Role Overview

A hands-on, execution-focused role with three complementary responsibilities: ensuring the quality and consistency of all production batches, providing laboratory support for ongoing R&D work under the direction of the Technical Manager, and owning VRP’s technical documentation systems. The successful candidate is analytically rigorous, detail-oriented, and — critically — digitally fluent. They will build and maintain the systems, templates, and databases that turn lab results into professional, auditable, customer-ready documentation. Paper-based recordkeeping is not acceptable in this role.

Key Responsibilities

Quality Control — Primary Function

• Test all incoming raw materials against approved specifications before release to production
• Perform in-process checks at defined production stages and release finished goods batches against internal specifications
• Generate accurate Certificates of Analysis (CoA) for all production batches; maintain CoA records and batch documentation
• Identify deviations from specification; raise non-conformance reports and coordinate corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) with production
• Coordinate with production team on quality-related troubleshooting and process consistency

Laboratory Support — Secondary Function

• Execute laboratory synthesis batches as directed and designed by the Technical Manager
• Conduct analytical testing on trial batches (FTIR, GC, viscosity, OH number, acid value, and other standard characterisation tests) and record results accurately
• Prepare samples for dispatch to external testing laboratories; coordinate receipt and filing of external test reports
• Assist with literature searches, reference data compilation, and preparation of technical reports as directed
• Maintain lab notebooks and experimental logs to a standard suitable for patent support documentation

Technical Documentation & Digital Systems — Distinct Responsibility

• Own the preparation and maintenance of all Technical Data Sheets (TDS) and Material Safety Data Sheets (TDS/MSDS) across VRP’s product range, ensuring they are accurate, professionally formatted, GHS-compliant, and updated when formulations or test data change
• Build and maintain a centralised, digital QC database: all batch results, CoAs, raw material test certificates, and external lab reports stored in a structured, searchable, auditable system — no paper-based primary records
• Design and manage Google Sheets or equivalent digital templates for batch tracking, test result logging, and trend monitoring across production runs
• Use available tools — including AI-assisted drafting, document automation, and database management — to improve the speed and consistency of documentation outputs
• Ensure all records are version-controlled and traceable: the right result linked to the right batch, the right grade, the right customer shipment, at all times
• Proactively flag when documentation systems need improvement; this person is expected to build better systems, not just maintain existing ones

Required Qualifications

• M.Sc. in Polymer Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, or Applied Chemistry
• 3–6 years of experience in QC and/or analytical laboratory roles in polymers, resins, coatings, or specialty chemicals
• Hands-on proficiency with standard analytical instruments: FTIR, GC-FID, viscometers, titration (OH number, acid value)
• Demonstrable experience with digital recordkeeping: structured spreadsheets, cloud-based document systems, or laboratory information management tools — not paper logbooks

What We’re Looking For

The chemistry qualification gets you in the room. What separates the right candidate is their relationship with technology and systems.

• Digitally native: comfortable with Google Workspace, spreadsheet-based data management, and learning new tools quickly; has used or is willing to use AI tools (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to accelerate documentation work
• Has produced professional customer-facing technical documents — TDS, MSDS, or equivalent — and takes pride in how they look, not just whether the numbers are correct
• Finds satisfaction in building systems that make future work easier, not just completing today’s task
• Execution-oriented and comfortable in a support role to a senior technical leader; takes direction on the science, owns the documentation
• Strong attention to detail — errors in CoAs or TDS documents are not acceptable and have commercial consequences

Role Overview

Vikram Resins and Polymers is entering a significant growth phase — expanding production capacity, developing new specialty chemistry product lines, and building the institutional systems required to scale. Procurement is currently embedded in the Operations Manager's role and managed through a combination of experience, relationships, and tools built in Google Sheets. It works, but it will not scale.

This role exists to extract procurement from the operations function, institutionalise it as a standalone discipline, and build the systems and processes that make purchasing proactive, data-driven, and auditable. The successful candidate takes full ownership of procurement from day one, works closely with the Operations Manager during a structured handover period, and then runs the function independently.

This person reports directly to the Managing Partner. Day-to-day coordination happens with the Operations Manager, who provides production context and consumption data. Strategic decisions on major raw material purchases — pricing, timing, quantity, forward buying — are made in consultation with the Managing Partner.

The role will evolve rapidly as VRP moves toward an automated production planning system. Once live, procurement decisions will be driven by system-generated material requirements rather than manual calculations. This person needs to be capable of working within that system — not just executing purchases, but owning the data inputs that make the system accurate.

Key Responsibilities

Day-to-Day Procurement — Primary Function

• Manage the full purchasing cycle for all raw materials, packaging, consumables, and utilities: raise POs, coordinate delivery, manage receipt documentation, and ensure timely payment coordination with Finance
• Own daily procurement of minor consumables and utilities — diesel, nitrogen, packaging materials — based on consumption signals and reorder triggers; these are currently managed informally and need to be systemised
• Manage weekly procurement of major raw materials — maleic anhydride, phthalic anhydride, glycols, styrene monomer, and others — in line with production schedules and approved stock levels
• Handle all supplier communication for procurement purposes: pricing discussions, delivery scheduling, shortage resolution, and quality issues; supplier calls about rates currently fall to the Operations Manager and must transfer completely to this role
• Coordinate inbound logistics: confirm delivery timings, ensure materials arrive when needed, and flag supply risks early enough that production is never held up by a material shortage

Procurement Planning & Forecasting — Distinct Responsibility

• Own the raw material planning cycle: translate production schedules into forward-looking material requirements, determining what needs to be bought, in what quantity, and when
• Maintain and improve the procurement planning system currently built in Google Sheets; over time, migrate this into the automated production planning system being developed — this person must be capable of working with a database-driven system, not just spreadsheets
• Build and maintain reorder point models for all critical raw materials, incorporating consumption rates, supplier lead times, minimum order quantities, and safety stock requirements
• Track actual consumption against forecast; identify variances, understand root causes, and use findings to improve forecasting accuracy
• Maintain a live price tracker for all key raw materials: record purchase prices, monitor market movements, flag material deviations from benchmark, and bring pricing recommendations to the Managing Partner
• Develop dual-sourcing plans for critical raw materials — particularly those with single-supplier risk — and qualify backup suppliers before a supply failure forces the issue
• Produce a monthly procurement report: spend by material, price variance vs. benchmark, on-time delivery by supplier, current stock coverage, and forward-looking risk flags

Systems, Records & Institutional Knowledge

• Maintain the Approved Vendor List (AVL), vendor master records, and material specifications database in structured, searchable digital formats — no paper-based primary records
• Ensure all procurement documentation is complete, traceable, and audit-ready: POs, delivery challans, invoices, and material test certificates linked to the relevant batch and supplier
• Use available digital tools — Google Sheets, AI tools, and the production planning system once live — to reduce manual effort and improve the reliability and speed of procurement reporting
• Document procurement processes clearly enough that a new hire could be onboarded from written records alone; the function must not depend on one person's memory
• Work with the production planning automation project to define the data inputs procurement must provide, and ensure those inputs are accurate and timely

Handover & Transition (First 90 Days)

• Spend the first 4-6 weeks working alongside the Operations Manager to fully understand the current vendor base, material specifications, pricing history, stock management approach, and informal knowledge that currently lives in one person's head
• By end of month 2, take full ownership of all day-to-day procurement so the Operations Manager is no longer involved in supplier calls, PO raising, or delivery coordination
• By end of month 3, produce the first monthly procurement report and present it to the Managing Partner

Required Qualifications

• Graduate in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical field; must be able to read a TDS and understand why a specification matters — not just whether the price is right
• 3–5 years of procurement experience in chemicals, paints, coatings, pharmaceuticals, or process manufacturing
• Demonstrable experience building or maintaining procurement planning tools — spreadsheet-based MRP models, reorder point calculators, or equivalent; candidates with only transactional purchasing experience will not be suitable
• Comfortable with Google Workspace and spreadsheet-based data management; experience with database tools or ERP systems is an advantage; willingness to learn and work within an automated planning system is essential

What We’re Looking For

Purchasing experience gets you in the room. What separates the right candidate is how they think about systems, data, and ownership.

• Analytically sharp: treats procurement as a forecasting and optimisation problem, not a series of phone calls; builds models to support decisions rather than relying on instinct
• Builds for transparency: creates tools and processes others can understand, audit, and improve — not personal systems that create dependency on one individual
• Technically grounded: understands what they are buying and why the specification matters; comfortable discussing material performance with QC or production, not just price with suppliers
• Takes ownership of outcomes: a stockout or overstock is a procurement failure regardless of whether the PO was raised on time — this person understands the difference between activity and accountability
• Comfortable with change: VRP is moving from manual, person-dependent processes to automated, system-driven ones; this person should find that transition exciting, not threatening

What This Role Is NOT

This is not a vendor relationship role where success means knowing the right people to call. Relationship skills matter, but they support the function — they do not define it. Candidates who are strong at negotiation but weak on data, planning, and systems will find this role structurally frustrating.

This role also does not own the production plan. The production schedule is an input to procurement, not an output of it. This person translates the plan into material requirements — they do not set the plan.