Neelam Najmi

About Neelam Najmi

A thought leader with 15+ years of professional experience in both direct and Indirect Procurement, motivated by stretch goals and high expectations of myself, I am a self-motivated strategic sourcing “hunter” while being a team player. Given the significant transformation the function undergoes, I am comfortable with ambiguity while maintaining clarity of direction, adapting my approach in a rapidly changing environment while never losing sight of my and the stakeholder’s goals. I define my value as including but not limited to; cost reductions, improved quality of products and services, contributing to our Supplier Diversity and Sustainability objectives, and assuring supply continuity.I am a sourcing leader adept and not limiting to digital procurement tools and process automation but aligning the function’s strategies and goals with my primary stakeholders, engaging them in robust discussions to differentiate their business needs from wants. I dwell on developing a keen understanding of the business and how the spend category supports it. My perspective has always been broader than typical sourcing roles. Leveraging my knowledge and insights, I attain trusted advisor status with my business partners, including executives, professionally challenging them, and presenting alternative points of view or courses of action.

Experience

1. Senior Director, Global Head Professional & Corporate Services (Consulting, Labor, t & E, Bpo, Hrss)

   Mars

   Jul 2024 — Present · US

   SLT/Senior Procurement leadership position at Mars, responsible for the development & execution of Category Management strategies for the Professional Services Category (Consulting, Contingent Workforce, Travel, HR Services, Legal) for all Mars Segments globally. • Strategically Develop an enterprise-wide strategy of a 3-year roadmap covering a spend of $1.9B with a documented execution plan aligned to the business strategies & key stakeholders.• Developing deep understanding of our business needs, external benchmarks and category industry and people capabilities, to create and execute Category sourcing strategies with an End-to-End approach, focusing on a time horizon of 3-5y, driving innovation and challenge to bring competitive advantage to the business.• Partnered with the key Global & Regional stakeholders including to ensure alignment with the business requirements as well as strategy and execution plan.• Contributed 90M in value creation across the General Services Category, including P&L cost reduction, Cash from Payment Term• Ensuring robust project and change management processes, right governance and escalation procedures. Member of the Global Supply & General Services leadership team, manage a team of 11 Sr Sourcing Managers and a community of 8 Regional Category Managers.• Leading Global and critical supplier financial and contractual negotiation, but also relationship & Performance management. Working with the regions to ensure successful Implementation of regional contracts and related Service Level Agreements for the respective. Developing and maintaining sustainable relationships with Critical suppliers.

Education

• Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Agra

  Master's degree, Biochemistry

  1998 — 2000

• All India Institute of Medical Sciences

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Molecular Genetics and Immunology

  2004 — 2009

• Delhi University

  Bachelor's degree, General Science

  1995 — 1998

• Lubar College of Business

  Master of Business Administration (MBA), Supply Chain and Operations Management (SCOM)