Niraj Thakkar Email & Phone Number

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

· Responsible for developing and enhancing the procurement center of excellence at the Toronto Parking Authority, a City of Toronto agency.· Built strong internal relationships and provided expertise to develop innovative procurement strategies and solutions to drive best value. · Ensured compliance with public sector policies and protocols by establishing.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Owned hardware and professional services spend at Cineplex Digital Media (CDM).
• Managed RFx events for current and future opportunities, including an RFP for a consolidated field services partner that would provide a combination of warehousing, installation and on-site after sales services.
• Developed and executed key sourcing strategies and buying channels for major purchase categories in collaboration with business partners and stakeholders.
• Led strategic supplier relationships to drive operational efficiencies and cost savings.
• Optimally established and managed CDM vendor contracts, vendor performance and commercial parts of the vendor relationship.
• Built strong relationships with internal business partners including operational leaders and finance partners.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

• Optimally managed CDM vendor contracts and commercial parts of the vendor relationship. This included managing and improving vendor performance, monitoring and mitigating vendor risks.
• Run RFP, RFQ for current & future opportunities
• Ensured orders are processed and received in a timely manner and coordinated with project teams to expedite orders as required.
• Introduced inventory management systems in alignment with industry standards.

Toronto, Canada Area

• Coordinated production and installation activities to achieve project deadlines while maximizing productivity.
• Led process improvement initiatives to achieve operations excellence and increase profitability.
• Managed inventory and forecasts to meet demand expectations and avoid shortages.
• Procured all raw materials in a timely manner and optimized shipping costs.
• Lead contact for more than 150 dealers for technical and commercial queries.
• Ensured timely order deliveries by collaborating with different cross-functional teams.

Mumbai Area, India

• Led cross functional teams to develop a new range of products with 50% lower material costs by redefining specifications and developing strategic relationships with vendors.
• Led cost-reduction initiative for custom part development; competitively sourced and qualified local vendors to reduce costs of certain components by 45%, with minimal impact on customer satisfaction.
• Had ongoing responsibilities across categories for vendor identification and qualification based on competencies, quality of products, effectiveness of service and negotiated rates and terms and conditions of business.
• Re-evaluated cost-value drivers with technical, commercial and supplier teams to realign specifications and deliver cost reduction of up to 20% for certain product lines.
• Redesigned processes to align with product strategy and reduced overheads by 50%.
• Set up a market intelligence capability working with a selected pool of vendors to develop understanding of supplier costs, which significantly improved effectiveness of the product / procurement teams in vendor.

Mumbai

• Increased response capacity to sales inquiries by 300% by introducing an enhanced estimation and sales process. Redesigned client communications, simplified the process for certain products, built Excel utility, and.
• Reduced project cycle time from 16 weeks to 8 weeks through reducing defects, improving coordination between teams and increasing transparency in the organization.
• Reduced manufacturing defect rate by over 40%, through improving quality of specifications and information flow.

Cambridge, United Kingdom

• Developed a business model and market entry strategy for new technology using Microsoft Surface platform to support archiving practices of families.
• Created value proposition by combining software with hardware, which overcame selling issues related to software sold independently.
• Analyzed market opportunities and developed an effective value scheme.

• Performed due diligence for over 40 companies in the renewable energy sector, catering to the bottom-of-the-pyramid with innovative business models and key success factors.
• Prepared reports for business and academic use, one of which was published in the center newsletter.

• Led teams to execute industrial automation system projects worth an average of $1.5M for research, cement, power, and steel industries across India.
• Translated client process requirements into functional code on Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) for safe, effective and efficient control of manufacturing processes.
• Rated ‘Top Performer’ for contribution as team leader and system developer in completing a challenging project in 70% of expected time for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) new solid propellant plant.
• Worked with teams of 4 to 50 members, depending on project complexity, and travelled across country to execute projects at site level.

Mba, Innovation And Entrepreneurship

Activities and Societies: • Vice President - Entrepreneurship Club. • Innovation Entrepreneurship and Design project: Developed a business.

Bachelor Of Engineering, Electronics

Activities and Societies: • Developed an Automated Target System (ATS) for air-rifle shooting competitions (patent pending). • Event.

Education record