Senior Procurement Specialist

Job Title: Senior Procurement Specialist

Location(s): SN Pune 

Application Deadline: (if applicable)  

About Springer Nature Group

Springer Nature opens the doors to discovery for researchers, educators, clinicians and other professionals. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals, platforms and technology solutions reach millions of people. For over 180 years our brands and imprints have been a trusted source of knowledge to these communities and today, more than ever, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that fundamental knowledge can be found, verified, understood and used by our communities – enabling them to improve outcomes, make progress, and benefit the generations that follow. Visit group.springernature.com and follow @SpringerNature / @SpringerNatureGroup

About the Brand

The Central Procurement team facilitates across 4 major categories of Print/Paper; Prepress; Warehousing/Logistics; Indirect/IT.Our mission is to be the trusted partner for all addressable procurement spend in order to maximize value and efficiency by managing suppliers, driving the use of Purchase Orders, and setting policies and guidelines to minimize risk.

This is a fantastic opportunity for an aspiring procurement professional with a passion for dealmaking to develop a strong skillset and gain experience in a fast-paced environment across diverse spend categories. The role offers the chance to learn and grow while delivering substantial value in a dynamic, growing global business.

About the Role:

The Procurement Specialist role at Springer Nature offers a unique opportunity to be at the heart of our supply chain operations, ensuring that we build and maintain strong relationships with vendors, secure the best value for our organization, and drive impactful procurement strategies.

At Springer Nature, we value innovation and efficiency, providing a platform for you to hone your skills in supplier management, contract negotiations, and market analysis. If you are detail-oriented, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and enjoy building meaningful professional relationships, this role is for you.

This role is for our Pune Office on a hybrid working model.

Role Responsibilities:

RFI/RFP Management:

Assist Manager/ Sr. Manager to prepare data for RFP for vendor onboarding process which include suppliers’ compliance with Springer Nature’s supplier management, environmental and purchasing policies

Collaborate with internal stakeholders to define scope, timelines, and evaluation criteria for procurement-related RFIs and RFPs

Project Management:

Drive procurement-related projects from initiation to completion, ensuring timelines, budgets, and quality benchmarks are met

Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align project deliverables with broader business goals. Track milestones, manage risks, and report project progress to leadership

Order Management:

Prepare/Supervise Purchase Order creation, RFQs, tracking SLAs, and ensure timely resolution of order management issues Conduct high-level review of sales and stock data to identify trends and potential risks. Guide and mentor procurement specialists in ISBN/title information validation, GR posting, and goods issue processes

System Management:

Lead discussions on system improvements and necessary filter setting changes in DDS and Edflux

Ensure data distribution integrity and proactively address potential system discrepancies

Act as the point of contact for system-related escalations and process enhancements

Procurement Due Diligence Analysis:

Preparing data for vendor onboarding process such as analysing the volumes, segmentation of specifications and review supplier information to request new quotations

Data Analysis:

Analyze large datasets and generate actionable insights for procurement decisions

Develop automated reporting templates to improve data accessibility and decision-making

Guide procurement specialists in data extraction from tools like SAP, SPOT, and other procurement platforms

Reporting:

Preparation of daily, weekly, and monthly procurement reports, ensuring data accuracy

Provide insights and recommendations based on Offset Order Overview, Printer’s Unit Cost Catalogue analysis, and other key reports

Present procurement findings and improvement suggestions to senior leadership

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Process Improvement:

Lead cross-functional collaborations with sales, finance, and supply chain teams for procurement alignment. Identify process inefficiencies and suggest strategic improvements to enhance procurement workflows

Vendor Performance Management:

Regular interaction with printers to recognize supply chain gaps such as, monitoring ingestion process, discuss titles reported as errors by the suppliers, resolve queries of printers expectations

Experience, Skills & Qualifications:

• Education: Any graduate

• Experience: 4 – 6 years of relevant experience in Purchasing/Procurement Operations with adequate experience in client facing roles

• Strong client service orientation and Sound Knowledge of operational experience in S4 Hana and SAP Ariba Procurement related modules in Multinational Corporate environment is a plus

• Soft Skills:  Excellent written and verbal communication skill in English. Coordination and Inter-personal skills

• Good analytical and decision-making skills

• Delivering Insight, Impact, Innovation & Understand business requirements and translate those into deliverable

• Technical Skill: Expert Knowledge of MS Office suite, Power Bi (Preferred), Advanced Excel is a plus

• Reporting to: This role will report to Assistant Manage/ Manager

Eligibility

In accordance with our internal career movement guidance, 12 months in current role is a requirement before applying to a new role

What we offer

The global setup of the team and the organization, our complex system and environment and its variety are giving a chance to further develop yourself while working with team members around the globe, and international stakeholders.

At Springer Nature, we value the diversity of our teams and work to build an inclusive culture, where people are treated fairly and can bring their differences to work and thrive. We empower our colleagues and value their diverse perspectives as we strive to attract, nurture and develop the very best talent. Springer Nature was awarded Diversity Team of the Year at the 2022 British Diversity Awards. Find out more about our DEI work here https://group.springernature.com/gp/group/taking-responsibility/diversity-equity-inclusion If you have any access needs related to disability, neurodivergence or a chronic condition, please contact us so we can make all necessary accommodation. For more information about career opportunities in Springer Nature please visit https://springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatureCareers

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