? WE’RE HIRING | Head – Procurement & New Product Development

Rabitat | Senior Leadership | Full-time

? Location: [Add Location]

? Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

? Function: NPD & Procurement

? Experience: 10–15 Years

At Rabitat, we’re looking for a leader who can own what we make — and how well we make it.

This role sits at the intersection of Product × Engineering × Procurement × Manufacturing × Business.

You’ll own the vendor ecosystem end-to-end while driving products from concept → prototype → tooling → pilot → production.

? What will you own? ? Recent Product Development

- Partner with Engineering & Design to convert concepts into manufacturable products
- Drive DFM, prototyping, sampling, tooling and pilot production
- Own the NPD calendar, stage gates, timelines and launch execution
- Partner with Business & Marketing on the future product roadmap
- Bring cost, feasibility and vendor intelligence into product decisions

? Procurement & Vendor Strategy

- Own end-to-end procurement across products, packaging & components
- Build a competitive and de-risked supplier ecosystem
- Eliminate single-source dependencies and develop backup capacity
- Scout, qualify and onboard domestic & international vendors
- Negotiate pricing, payment terms, MOQs, quality standards, SLAs and contracts
- Drive year-on-year COGS improvement without compromising quality

? Vendor Development & Performance

- Build long-term strategic supplier relationships
- Conduct vendor audits, pilot runs and capability assessments
- Establish vendor scorecards around Quality × Cost × Delivery × Responsiveness




- Move key suppliers from transactional POs to structured commercial partnerships

? Leadership & Function Building

- Build, mentor and scale the Procurement & NPD team
- Establish processes, systems and dashboards that enable predictable execution
- Connect Engineering, Design, Business, Marketing and Operations around product decisions

? What are we looking for? ✔️ 10–15 years of experience in Consumer Products / Hardgoods / Durables

✔️ Meaningful experience across both Sourcing/Procurement Product Development

✔️ B.E./B.Tech in Mechanical, Production, Industrial or related engineering discipline

✔️ Strong understanding of DFM, manufacturing, tooling, drawings & tolerances

✔️ Deep experience in vendor development, negotiation & contracting

✔️ Strong commercial understanding of margins, landed costs and COGS

✔️ Hands-on, structured and comfortable working in a fast-growing environment

✔️ Willingness to travel regularly to vendor/manufacturing sites

✔️ MBA is a plus, not a requirement

? What success looks like: → Critical categories have qualified backup suppliers

→ Key vendors operate under clear commercial & quality contracts

→ NPD moves predictably from approved design to production

→ Product roadmap decisions are backed by real cost & feasibility data

→ COGS improves year-on-year without compromising quality

If you’re an engineering-led procurement leader who loves building products, developing vendors and creating scalable supply ecosystems, we’d love to hear from you.

? Interested? DM me your profile at [email protected]

📌 Head - Procurement & NPD (New Delhi)
🏢 Merlin Brands
📍 New Delhi