Product Sourcing & Development Manager

Categories: Stainless Steel, Glassware, Kitchenware & Kitchen Appliances

Location: India

Company: Tupperware India

Role Purpose:

The Product Sourcing & Development Manager will be responsible for developing and managing a strong Indian manufacturing and sourcing ecosystem for stainless steel products, glassware, kitchenware, and kitchen appliances.

The role will identify, evaluate, onboard, and develop strategic manufacturing partners, while working closely with R&D, Design, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, and Marketing teams to develop and commercialize products that meet Tupperware's requirements for quality, innovation, cost, and speed to market.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Development:

- Identify and develop capable Indian manufacturers and strategic sourcing partners across stainless steel, glassware, kitchenware, and kitchen appliances.

- Build and maintain a robust supplier network aligned with Tupperware's product and business requirements.

- Evaluate supplier capabilities including manufacturing technology, capacity, quality systems, innovation, compliance, and cost competitiveness.

- Lead supplier onboarding, qualification, development, and performance management.

- Develop alternate and multiple sourcing options to improve supply continuity and competitiveness.

- Build long-term strategic partnerships with key Indian manufacturers.

- Identify opportunities for localization and develop suppliers to support Tupperware's India and potential global sourcing requirements.

- Conduct supplier visits, capability assessments, audits, and commercial evaluations.

- Monitor supplier performance and drive continuous improvement across cost, quality, delivery, and service.

Product Development & Commercialization:

- Partner with R&D and Design teams to develop products from concept through commercialization.

- Work with suppliers on product specifications, materials, prototypes, samples, tooling, trials, testing, and production readiness.

- Ensure products meet defined quality, technical, regulatory, cost, and timeline requirements.

- Evaluate manufacturing feasibility and provide supplier inputs during the product design stage.

- Drive localization and development of products with Indian manufacturing partners.

- Coordinate product trials, modifications, approvals, pilot production, and scale-up.

- Ensure timely transition of products from development to commercial production.

RFQ, Costing & Commercial Negotiation:

- Lead the end-to-end RFQ process, including supplier identification, quotation analysis, benchmarking, sampling, and final supplier selection.

- Develop product cost estimates and should-cost models in collaboration with Finance and R&D.

- Negotiate pricing, MOQ, tooling and mould costs, payment terms, lead times, capacity, packaging, and other commercial terms.

- Benchmark supplier pricing and manufacturing costs to ensure competitive sourcing.

- Drive cost reduction and value-engineering initiatives without compromising quality or consumer value.

- Identify opportunities to optimize material usage, product design, manufacturing processes, packaging, and logistics.

Category & Market Development:

- Track consumer trends, competitor activity, market developments, and emerging technologies across relevant categories.

- Identify product gaps and new business opportunities for Tupperware India.

- Support category and portfolio planning through market and supplier insights.

- Benchmark competing products on specifications, materials, functionality, quality, pricing, and sourcing.

- Identify new Indian manufacturing capabilities, technologies, and suppliers that can support future product development.

Supply Chain & Quality:

- Work closely with Supply Chain to align supplier capacity, production planning, lead times, and launch requirements.

- Identify potential supply risks and develop alternate sourcing and contingency plans.

- Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to ensure supplier and product compliance with Tupperware standards and applicable requirements.

- Support supplier audits, quality improvement initiatives, corrective actions, and performance reviews.

- Ensure suppliers consistently meet agreed quality, delivery, capacity, and service levels.

Cost & Commercial Management:

- Partner with Finance and Category teams on product costing, pricing, margin, and business cases.

- Support category-level P&L and profitability objectives.

- Drive cost optimization, value engineering, localization, and supplier productivity initiatives.

- Evaluate the commercial impact of sourcing, material, design, tooling, and manufacturing decisions.

- Ensure new products meet defined target costs and margin expectations.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

- Work closely with R&D, Design, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, Sales, E-commerce, and Global teams.

- Provide sourcing and manufacturing inputs during product development and portfolio planning.

- Support Marketing, Sales, and E-commerce with product specifications, competitive insights, and product information.

- Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure successful product development and launch.

- Represent sourcing and supplier requirements in product and business reviews.

Candidate Profile:

- 8 - 15 years of relevant experience in Strategic Sourcing, Procurement, Supplier Development, Product Development, or Category Management.

- Strong experience in identifying, developing, and managing Indian manufacturers/OEMs/ODM partners.

- Experience in one or more of the following categories is preferred: stainless steel, cookware, glassware, kitchenware, consumer durables, or kitchen appliances.

- Strong understanding of Indian manufacturing processes, supplier capabilities, product costing, tooling, quality, and commercialization.

- Proven experience in RFQs, supplier negotiations, product development, sampling, trials, and supplier onboarding.

- Strong commercial understanding with exposure to costing, margins, P&L, and value engineering.

- Excellent negotiation, communication, project management, and stakeholder management skills.

- Willingness to travel extensively within India for supplier identification, development, audits, and product development.

Key Success Measures:

- Development and onboarding of strategic Indian manufacturing partners.

- Successful localization and commercialization of products.

- Competitive product costing and improved category margins.

- Successful and timely NPD launches.

- Supplier quality, delivery, capacity, and service performance.

- Cost savings and value-engineering achievements.

- Development of a scalable and reliable Indian supplier ecosystem.

- Reduction of sourcing risk through alternate and multiple supplier development.