Procurement Manager – Trading Infrastructure & Operations

Role Overview

The Procurement Manager will own end-to-end sourcing and vendor management for trading-critical infrastructure and services. This role works closely with Quant, Infrastructure, Network Engineering, Finance, and Legal teams to ensure NK Securities has uninterrupted, low-latency, and scalable infrastructure at optimal cost and risk.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Management

• Own sourcing strategy for IT hardware, networking equipment, collocations, telecom, market data, cloud/SaaS, and professional services
• Run RFPs/RFQs, vendor evaluations, and commercial negotiations
• Build and manage a preferred vendor ecosystem across India and global markets

2. Trading Infrastructure Procurement

• Partner with Infrastructure & Network Engineering teams to procure:
• Servers, switches, NICs, FPGA-based systems
• Low-latency networking, cross-connects, racks, power and cooling
• Understand and translate technical specifications into procurement requirements
• Manage vendor lead times, testing cycles, and deployment readiness

3. Contracting & Commercial Negotiation

• Negotiate pricing, SLAs, MSAs, NDAs, warranties, and renewal terms
• Work with Legal to ensure compliance on: Data protection, Export/import regulations, Vendor confidentiality and IP protection
• Own contract lifecycle management and renewals
• Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) for procurement activities
• Ensure compliance with internal controls, approvals, and documentation standards

4. Cost Control & Budget Ownership

• Manage CAPEX and OPEX forecasting for procurement categories
• Track savings, cost avoidance, and vendor consolidation initiatives
• Deliver measurable outcomes on TCO optimization

5. Logistics, Inventory & Asset Management

• Oversee global procurement logistics, customs clearance, and deployment
• Maintain inventory, spares, asset tagging, and lifecycle management
• Ensure rapid turnaround for trading-critical equipment

6. Strategic Sourcing & Vendor Management

• Own and execute all procurement for the organization, including:
• Trading and technology infrastructure
• Office, facilities, and operational requirements
• Professional services, subscriptions, and recurring vendor contracts
• Serve as the primary interface between internal stakeholders and external vendors.
• Ensure consistency in pricing, contracting standards, and vendor performance across categories.

7. Risk & Continuity Management

• Identify vendor concentration and supply-chain risks
• Maintain alternate sourcing strategies and contingency plans
• Support business continuity for trading systems

8. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Act as a trusted partner to: Trading & Quant teams, Infrastructure & SRE, Finance and Compliance
• Enable speed without compromising governance

Candidate Profile

1.     Experience

• 3+ years of experience in Procurement / Strategic Sourcing
• Strong exposure to IT / Technology procurement (mandatory)
• Experience in trading firms, fintech, data centers, telecom, cloud, or high-performance tech environments is highly preferred

2.     Skills & Competencies

• Proven negotiation and contract management skills
• Comfort working with technical teams and infrastructure specs
• Strong analytical ability for spend and vendor performance analysis
• Experience with ERP / procurement systems
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced, zero-downtime environment

3.     Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, or related field
• MBA / Supply Chain certification is a plus