in sustainability initiatives, supplier governance, and agile supplier partnerships is a plus.

Key Objectives (First 6-12 Months)

• Build understanding of Opella's business, brands, and growth strategy.
• Support the high volume of innovation and product launch activities.
• Develop and optimize supplier strategies, identifying both existing and new suppliers to support business growth.
• Manage the complexity of multiple SEA markets, regulations, and stakeholder groups.

Must-Haves

• Strong procurement background with proven category management experience.
• Ability to operate independently with minimal supervision.
• Strategic procurement experience rather than operational/buyer-level work.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills, both internally and externally.
• Regional procurement exposure covering multiple countries (minimum 3+ markets preferred).

Stakeholder Environment

This role will partner extensively with:

• M&S (Manufacturing & Supply)
• Brand & Innovation (B&I)
• R&D teams
• Project Managers
• Development Centers
• External suppliers across Southeast Asia

Procurement Expectations

• Candidates should demonstrate a track record of delivering approximately 4% annual savings against managed spend.
• Savings performance should ideally offset inflation and improve margins.
• Experience managing complex regional supplier networks is highly valued.