Darpan Soneja

About Darpan Soneja

A self-driven and pragmatic professional with effective interpersonal and communication skills, who is well versed with working in challenging and result-oriented environments. Having a strong technical education with business and political science degrees from some of the best universities in the world, my thought process is structured to analyse problems form a practical standpoint, and solve them by coming up with innovative and original solutions. Furthermore, my multi-cultural heritage and diverse international experiences have made me extremely flexible when it comes to adapting to different situations and working with people from various international backgrounds.

Experience

1. Vice President - Strategy & Operations

   Uttam Polyrubs

   Mar 2016 — Present · Gurgaon, IN

   Responsible for managing the techno-commercial aspects of New Product Development of Footwear Soles for brands like Zara, H&M, Florsheim, Bugatti, Ted Baker, Next etc.Working alongside designers, merchandisers, sourcing teams of international fashion brands and other key stakeholders in the supply chain to seamlessly execute projects in a time bound manner.Working with fashion brands and their sourcing teams towards designing and manufacturing cost effective products, without compromising on key parameters like product quality, aesthetics, and feel.Led the effort to diversify the existing product portfolio and branch out into 3 new product segments namely TPU Soles, EVA Soles and Rubber Soles. As a result, the company has expanded operations to 3 manufacturing units from 1 manufacturing unit in a span of 5 years.Successfully reduced production costs by over 5% through effective implementation of value engineering practices, and managed to double the production output for a product segment while simultaneously making the process more energy efficient.Achieved a net 15% savings in raw material procurement costs by adopting practices such as trend analysis and trend forecasting of polymer prices, and correlating the fluctuation in polymer prices with rise and fall in the price of oil owing to geo-political events like COVID, US-Iran tensions, the Russia-Ukraine war etc.Identified future product opportunities in sustainable footwear soles and convinced the organisation to invest in the development of Recycled Rubber Soles and Soling sheets.Represented the footwear industry in the trade delegation organised by FICCI and FIEO to Spain and Portugal, and provided inputs to the trade negotiators representing the Government of India in shaping the India- EU free trade agreement.Working alongside the Organisation’s legal counsel for drafting of contractual agreements and chalking out a legal recourse strategy for recoveries from Debtors.

Education

• The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

  Summer School, Strategic Management

• UCL

  Legal and Political Theory - MA, Philosophy, Law, Political Science, Public Policy

• IE Business School

  Masters in Management (MiM), Specialisation in International Business

• Amity International School, Gurgaon

  CBSE - 12th Grade, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, Physical Education

• WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management

  Masters in Management (MiM) Exchange

• National Institute of Technology Calicut

  Bachelor of Technology - BTech, Production Engineering

Skills

• Consulting
• Business Strategy
• Project Planning
• Corporate Governance
• Teamwork
• Marketing
• Microsoft Excel
• Marketing Strategy
• Market Research
• Leadership
• Strategic Planning
• Microsoft Office
• Project Management
• Strategy
• Business Development
• Digital Marketing
• Financial Analysis
• Process Improvement
• Advertising
• Product Development
• Business Planning
• Operations Management
• Analysis