Y-CAPITA GROUP
Making Magic. Using Engineering.
INTERNAL NOTE
Date: 07 July 2026
From: Strategy Support
To: Dr. Kaushik Palicha
Re: Supply Chain & Sourcing Lead Role Profile, Sourcing Strategy & Compensation Benchmark (Chennai base)

1. Role Rationale
Think of the supply chain function you need as a hybrid grid asset one that must behave like a fast-responding peaker plant and a steady baseload plant at the same time, on the same balance sheet. Quick commerce experience is the peaker: sub-day cycle times, agile dispatch, tight tolerance for downtime. Industrial and cross-border supply chain is the baseload: long lead times, high inertia, but the volume and reliability that actually run the plant. Most candidates are wired for one mode only. This note profiles someone built for both, and the market, timeline, and cost to acquire them.
2. Background Profile
Target: 813 years total experience, comfortably under 40, with two engineering-grade characteristics a fast control loop and a slow control loop, both proven in prior roles.
Fast loop (24 yrs minimum): supply chain, dark-store ops, or last-mile logistics at a quick commerce or hyperlocal player (Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket, Flipkart Minutes). This is where 'capture efficiency' thinking is learned minimising latency the way a power electronics engineer minimises switching loss, with vendor SLAs measured in hours, not weeks.
Slow loop: industrial or B2B supply chain exposure in manufacturing, renewable energy, EV/battery, auto components, or process industries (Tata group, L&T;, Ashok Leyland, Exide/Amara Raja, a solar or wind EPC, or a chemicals/process plant). This is the baseload discipline import-export documentation, HS codes, Incoterms, bonded warehousing, long-cycle ocean vs air freight trade-offs, and vendor qualification for capital equipment.
¢ Direct exposure to international sourcing or freight as a category manager or logistics lead handling China/SEA/US vendors,



LC and bank guarantee mechanics, and freight-rate negotiation with forwarders (Maersk, CMA CGM, DHL Global Forwarding, Kuehne+Nagel).
¢ Engineering or SCM postgraduate background (B.Tech + PGDM/MBA in Ops/SCM from NITIE, an IIM, SP Jain, or similar) is a plus but not a gate optimise for demonstrated throughput and track record over credentials, the same way you'd qualify a vendor on delivered performance rather than a spec sheet.
3. Operating Model Two Loops, Switched Deliberately
The person should run two distinct control modes and switch between them on purpose, not blend them by default mixing a fast loop's reflexes into slow-loop decisions causes the same instability as running a peaker plant's control logic on baseload equipment.
¢ Fast loop: daily/weekly freight-rate tracking, spot-vs-contract logistics decisions, local vendor management for component sourcing in and around Chennai/Tamil Nadu, and expediting single shipments when a demonstration or ministerial-facing deadline is live.
¢ Slow loop: building the actual Asia + North America network vendor qualification in China/Korea/Taiwan for cells and precision components, duty-structure optimisation, bonded warehousing, and a freight strategy modelled on total landed cost, not just FOB price the equivalent of optimising a CCU plant on cost-per-tonne-captured rather than sticker price of the capture unit.
Reporting line: into you or Entity 2 operations leadership, with functional interfaces to R&D; (materials specs), finance (LC/forex), and whichever team owns ministerial/DRDO-facing timelines.
4.



Where to Source
¢ Direct poaching pool: supply chain professionals from Blinkit/Zepto/Instamart who have already transitioned into industrial procurement roles this migration pattern is now common enough to search directly (LinkedIn: "ex-Blinkit supply chain" + "industrial procurement").
¢ Industrial conglomerates with global sourcing desks: Tata group companies, Ashok Leyland, and EV/renewable-adjacent firms (Exide, Amara Raja, Ola Electric, Tata AutoComp).
¢ 3PL/freight-forwarder alumni: client-facing hires from DHL, Kuehne+Nagel, DP World, or Delhivery's enterprise vertical, who already think in landed-cost and cross-border terms.
¢ Specialist recruiters: Antal International and ABC Consultants (dedicated Chennai supply chain/procurement desks); Michael Page for the more senior, internationally-facing end.
¢ Chennai-specific pool: the city's auto-component and process-industry cluster (Ford/Hyundai/Ashok Leyland supply base) already carries strong sourcing and logistics talent without requiring relocation.
5. Compensation Benchmark (Chennai)
¢ 1824 LPA Manager/Senior Manager level, right hybrid background, less closed-deal international experience.
¢ 2535 LPA has run an Asia-to-India or India-to-export freight/vendor programme end-to-end and can own the North America leg immediately.
¢ 35 LPA+ moves into AVP/Head territory; justified only if this person is meant to own the full Entity 2 supply chain function long-term, not execute under direction.
6. Recommendation
Anchor the search at the 2535 LPA band. This buys someone who has already closed the loop on at least one cross-border freight/vendor cycle, reducing the ramp-up time before they can be trusted to run the slow loop unsupervised the equivalent of paying up front for a plant operator who has already commissioned a unit, rather than training one on your own timeline.

📌 Supply Chain & Sourcing Lead (Chennai)
🏢 Y-Capita Group Making Magic Using Engineering
📍 Chennai