Process Excellence Manager

This role conceives and drives sustainable process improvements in DDN procurement by simplifying, standardizing, and automating processes and workflows. It aims to drive agility in internal collaboration, decision-making, supplier engagement and cross-functional collaboration while leveraging data, reporting, insights and digitalization to enhance efficiency, compliance, and speed to market.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Reporting to the Procurement Transformation Leader in the DDN Procurement Team, the "Global Procurement Manager - Process Innovation & Data Analytics" will be leading the continuous improvement of processes and workflows in DDN Procurement as well as its collaboration across functions to drive agility in decisions and execution. This role will also drive the data, analytics and reporting initiative for the business to drive agility and precision in decisions and operations.

The role requires the ability to effectively collaborate and partner with DDN Business Unit Procurement, Supply Chain, Engineering and Operations teams.

• Lead end-to-end process improvement initiatives across direct procurement, with a focus on sourcing standardization, simplification, and automation.

• Map, evaluate, and redesign sourcing processes to improve cycle time, accuracy, compliance, and stakeholder experience.

• Drive improvement of pre- and post-RFQ processes including supplier onboarding, specification clarity, cost breakdown analysis, and award decisions.

• Collaborate with commodity managers and NPD teams to streamline early supplier engagement and ensure agile sourcing in New Product Development (NPD) projects.

• Develop and deploy sourcing playbooks, workflows, and process templates to ensure consistency and alignment across teams and regions.

• Identify and remove bottlenecks in sourcing and procurement handshakes, especially during design changes, volume ramp-up, and engineering change management.

• Leverage data analytics and procurement insights to monitor process performance and identify opportunities for automation or digitization.

• Design and deliver dashboards, reports, and analytical tools to provide actionable insights for procurement teams and business stakeholders.

• Use advanced data analytics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, and to prioritize improvement initiatives with the highest business impact.

• Partner with cross-functional teams to translate data insights into process improvements and measurable performance outcomes.

• Champion adoption of digital tools (e.g., e-sourcing, contract lifecycle management, supplier portals, analytics dashboards) across the sourcing function.

• Standardize documentation and approvals in sourcing activities to improve compliance, traceability, and cycle time.

• Act as a change agent to build a culture of continuous improvement and cross-functional collaboration across sourcing, engineering, and supply chain.

• Define and track process KPIs such as sourcing cycle time, RFQ turnaround time, first-time-right rates, and time-to-market.

• Facilitate training and capability building on new tools, templates, and best practices for sourcing and supplier collaboration.

• Support audits and internal reviews by ensuring all sourcing process changes are well-documented and compliant.

• Partner with IT, digital, and process excellence teams to evaluate and integrate emerging technologies for sourcing automation and data intelligence.

• Lead benchmarking studies to compare internal sourcing processes with industry best practices and implement relevant learnings.

Requirements for a typical Job Holder / Applicant

• Minimum Bachelors degree, preferably in engineering related course
• MBA is a plus
• At least 8 years of experience in a global or regional Procurement and / or Supply Chain with experience in Industrial electronics / manufacturing (preferred)
• Broad commodity knowledge of semi-conductors, PCB, PCBA and electronic components (preferred)
• Knowledge of global electronics sourcing
• Strong background in procurement or process excellence with proven experience in process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, etc.).
• Skilled in data analytics, visualization, and reporting tools (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent).
• Strong problem-solving mindset with the ability to convert data into actionable strategies.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with ability to drive alignment across teams.
• Analytical, structured, and detail-oriented with a passion for continuous improvement.
• Previous experience with working on strategy / transformation / risk initiatives especially linked to upstream emissions
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to communicate to people at all levels of the organisation in both commercial and technical roles
• Ability to influence others
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Strong project management skills and ability to multi-task
• Ability to work in a matrix environment with multi-cultural teams
• Ability to demonstrate strong customer focus and continuous improvement attitude
• Ability to form successful working relationships quickly at all levels
• Ability to prioritize and manage complexity in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to meet demanding deadlines and task prioritization.
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Fluent in English both written and spoken
• Other languages are a plus
• Timezone flexibility and ability to travel internationally