Assistant Manager - Finance and Procurement Operations Business Partner

Role Overview

The Assistant Manager - Finance and Procurement Operations Business Partner plays a crucial role in supporting the Marketing department by overseeing financial planning, procurement processes, vendor administration, and operational coordination. Serving as the primary liaison between Marketing and internal functions such as Finance, Procurement, Legal, as well as external suppliers, this position ensures that budgets, purchase requests, contractual agreements, purchase orders, and payments are processed efficiently in line with company policies.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist in preparing and managing the Marketing department's yearly budget and financial planning activities.
• Collaborate with marketing teams to forecast expenditure needs related to campaigns, events, media, sponsorships, agencies, and other related activities.
• Track actual expenses, budget commitments, and funds availability against authorized plans.
• Generate periodic budget reports, forecasts, variance analyses, and financial briefings for Marketing leadership.
• Identify financial risks including over or underspending and recommend corrective measures.
• Support budget reallocations, accruals, and year-end financial closure.
• Ensure accurate cost distribution across marketing functions, projects, and campaigns.
• Manage procurement activities tied to campaigns, events, media services, creative and production agencies, research, and other marketing operations.
• Facilitate preparation and submission of purchase requests, RFPs, tender documents, and purchase orders.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to define scopes, technical requirements, deliverables, and evaluation criteria for procurement.
• Monitor procurement from initial requests through sourcing, evaluation, contracting, ordering, and payment stages, ensuring compliance and necessary approvals.
• Maintain adherence to procurement timelines and resolve delays or pending actions promptly.
• Coordinate vendor onboarding, registration, and maintain comprehensive records of contracts, purchase orders, deliverables, payment schedules, and contract expirations.
• Assess vendor performance regarding service quality, timelines, and budgets.
• Support contract renewals, amendments, extensions, closures, and coordinate with Procurement and Legal on supplier issues.
• Resolve vendor disputes, delayed deliveries, invoice discrepancies, and payment challenges efficiently.
• Review invoices against contracts and purchase orders to confirm service completion before payment processing.
• Work with Marketing to validate services and approvals for payments.
• Track invoice and payment statuses, following up with Finance, Procurement, and vendors on unsettled items.
• Ensure accurate records of financial commitments, invoices, accruals, and payments are maintained.
• Act as the operational interface between Marketing and other corporate teams including Finance, Procurement, and Legal.
• Advise Marketing on financial, procurement, and contracting procedures.
• Assist in planning procurement schedules and sourcing strategies for marketing activities.
• Organize regular budget and procurement review sessions with stakeholders.
• Communicate clear management updates regarding budget health, procurement status, risks, and decisions.
• Build and nurture productive relationships with internal teams, agencies, suppliers, and service providers.
• Ensure all financial and procurement activities within Marketing adhere to corporate policies, delegated authorities, and approval protocols.
• Maintain thorough documentation to support governance checks and audits.
• Develop reports, dashboards, trackers, and logs to monitor budgets, contracts, purchase orders, and payments.
• Identify operational inefficiencies and suggest improvements to enhance process effectiveness, transparency, and compliance.
• Contribute toward creating standardized templates, guidelines, and procedures for Marketing operations.
• Monitor key performance indicators such as procurement turnaround times, budget utilization, payment statuses, and vendor performance metrics.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Procurement, Supply Chain Management, or a related discipline.
• Professional certifications in Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, or Project Management are advantageous.
• At least 4 to 6 years' experience in finance operations, procurement, commercial operations, business partnering, or budget management.
• Preferred experience supporting Marketing, Communications, Events, Media, or Sponsorship functions.
• Demonstrated expertise managing budgets, purchase requests, purchase orders, contracts, invoices, and vendor relationships.