Opportunity brief
Lenskart is hiring for the role of Commercial Leader!
Responsibilities of the Candidate:
- Platform Visionary: Own the strategic vision and rollout of Lenskart's commercial intelligence stack — should-cost models, spend analytics, supplier scorecards, e-sourcing, contract lifecycle, and AI-assisted negotiation insights — moving procurement from spreadsheets and email threads to a real-time decision engine.
- Technical Partnership: Act as the primary business lead, translating sourcing and category requirements into actionable specifications for Tech, Data Science, and Finance Systems teams. Drive enterprise-grade ERP, S2P, and analytics adoption across the function.
- Systems Design Ownership: Define the logic for category strategies, approval workflows, vendor risk scoring, and exception-based management — so that the majority of routine decisions are system-guided and only true exceptions reach human review.
- AI-First Operating Model: Embed AI and ML into every layer of the function — supplier discovery, price prediction, contract intelligence, negotiation playbooks. Set the bar for what an AI-native procurement org looks like.
- Margin Impact: Directly influence gross margin and EBITDA through strategic sourcing, negotiations, demand consolidation, and value engineering across manufacturing inputs, retail spend (store CapEx and OpEx, marketing, logistics), and corporate categories.
- Year-on-Year P&L Delivery: Own and deliver structural year-on-year Store EBITDA cost savings benchmarked to the best in the industry — step-change, not incremental.
- Should-Cost & TCO Discipline: Make should-cost, total-cost-of-ownership, and value engineering the default lens for every major category decision — embedded in tools and workflows, not one-off exercises.
- Supplier Ecosystem: Build a supplier base optimized for cost, quality, speed, and resilience. Drive localization, alternate sourcing, and dual-sourcing strategies to de-risk global supply volatility.
- Strategic Buying: Transition the team from tactical PO-pushing to strategic oversight — system-generated demand signals, dynamic category playbooks, and contracts linked to real-time business KPIs.
- Negotiation Excellence: Be the commercial sharpshooter at the table for the highest-stakes negotiations — and build a team that negotiates with the same rigor.
Requirements:
- Experience: Proven leadership in procurement, strategic sourcing, or commercial roles, with proven ownership of end-to-end procurement across manufacturing, retail, and corporate spend. Exposure to global or multi-country sourcing is a strong plus.
- Commercial Track Record: Proven history of delivering breakthrough — not incremental — cost savings through strategic sourcing, negotiation, and value engineering at scale. Consistent year-on-year P&L impact, benchmarked against the best in the industry.
- Negotiation Mastery: Track record of leading complex, high-stakes negotiations and building negotiation discipline into the broader team.
- Tech & AI Acumen: Familiarity with enterprise procurement platforms and an open, curious mindset toward leveraging data, ML, and AI in commercial decision-making. A willingness to learn and partner with tech teams matters more than deep technical expertise.
- Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, or a quantitative field; MBA preferred.