Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages - Senior Category Manager - Contract Manufacturing Procurement

Senior Category Manager - Contract Manufacturing Procurement (8-12 yrs)

Position Overview:

Lead procurement strategy and execution for contract manufacturing operations across beverage portfolio. Manage end-to-end vendor relationships with contract manufacturers, optimize costs, ensure production capacity, timely project execution for green field and brown field contract manufacturing sites and drive supply chain efficiency. Reports to Head of Raw Materials and Contract Mfg Procurement.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Supplier Identification, Negotiation and Management:

- Identify, qualify, and onboard contract manufacturing partners meeting FSSAI, BIS, and quality standards.

- Lead contract manufacturing negotiations, MGQ agreements, and pricing escalations-renewals.

- Structure contracts covering production scheduling, payment terms, penalty clauses, and exit strategies.

- Achieve YoY cost savings through volume consolidation, new sourcing network strategies and efficiency improvements.

- Implement performance scorecards and quarterly business reviews.

2. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Project Management:

- Post identification of potential partner, lead the internal approval process for setting up green field and brown field site.

- Collaborate with internal teams and suppliers for effective project management and timely project delivery.

- Co-ordinate with internal quality teams at HCCB and Coca Cola India to monitor quality and production standards to get the contract manufacturer adhere to the same.

3. Production Planning & Capacity Management:

- Collaborate with demand planning for accurate production forecasting and capacity allocation.

- Monitor weekly and monthly production schedules across 8-10 contract manufacturers.

- Manage overflow capacity during peak seasons and new product launches in collaboration with the category teams.

- Work with marketing on seasonal SKUs, limited editions, and promotional packs to enable short run production cycles at the contract manufacturing locations.

4. Risk Management & Business Continuity:

- Develop contingency plans for manufacturer downtime, labor strikes, or natural disasters.

- Strategize on identifying alternative sources for beverage production and optimize for total delivered cost and business continuity.

- Maintain dual-sourcing strategy for critical production lines.

- Monitor regulatory changes impacting contract manufacturing operations.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

- Cost savings: 7-8% YoY procurement savings.

- Contract Manufacturing Site Performance basis annual benchmarks.

- New site identification.

- Quality compliance: Zero critical FSSAI violations.

Qualifications & Experience:

- Bachelor's in Engineering + MBA Supply Chain-Operations (preferred).

- 7-10 years FMCG procurement experience, 3-4 years in contract manufacturing.

- Proven track record managing beverage contract manufacturers.

- Expertise in sugar, packaging, and beverage production processes.

- Strong commercial acumen with P&L impact understanding.

Technical Skills:

- Advanced Excel, SAP ECC proficiency.

- Contract understanding and legal agreement management.

- Vendor performance analytics and dashboard creation.

- Basic knowledge of FSSAI, BIS, and beverage quality standards.