Supply Chain & Engineering (Direct Spend Optimization): Manager

Direct Materials Spend Optimization

At Accenture, we work across industries to address our client’s most complex challenges, bringing together innovative talent and emerging technologies.

Practice: Strategy & Consulting, Supply Chain & Engineering (Direct Spend Optimization)
Level: Manager | Experience: 9+ years

Areas of Work: Direct Spend Optimization, EBITDA improvement, Should Costing & Teardowns, Design to Value, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Resilience, AI/ Agentic Procurement
Locations: Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai

Explore an Exciting Career at Accenture

As part of Supply Chain & Engineering (Direct Spend Optimization), you will help clients improve EBITDA and build more resilient supply chains by transforming Direct Materials, the supplier facing materials, components and externally manufactured inputs that flow directly into products.

The role combines deep direct category expertise with engineering led cost transformation, strategic sourcing, supplier ecosystem design, digital/ AI enablement, and disciplined value realization. You will work across the full Direct Materials agenda what to buy, where to buy, who to buy from, for how much, how and when to buy, and how to sustain value.

What you will work on

- Direct Materials diagnostics and value assessments: Establish spend/category baselines, identify cost drivers and size opportunities using spend, BOM, supplier, specification, and operational data.

- Should-costing, teardowns & Design-to-Value: Build bottom-up should cost models using BOMs, drawings/ CAD, material and process inputs; conduct product/component teardowns and competitive benchmarking; identify value through VA/VE, specification optimization, part/ SKU standardization, make vs buy and complexity reduction.

- Strategic sourcing and commercial excellence: Develop category strategies, run competitive sourcing, fact-based negotiations, contract optimization, commodity intelligence, price risk/hedging and total cost of ownership interventions; incorporate sustainability into overall strategies.

- Supplier ecosystem and resilience: Support best country sourcing, localization, alternate supplier discovery, supplier consolidation, dual/multi-sourcing, supply network optimization, and risk mitigation.

- AI/ Agentic Direct Procurement: Shape and deploy practical AI/ GenAI/ Agentic use cases across spend analytics, should cost modelling, supplier discovery, commodity and market intelligence, guided negotiation, complexity reduction, tariff intelligence, and Source to Pay workflows.

- Value realization and sustainment: Translate opportunities into business cases, execution roadmaps, contracted savings, supplier performance mechanisms, operating-model improvements, and managed-service/ continuous-improvement models.

Bring your best skills forward to excel in the role





- Strong analytical problem solving with the ability to connect commercial, engineering, supply chain and financial data.
- Ability to work across Procurement, Engineering/ R&D;, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Finance and Technology stakeholders.
- Robust client leadership, communication, executive presentation, and team management skills.
- Comfort with digital, analytics and emerging AI technologies, with a practical focus on measurable business outcomes.

Role Details

Drive client value creation

- Understand the client business, product economics, direct material cost base, leadership priorities and value agenda.
- Co-create transformation strategies spanning cost, margin, resilience, productivity and AI-enabled procurement.
- Build credibility with C-suite and functional leaders through deep industry/category understanding and fact-based insights.

Lead program delivery

- Lead Direct Materials engagements from rapid diagnostic and value assessment through sourcing, negotiation, implementation and sustained value realization.
- Guide teams across spend/ BOM analytics, should-costing, teardown/value engineering, commodity and market intelligence, sourcing strategy, supplier assessment, risk analysis, business cases and roadmaps.
- Ensure value is translated into executable actions, finance aligned benefits and scalable client capabilities.

Grow the business and our capabilities

- Support/originate Direct Materials opportunities, shape client propositions and develop differentiated commercial pathways.
- Bring together category, engineering, industry, data/ AI and technology capabilities to solve client problems end to end.
- Develop reusable assets, playbooks and points of view across Direct Materials transformation and Agentic AI.

Preferred industry and category experience

- Industries: CPG, Industrial & Automotive, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, High Tech, Retail, Health & Life Sciences, Metals & Mining industry experience would be preferred
- Categories: Metals/ steel/ alloys/ castings; plastics and resins; electronics/ PCBs/ components; chemicals; packaging; food ingredients/ agri commodities; pulp & paper; mining equipment/ consumables; contract manufacturing; and other product-critical direct categories.
- Experience in consulting and global/ multi-country transformation programs is desirable.
- Experience leading mid to large teams and managing senior client stakeholders across complex transformation programs.




- Working knowledge of Excel and visualization/ analytics tools such as Power BI/ Alteryx; exposure to AI/ GenAI/ Agentic AI solutions in procurement is desirable.

What's in it for you?

- Opportunity to work on high impact Direct Materials transformation programs for leading global clients, with a direct line of sight to COGS, EBITDA and supply resilience.
- Work at the intersection of procurement, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, data and AI moving from strategy through implementation and value realization.
- Build deep expertise across direct categories, should-costing, Design to Value, supplier ecosystems and AI-enabled/Agentic procurement solutions.
- Collaborate with strategy leaders, industry specialists, engineers, data/AI practitioners and global delivery teams to create differentiated client outcomes.
- Access structured learning and development to deepen consulting, category, technology and leadership capabilities in a globally connected environment.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps organizations build their digital core, optimize operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance services creating tangible value at speed and scale. Our Strategy & Consulting teams combine industry, functional, technology and delivery expertise to help clients reinvent how they operate and compete.

Within Supply Chain & Engineering (Direct Spend Optimization), our Direct Materials work brings together deep category expertise, engineering and product-cost capabilities, strategic sourcing, AI / Agentic assets and global delivery to drive measurable and sustainable client value.

About Accenture Strategy & Consulting

Accenture Strategy & Consulting works with clients on their most critical business and operating model challenges, combining deep business insight with technology and data. Global Network teams complement in-country teams to deliver specialized expertise and measurable value across the client lifecycle.

At the heart of every great change is a great human. If you have ideas, ingenuity and a passion for making a difference, come and be a part of our team.

Your experience counts!

- MBA from a Tier-1 business school, or equivalent relevant postgraduate qualification.
- 9+ years of experience for Manager level, with significant hands-on exposure to Direct Materials procurement, sourcing, category management, product cost management, and/or manufacturing cost transformation.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience in one or more direct-material value levers: should cost modelling, product/component teardowns, Design to Value/ VA-VE, specification/complexity reduction, strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations, commodity buying/hedging, supplier ecosystem design, localization or supply risk management.
- Experience working with technical inputs such as BOMs, drawings/CAD, material specifications, supplier quotes and manufacturing process/cost drivers is strongly preferred.

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📍 Mumbai