Job Title:  Consultant | S&P - Cost TakeOut | Delhi | Supply Chain & Network Operations

The team

Enterprise technology must do much more than keep the wheels turning; it is the engine that drives functional excellence and the enabler of innovation and long-term growth. Learn more about ET&P

Your work profile

The Tail Spend Management Lead will establish and operationalize a GCC-led Tail Spend Management capability to drive governance, transparency, and control over fragmented tail spend across business units (BUs). The role will focus on standardization, risk management, and financial discipline, enabling consistent and compliant execution of tail spend processes while achieving cost savings, improving efficiency, and mitigating risks. This position will leverage AI/automation capabilities for touchless sourcing, predictive spend intelligence, and guided buying to minimize transaction costs and control spend leakage.

Key responsibilities for the Consultant will include:

1. Define & Govern Tail Spend

• Establish a standard definition and classification of tail spend across BUs (low-value, high-volume transactions representing ~20% of spend but ~80% of suppliers/transactions)
• Develop segmentation frameworks using the Head/Middle/Tail of Tail approach:
• Head of Tail: Spend challengeable to top 80% suppliers for tight management
• Middle of Tail: Spend explored for consolidation within categories
• Tail of Tail: Highly transactional tail/local small value requirements
• Define and enforce governance policies, approval thresholds, and operating guidelines
• Drive process standardization across BUs and alignment with global procurement strategy

2. Supplier & Commercial Controls

• Support supplier consolidation/rationalization initiatives where structurally justified
• Manage robust RFx/tactical sourcing/spot buy processes from initiation to contracting
• Ensure alignment to approved supplier base and negotiated terms
• Monitor adherence to commercial controls and procurement policies
• Drive catalog coverage expansion (target: 15-25% annualized shift of one-off purchases to structured catalogs)

3. Risk & Financial Management

• Ensure alignment with BP/JU financial assumptions and governance frameworks
• Identify and escalate risk hotspots and compliance exceptions
• Monitor supplier financial, ESG, and geopolitical risks while tracking contractual policy compliance
• Flag fraud, unusual spending patterns, and forecast item demand to prescribe optimal buying channels
• Support mitigation planning for high-risk suppliers and categories

4. Visibility & Reporting

• Design and deliver leadership dashboards and reporting frameworks, including:
• Tail spend trends and segmentation
• Supplier concentration and risk exposure
• Policy compliance and exceptions
• Enable exception-based management and decision-making
• Drive adoption of analytics tools (Power BI, Tableau, etc.)
• Establish reporting cadence with leadership and BU stakeholders

5. Automation & Technology Enablement

• Implement AI-powered touchless sourcing and compliant transaction execution
• Enable automated approvals for low-value purchases
• Deploy interactive assistants/chatbots for direct buying support to reduce maverick spending
• Automate end-to-end requisition-to-pay processes for low-value purchases

Skills & Competencies

Functional

• Strong understanding of procurement operations and tail spend frameworks
• Supplier segmentation and governance expertise
• Financial controls and compliance knowledge
• Experience with spend classification & data cleansing

Analytical & Tools

• Hands-on experience with ERP systems (SAP/Ariba/Coupa preferred)
•  Data analytics tools (Excel, Power BI, Tableau)
• Ability to translate data into actionable insights
• Familiarity with predictive spend intelligence models

Stakeholder Management

• Experience working across global stakeholders and multiple BUs
• Strong communication and influencing skills
• GCC/Procurement CoE empowering Business Units experience

Behavioral

• Structured problem-solving mindset
• Strong governance and compliance orientation
• Attention to detail and execution rigor
• High ownership and accountability

• Build a centralized governance framework for tail spend across BUs
• Enhance visibility, compliance, and control over transactional suppliers
• Drive risk-aware procurement practices aligned with enterprise financial policies
• Enable leadership with data-driven insights and decision support
• Implement the 4-phase Tail Spend Management approach: Spend Analysis, Demand Consolidation, Transactional Buying, and Savings Tracking
• Tail spend is fully governed, visible, and controlled across BUs
• Supplier base is structured and optimized (consolidated supplier base)
• Leadership has high confidence in data and reporting
• Risk exposure is proactively managed (supplier financial, ESG, geopolitical)
• Processes are standardized and scalable across geographies
• Achieve sustained behavioral change in how tail spend is managed
• Deliver cost savings, improved efficiency, and risk mitigation

Key skills required

• Global Pharmaceutical, MedTech, or Consumer Goods (FMCG/CPG) organizations
• Exposure to multi-BU / global operating models
• Experience with threshold-based PR-PO approval processes customized to each BU

Technical Exposure

• ERP systems (SAP/Ariba/Coupa preferred)
• Data analytics tools (Excel, Power BI, Tableau)
• Familiarity with AI/automation tools for procurement (NLP, machine learning for spend classification)

Experience

Experience

Qualifications

·      3-5 years of relevant work experience

·      Advanced knowledge /subject matter expertise of Procurement processes and applications

·      S2C and Strategic Sourcing process knowledge

·      Excellent client and stakeholder management skills

·      Effective communication, problem solving and analytical skills

·      Experience in MS Office suite, ERPs (SAP, ORACLE), Sourcing tools (COUPA, Ariba, Ivalua etc.)

·     B. Com / BBA / BMS or similar three-year graduate course

·     M.Com / MBA or similar two year post graduate course