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Assistant Manager – Purchase & Vendor Development
Company: K Star Food & Hospitality Services
Department: Purchase & Supply Chain
Location: Thane, Maharashtra
Employment Type: Full-time
Travel: Frequent travel to operating sites, local markets, mandis and vendor locations across India
About K Star
K Star Food & Hospitality Services operates institutional kitchens, hostel messes, corporate and industrial canteens, guest houses and related food-service operations across India.
K Star is establishing and professionalising its Purchase and Supply Chain Department. The selected candidate will be among the initial team members responsible for building procurement systems, developing vendors and strengthening purchase and store controls across multiple sites.
Role Overview
We are looking for a field-oriented, commercially strong and ownership-driven procurement professional to manage vendor development, market surveys, negotiation, purchase orders and site-level procurement controls.
This is not a desk-based PO-entry role. It requires regular visits to sites, wholesale markets, mandis, distributors and vendor locations. The candidate will work with Unit Managers, Chefs, Storekeepers, Operations, Quality and Finance teams to ensure timely availability of quality materials at competitive and approved rates.
The candidate must be comfortable building systems in a developing department and taking responsibility until requirements are closed.
Key Responsibilities
Purchase Department Development
- Support the setup of K Star’s formal Purchase Department.
- Develop procurement workflows, approval controls, formats, trackers and MIS.
- Maintain the Approved Vendor List, Vendor Master, Item Master and Category Master.
- Standardise quotation comparison, vendor evaluation, purchase-order and delivery-monitoring processes.
- Help define category strategies, approval limits and vendor-onboarding requirements.
- Implement common procurement practices across sites.
Vendor Development and Market Surveys
- Visit sites to understand existing vendors, rates, consumption patterns and procurement problems.
- Conduct physical surveys of wholesale markets, mandis, distributors and manufacturers.
- Identify and develop reliable local, regional and national vendors.
- Obtain quotations and prepare comparisons covering rates, taxes, quality, brands, credit period, delivery capability, minimum order quantity, replacement terms and compliance.
- Negotiate pricing, credit terms, delivery schedules and other commercial conditions.
- Develop alternate vendors for critical categories to reduce single-vendor dependency.
- Conduct vendor meetings, commercial evaluations and site inspections.
Procurement Categories
The role may handle:
- Rice, flour, pulses, groceries, spices and packaged foods
- Fruits and vegetables
- Milk, dairy and bakery products
- Eggs, poultry and other non-vegetarian items, wherever applicable
- Cleaning chemicals and housekeeping consumables
- Disposable and food-service supplies
- Kitchen utensils, equipment, spares and maintenance materials
Site Procurement and Store Controls
- Review approved purchase indents received from sites.
- Verify requirements against stock, consumption trends, menus, meal volumes and open commitments.
- Coordinate timely procurement and delivery to prevent stockouts.
- Guide Storekeepers on indenting, reorder levels, goods receipt, quantity and quality checks, FIFO/FEFO, expiry monitoring, rejection, replacement and stock-variance reporting.
- Review site purchase and stock reports.
- Identify excess purchases, abnormal consumption, shortages and repeated emergency purchases.
- Conduct periodic verification of stores and procurement documents.
Purchase Orders and Documentation
- Generate POs only against approved indents and authorised vendor rates.
- Ensure POs state specifications, approved brands, quantity, rates, taxes, delivery location, timeline, credit period and replacement conditions.
- Monitor open POs and follow up until complete delivery.
- Maintain quotations, comparisons, approvals, POs, delivery records, invoices and vendor correspondence.
- Prevent unauthorised purchases, substitutions, duplicate billing and purchases outside agreed rates.
- Ensure emergency purchases are justified, approved, documented and reviewed.
Commercial Negotiation and Cost Control
- Conduct market surveys and benchmark vendor rates.
- Identify opportunities for rate reduction, direct sourcing, consolidated procurement and regional rate contracts.
- Compare rates across sites and investigate significant variations.
- Support food-cost control through accurate purchase-rate and category-level data.
- Highlight overpricing, abnormal consumption, wastage and vendor dependency.
- Negotiate rate contracts for recurring and high-value categories.
Quality and Vendor Compliance
- Ensure materials comply with approved specifications and brands.
- Verify vendor documents, including GST registration, FSSAI licence and other applicable records.
- Coordinate rejection, replacement and quality-complaint closure.
- Track repeated quality failures and recommend corrective action, suspension or discontinuation.
- Ensure perishable and temperature-sensitive products are sourced and transported appropriately.
Vendor Performance and Finance Coordination
- Evaluate vendors on price, quality, delivery, fulfilment, replacement response, credit terms and documentation.
- Resolve disputes related to rates, delivery, quality, replacement and invoices.
- Coordinate with Finance for PO-GRN-invoice matching, ledger reconciliation and payment-status updates.
- Track credit periods and ensure complete documents are submitted for payment processing.
- The role will not independently approve vendor payments.
Procurement MIS
Prepare regular reports on purchase value, rate variance, savings, vendor onboarding, pending POs, delayed deliveries, rejections, emergency purchases, payment status, vendor performance and procurement exceptions.
Candidate Profile
Education
Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Commerce, Business Administration, Hotel Management or a related field. Candidates with another qualification may be considered if they have strong practical procurement experience.
Experience
- 4–7 years in purchase, procurement, vendor development or supply chain.
- Experience in institutional catering, food services, hotels, restaurants, cloud kitchens, FMCG distribution or food manufacturing is preferred.
- Experience in food commodities, perishables, groceries and multi-site procurement is advantageous.
- Physical market-survey and local vendor-development experience is essential.
Required Skills
- Strong negotiation and vendor-development ability
- Knowledge of food and non-food procurement
- Understanding of quotations, comparative statements, POs and rate contracts
- Knowledge of inventory and store controls
- Strong MS Excel or Google Sheets skills
- Ability to analyse prices and consumption data
- Professional email drafting and documentation
- Good English and Hindi communication
- Ability to work with vendors, Storekeepers, Chefs, Unit Managers and management
- Willingness to travel frequently and personally visit markets
Behavioural Expectations
The candidate should:
- Take end-to-end ownership of assigned procurement requirements.
- Follow up until delivery, quality, replacement and documentation issues are closed.
- Be willing to build processes rather than only follow existing ones.
- Demonstrate integrity and document negotiations and decisions.
- Raise risks and exceptions promptly.
- Avoid dependence on verbal commitments and single vendors.
- Remain responsive during genuine operational emergencies.
- Focus on measurable results rather than only routine duty hours.
Key Performance Indicators
- Purchase savings and commercial benefits
- Quality and number of new vendors developed
- Vendor-onboarding turnaround time
- On-time and complete delivery
- Reduction in stockouts and emergency purchases
- PO and procurement-process compliance
- Closure of rejection and replacement cases
- Rate variance across sites
- Accuracy and timeliness of procurement MIS
- Storekeeper compliance and internal stakeholder satisfaction
First 90-Day Expectations
- Visit priority sites and map existing procurement arrangements.
- Prepare a site-wise and category-wise vendor database.
- Identify rate differences, procurement gaps and vendor dependencies.
- Develop alternate vendors for critical categories.
- Implement standard quotation-comparison, PO and vendor-tracking formats.
- Establish regular reviews with Storekeepers and Unit Managers.
- Recommend rate contracts, centralised buying and regional sourcing opportunities.
- Contribute to the Purchase Department implementation roadmap.
Who Should Apply
Apply if you are comfortable with frequent travel, physical market visits, multi-site procurement, urgent operational requirements and building a Purchase Department from the ground up.
Candidates seeking only a desk-based PO-entry or routine coordination role may not be suitable.
How to Apply
Send your updated resume to hiring@kstarhospitality.com with the subject:
Application – Assistant Manager Purchase – [Candidate Name]
Please mention your current location, current and expected CTC, notice period, industries and categories handled, number of sites managed, food-procurement experience and willingness to travel.
Click on Apply to know more.