Regional Indirect Category Manager

Company Description

Founded in 1982 as Comfez Pte., Ltd., Abaqa International has grown into a trusted partner in global trade and strategic sourcing. Initially based in Hong Kong, the company relocated to Singapore in 2015, rebranding as Abaqa International to strengthen its position as a regional procurement and trading hub. Over the years, Abaqa has expanded its expertise in sourcing and facilitating the trade of essential agricultural commodities—including wheat, soybean meal, and corn—ensuring a resilient and efficient supply chain for its partners across multiple markets.

Job Description

Overview of the Role

The Regional Indirect Category Manager leads the development and execution of group strategies for all indirect procurement categories with emphasis on the top 6 spend category – HR Services, Logistics, Facility Management, Professional Services, MRO and Production Equipment. Coverage will be for China, Indonesia, Malaysia & Vietnam.

This role is responsible for driving cost efficiencies, optimizing vendor relationships, ensuring policy compliance and aligning with both the group category strategies and local country needs.

The individual acts as the key partner and point of contact to the group indirect procurement and country level stakeholders, ensuring value delivery and continuous improvement across the indirect spend portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

Category Strategy & Planning

• Develop and implement country category strategies in alignment with group procurement policies, business objectives and local country needs.
• Lead opportunity assessments, spend analytics, and market research across the region.
• Identify and deliver cost savings, process improvements, and risk mitigation plans.
• Align and prioritize initiatives with key stakeholders and business leaders in each country.

Strategic Sourcing & Negotiation

• Lead complex sourcing projects in the country and across multiple countries within the region.
• Manage RFI/RFQ/RFP processes and conduct vendor negotiations.
• Optimize vendor portfolios, consolidate spend, and reduce tail spend where applicable.
• Drive competitive bidding and support local teams with strategic vendor selection.

Stakeholder Management

• Act as the strategic indirect procurement business partner for functional leads (e.g., HR, Sales, Finance, Engineering, Marketing, etc) across the group.
• Facilitate regular alignment meetings and group indirect procurement with country and functional stakeholders.
• Support change management and communicate procurement value to the business.

Vendor Management

• Manage group and country vendor performance reviews and develop vendor relationship management (VRM) plans.
• Identify key regional vendors and develop performance KPIs, SLAs, and improvement plans.
• Monitor risk, compliance, and performance across vendor engagements.

Collaboration & Governance

• Ensure compliance with procurement policies, contract management standards, and risk frameworks.
• Work closely with legal, finance, compliance teams and respective project owners on contract negotiations and renewals.
• Collaborate closely with group indirect procurement to ensure alignment with group and country sourcing strategies.
• Guide and support local country procurement teams on category-related activities and group implementation.

Reporting & Analysis

• Monitor and report on savings, compliance, vendor performance, and project status.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation, dashboards, and presentations for country reviews and leadership updates.

Qualifications

• Min 7 years of Indirect Procurement experience
• Proven experience in managing multi-country sourcing and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong analytical, commercial, and project management skills.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal abilities.
• Proficiency with procurement systems (e.g., M3, iValua) and advanced Excel/PowerPoint skills.
• Comfortable working in a matrix environment and across cultures and time zones.
• Fluency in English and Mandarin is required to liaise with regional stakeholders and suppliers across China and Asia