Indirect Procurement Lead

About the Company

CHANEL is a global luxury house known for designing, producing, and distributing high-end products across ready-to-wear, accessories, fragrances, makeup, skincare, jewellery, and watches. Established in 1910 by Gabrielle Chanel, the company continues to focus on exceptional craftsmanship and premium customer experiences. It employs over 32,000 people worldwide.

As an independent business, CHANEL is guided by values centered on exceptional creation and client experience, nurturing human potential, and making a positive contribution to people, the environment, and communities worldwide. The house also supports arts, culture, and creativity, while investing heavily in research and development, sustainability, and innovation.

Role Overview

The Indirect Procurement Lead for India is responsible for building, structuring, and scaling indirect procurement capability in the country from the ground up. This is a transformation-focused leadership role, not a routine buying position. The remit is to establish procurement as a disciplined, risk-aware, digitally enabled, and value-generating function that supports business growth in India. Success will be judged by business impact, stronger governance, and sustainable value creation.

Scope of Indirect Procurement

Indirect Procurement is a finance-related function covering purchases of goods and services that are not directly part of manufacturing raw materials. The category scope includes marketing and communication, boutique construction, logistics and transportation, human resources, general services, professional services, travel and events, marketing and POS, IT and telecom, and property and facilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and organize a dependable, compliant, and high-performing supplier network across India.
• Review, simplify, and rationalize the supplier base to reduce unmanaged long-tail exposure and duplication.
• Introduce structured supplier risk review and due diligence practices.
• Set up supplier segmentation and governance standards, while ensuring complete visibility and control over spend.
• Lead strategic sourcing activities and competitive tendering processes.
• Build strong RFI and RFP workflows and improve sourcing rigor.
• Use total cost of ownership analysis, negotiation, and market benchmarking to secure value.
• Partner with Legal to strengthen contracts and commercial frameworks.
• Accelerate adoption of digital source-to-pay and procure-to-pay tools.
• Drive compliance with the no purchase order, no payment discipline.
• Improve master data accuracy, reporting reliability, and overall process consistency.
• Standardize procurement ways of working and train internal stakeholders on compliance expectations.
• Use Indian market knowledge to map supplier options and identify strategic partners.
• Share market intelligence, risk signals, and sourcing recommendations to support business decisions.
• Advise on sourcing strategy and make-or-buy decisions.
• Develop long-term supplier partnerships and support local sourcing for business expansion.
• Promote a strong procurement mindset, ownership, and governance culture across the market.
• Coach stakeholders on procurement best practices and reinforce data-led decision-making.
• Represent the global procurement vision locally and act as the market ambassador for the function.

Reporting Structure

This position reports to the India Head of Finance and the Regional Head of Indirect Procurement SMR, who oversees regional procurement strategy, alignment with global goals, and coordination of the regional and local indirect procurement community. In India, the lead serves as the market owner and carries full accountability for shaping, governing, and advancing procurement capability across the country.

What Success Looks Like

• A market-ready, professionalized indirect procurement function is established in India.
• Supplier governance, compliance, and risk management are consistently applied.
• Procurement becomes more digital, structured, and data driven.
• Local sourcing and strategic supplier partnerships create measurable business value.
• Stakeholders adopt stronger discipline, accountability, and procurement standards.

Candidate Profile

The ideal person is someone who builds systems rather than simply executes purchases. The role suits a professional who can combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, challenge existing approaches, influence senior stakeholders with facts and credibility, maintain high standards of integrity and governance, and work independently in a fast-moving and complex environment.

Experience and Skills

• 8+ years of experience in indirect procurement or strategic sourcing.
• Demonstrated success in building or transforming procurement capability.
• Strong knowledge of supplier risk management and due diligence.
• Experience running competitive tenders and structured sourcing events.
• Advanced negotiation and commercial contracting skills.
• Good understanding of the Indian indirect supplier landscape.
• Hands-on experience with digital procurement platforms such as Coupa, Ariba, or similar tools.
• Strong analytical ability and stakeholder influence skills.

Culture and Benefits

CHANEL aims to create an environment where people can perform at their best by building on their strengths and supporting growth through new opportunities. The company offers the chance to understand both the brand and the business deeply, while developing personal motivation and long-term growth. It promotes collaboration, mutual respect, and inclusion, with a strong belief that diversity contributes to organizational success. The company also emphasizes competitive rewards, well-being initiatives, learning and development opportunities, and parental leave for all parents globally.