Regional Procurement Business Partner - APAC

JOB TITLE Regional Procurement Business Partner – APAC --- THE OPPORTUNITY Solutions SFT is looking for a Regional Procurement Business Partner – APAC for a strategic mandate with a leading client in the aerospace and high-technology sector. Sitting within the Global Procurement & Supply Management (GPSM) team, you will act as the primary link between Global Category Management and business operations across the Asia-Pacific region. This is a strategic regional deployment role: you will take globally approved category strategies and translate them into practical regional action plans, while building trusted relationships with local stakeholders and feeding regional demand, regulatory considerations and execution risks back into global category decisions. Hybrid position, full-time. Preferred work location: Malaysia (APAC region). --- ABOUT THE ROLE Reporting to the Senior Manager, Global Category Management, you will be responsible for: Regional Strategy Deployment • Develop and execute regional deployment plans aligned with approved global category strategies • Coordinate implementation of sourcing initiatives, supplier transitions, preferred-supplier programmes and long-term agreements • Monitor milestones, dependencies, risks and adoption, and escalate barriers requiring category or leadership decisions Strategic Business Partnership • Serve as the primary procurement partner for assigned Training Centres and regional Operations stakeholders • Build trusted relationships, understand upcoming demand and connect business priorities to category and sourcing actions • Lead stakeholder engagement and change activities that support adoption and business continuity Collaboration with Global Category Management • Partner with the Global Category Excellence & Deployment Lead to apply common playbooks, governance, KPI definitions and corrective-action discipline • Partner with Global Category Leads to translate approved category roadmaps into regional actions and provide evidence-based demand, market, supplier and regulatory insight • Provide execution feedback and lessons learned to improve category plans and deployment methods Supplier Governance & Compliance • Drive use of approved suppliers, agreements and buying channels • Support supplier classification, rationalisation, consolidation and performance-improvement activity • Identify non-compliant or after-the-fact buying patterns and coordinate corrective action with stakeholders, Category Leads, Local Buyers and Sourcing Execution Key Performance Indicators • Percentage of approved regional deployment milestones completed on time • Percentage of addressable regional spend aligned with approved category strategies • Preferred-supplier utilisation, contract compliance and long-term agreement coverage • Progress against supplier-classification and rationalisation milestones • Validated regional savings, value contribution and risk mitigation supported by the role • Stakeholder satisfaction and completion of agreed engagement cadence • Timeliness and quality of regional demand, market and supplier intelligence provided to Global Category Leads Key Relationships Internal: Global Category Excellence & Deployment Lead, Global Category Leads, Training Centre and regional Operations leaders, Local Buyers, Sourcing Execution, and Finance, Legal, Risk, Compliance and IT teams. External: Regional and global suppliers, service providers and industry partners as required. --- CANDIDATE PROFILE Education: • Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Procurement, Operations or a related field Experience: • Typically 7+ years of progressive experience in procurement, sourcing, category management, supplier management or business partnering • Demonstrated experience supporting multiple sites, business units or countries in a matrix organisation • Experience deploying sourcing or category strategies and leading stakeholder-facing change initiatives Core Competencies: • Business Partnership: builds trusted relationships and connects procurement priorities with regional business requirements • Strategy Deployment: translates approved global category strategies into practical regional execution • Commercial & Supplier Management: understands sourcing, supplier performance, agreements and compliance • Communication & Influence: influences without authority and communicates effectively across cultures and organisational levels • Data-Driven Insight: uses demand, spend, supplier, KPI and risk data to support decisions and escalation • Change Leadership: drives stakeholder adoption and resolves execution barriers • Unified Team Mindset: balances enterprise alignment with valid regional requirements Tools & Systems: • Comfortable working with category management, spend and supplier-performance data tools Language: • Professional English required; additional regional languages are an asset Additional Assets: • Aerospace industry knowledge • Experience in category strategy deployment • Supplier management experience • A recognized procurement, supply chain or commercial designation is an asset --- WHY THIS MANDATE? Play a strategic bridging role between Global Category Management and business operations across the Asia-Pacific region Drive the deployment of approved category strategies and see the direct, on-the-ground impact of your work Join a well-structured global procurement organisation with clear playbooks, governance and KPIs Build trusted relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders in a multicultural environment Enjoy a hybrid role preferably based in Malaysia, at the heart of the APAC region Official job title: Regional Procurement Business Partner - APAC Position type: Full-time Work mode: Hybrid Preferred location: Malaysia (APAC) Top 3 must-have skills: 1. Professional English required; additional regional languages an asset 2. Commercial & Supplier Management (sourcing, performance, agreements, compliance) 3. Stakeholder management Top 3 nice-to-have skills: 1. Aerospace knowledge 2. Category Strategy Deployment 3. Supplier Management