Ashis Jain – Transforming Procurement into a Strategic Powerhouse
Ashis Jain is a visionary procurement and sourcing leader with over 15 years of experience spanning steel manufacturing, enterprise technology, and global supply chain transformation. Currently serving as Director of Procurement and part of senior leadership team at Vesuvius India (since August 2025), he is widely recognized for driving agility, digitization, and resilience across procurement functions, positioning procurement as a strategic enabler rather than a transactional support role.
At Vesuvius India, Jain leads the organization’s end-to-end procurement and supply chain strategy, encompassing vendor management, supplier relationship management, sourcing intelligence, contracting, last-mile delivery, planning, and quality assurance. His leadership philosophy emphasizes automation, simplification, and data-driven decision-making, ensuring procurement delivers sustained business value and competitive advantage.
Prior to this role, Ashis spent over 12 years at Tata Steel, where he held multiple leadership positions within procurement function. Most notably, he served as Head of Global Sourcing for Bulk Commodities, overseeing coordinated and lead buying of ferro alloys, metals, and process consumables across manufacturing sites in India, IJmuiden, and the UK. His tenure was marked by significant procurement restructuring and transformation initiatives focused on process excellence, scale, synergy, simplification, and digitization. Through these efforts, he strengthened supplier collaboration, streamlined processes, and improved operational efficiency across global operations.
His progression through roles such as Head of Procurement – Ferro Alloys & Metals, Head of Procurement – Process Consumables, Senior Category Manager – Bulk Commodities, and earlier positions in vendor development and supplier relationship management reflects his ability to manage complex portfolios and deliver measurable impact while building resilient supplier ecosystems.
Earlier in his career, prior to completing his master’s degree, Ashis worked at the Oracle India Development Center as a Senior Applications Engineer developing ERP solutions. This role provided him with a strong technical foundation in enterprise applications, enabling him to effectively integrate technology with procurement and supply chain transformation initiatives. His unique exposure to both IT and industrial environments allows him to act as a bridge between operational requirements with digital innovation.
Ashis holds a Master’s in International Business from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi (2011–2013), including an exchange program at Hanken School of Economics, Finland. He is a Gold Medalist in Metallurgy and Materials Engineering from VNIT Nagpur. His academic and professional excellence has been recognized through numerous honors, including the Institute Gold Medal, Academic Excellence Prize, and Young Achievers Award in Corporate Leadership (IIFT, 2024). He has represented at national and international forums, being National winner – Matquiz’14 (IIMM), CII National Excellence practices (Supplier Relationship Management), and had research publications at the ANQ Congress 2024, Japan, emphasizing quality in services and procurement-led differentiation.
His professional certifications include TBEM Gold Certified Assessor, DATOM Silver Certified Assessor, ISO 9001:2015 Lead Auditor, Green Belt Six Sigma, Certified Data Analytics professional, and Dale Carnegie Certified Trainer.
Beyond his corporate career, Ashis has actively contributed to social initiatives supporting healthcare fundraising, and education. A passionate musician, he was one of the lead vocalist of Tata Steel’s in-house band “Symphony of Steel” and a city finalist at Idea Rocks India. Fluent in multiple languages, he brings a truly global perspective to leadership.
Ashis Jain’s journey—from Oracle’s technology corridors to Tata Steel’s group procurement transformation and now leading Vesuvius India’s procurement strategy—exemplifies how vision, resilience, and technology can redefine procurement as a strategic driver of growth and organizational excellence.