Asia Purchasing Process & Tools Manager

JOB PURPOSE

Imerys is a world leader in creating specialty solutions that improve everyday life through minerals. Our success is built on our people, and creating an environment where our 12,500 employees around the globe can thrive. 

We passionately believe that our teams are at their best when they have the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and find new ways to solve our customers’ challenges, no matter what part of the business they are in. 

This role is integrated into the Global Purchasing & Procurement department and reports to the Paris-based Purchasing Process & Tools Manager.

The Asia Purchasing Process & Tools Manager oversees the regional digital transformation of purchasing. This includes supporting the group's ambitious Process & Tools roadmap and managing back-office operations in India. The manager is responsible for:

• Leading the Indian support team (approx. 6 members), including Data and Key User specialists.

• Managing simple and complex E-RFQs in Ivalua as a technical expert.

• Contributing to purchasing team initiatives and driving process enhancements.

• Promoting tool adoption and providing end-user support throughout the region.

• Align with the CORE team

The Purchasing Process & Tools team consists of 12 people in India (6), Greece (3), France (2), and Mexico (1).

JOB SCOPE/DIMENSIONS

• Geographical scope: Worldwide with a focus on APAC & China

• User number: ~200 worldwide / ~50 in APAC

• Tools to master: Ivalua, SAP S/4, Transporeon, Ecovadis platform

KEY TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Indian Back-Office Management - Supervising a 7-FTE team:

• Daily activities monitoring to respect quality and agreed SLAs

• Project monitoring to respect the agreed deadlines on the deliverables

• Individual management: make the team grow in a complex environment

• Business activities to supervise:

  • Master Data: Maintaining high-quality spend analysis and supplier data.

  • Key User Leadership: Managing the Purchasing IS deployment (including E-sourcing and E-procurement) across 9 APAC countries.

  • Execution: Overseeing price implementation for AMER, EMEA, and other regions.

E-RFQ & Sourcing Support

• Handling diverse E-RFQs within Ivalua and acting as a technical lead for complex cases.

• Assisting stakeholders with requirement mapping, TCO analysis, and contract finalization.

• Managing Spotbuy requests for goods and services across different regions.

Strategic Improvements & Engagement

• Leading process improvement initiatives and analyzing purchasing data for internal reporting.

• Monitoring tool usage metrics to drive operational efficiency.

• Building strong partnerships with Category Managers and regional teams to foster tool autonomy.

INTERNAL & EXTERNAL INTERACTIONS

Inside the company

• Hierarchically attached to the Process & Tools Manager based in Paris, France

• Interdependencies with the Opera project (SAP S/4 implementation)

• Manage the different stakeholders’ teams and liaise with the Master Data Community

Outside the company

● Ivalua representatives

JOB SPECIFICATIONS

Education and Experience requirements

Essential

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related technical field.

• Procurement Expertise: 4 to 6 years of hands-on experience managing Source-to-Contract (S2C) and Procure-to-Pay (P2P) processes and tools.

• Systems Proficiency: Solid understanding of procurement tech landscapes, with direct experience utilizing SAP.

• Global Navigation: Proven ability to thrive in a global matrix organization, successfully balancing competing priorities and ambiguous requirements.

• Language: Business-fluent or native English communication skills (written and verbal)

Desirable

• Platform Specifics: Prior experience configuring or managing Ivalua software is a major plus.

• Digital Collaboration: Highly proficient in Google Workspace / G Suite (Sheets, Docs, Slides, Drive).

• Cultural Agility: Demonstrated experience collaborating effectively within culturally diverse, international teams.

• Multilingual Skills: Fluency in an additional Asian language (e.g., Mandarin) is highly desirable.