Tata Steel (Global Steel Manufacturing Company) | Jamshedpur

Area Manager, Product Application Group Central, Product Technology

• Analyzed SLA breach data for financial claim closures of Tube product complaints (claim outflow ~₹1–10 lakh per case), highlighted key process bottlenecks through structured reports shared with senior leadership, Sales, and Logistics teams, and contributed to a ~25% reduction in complaints pending beyond the 21-day closure target (from ~40 to 30 cases).
• Streamlined complaint handling by routing 80–100 product failure cases per month to relevant QA agencies within a 1-day lead time, enabling complaint closure within the 7-day target and reviewing investigation reports for root cause completeness and corrective action adequacy.
• Generated monthly defect PPM and complaint tonnage reports across 4 Tube Mills, consolidating ~25 complaints from 5+ pan-India customers per month and structuring data by product category, region, and defect type to support senior leadership in quality monitoring and target-setting.

Area Manager, Product Application Group East, Product Technology

• Completed structured field training across 3 steelmaking shops and 6 rolling mills (flat & long products), observing manufacturing processes, identifying potential defect sources, and documenting operational insights to build product application and customer complaint resolution capabilities.

Shikhar Champion, Shikhar25 EBITDA Improvement Program, Product Technology & R&D

• Drove cross-functional execution of cost optimization initiatives, collaborating with 40+ professionals across 7 departments to streamline implementation tracking, resolve execution bottlenecks, and convert ideas into actionable initiatives.
• Facilitated 4 cross-functional ideation workshops, collaborating with technical leads to analyze quality and operational KPIs and identify 30+ new cost optimization opportunities for validation and prioritization by Chief-level leadership.
• Partnered with Finance and technical leads to develop business cases, estimated projected accruals, and calculated post-implementation financial impact for cost optimization initiatives, reporting audited accruals of ₹25+ Cr across FY23 and FY24.
• Enabled implementation of a strategic ferro-alloy consumption reduction initiative at ISWP by resolving execution bottlenecks through targeted senior leadership escalation, contributing to audited cost savings of ~₹1 Cr through a 0.15% reduction in consumption.
• Coordinated implementation of a predictive alert system for rolling mill mechanical maintenance, contributing to a 20% reduction in unplanned downtime hours and ~₹0.5 Cr cost savings, with subsequent horizontal deployment across 2 additional rolling mills.

Senior Manager, Project Management & Implementation, R&D

• Collaborated with Chief-level leadership during FY23 R&D strategy planning to align departmental KPIs and performance targets with Vision 2025 priorities, ensuring alignment between innovation initiatives and business objectives.
• Prepared the Annual Business Plan for the R&D function (2021 and 2022), synthesizing steel industry outlook, innovation roadmap, and project pipeline into a leadership review document presented up to VP Technology level.
• Accelerated global R&D collaboration by enabling onboarding of Tata Steel Netherlands R&D as a knowledge transfer vendor 33% faster (8 vs 12 weeks), supporting the cold rolled product portfolio expansion at Tata Steel Kalinganagar.
• Drove pre-commercial trials of wear-resistant steel from Tata Steel Kalinganagar, leading cross functional coordination across Supply Chain, Marketing, Steelmaking, Hot Rolling, and QA to ensure end-to-end execution, product audit, and dispatch of validated samples to 2 customers for evaluation.
• Enabled lab-to-pilot scale-up of an aesthetic coated product, collaborating with cross-functional teams and an external vendor to develop 20 prototype samples, facilitating validation trials for commercial feasibility evaluation.

Manager, Refractory Technology Group, R&D

• Improved snorkel refractory life by 20% (100 → 120 heats) through 6-month pilot trials of newly developed Magnesia-Chrome bricks in collaboration with suppliers TRL Krosaki and RHI Magnesita, resulting in adoption of the new refractory brick specification.
• Prepared monthly refractory cost and consumption reports across 3 steelmaking and 4 ironmaking units, using dashboards to support refractory planning, operational reviews, and data-driven decision-making by Chief- and Head-level leadership.
• Coordinated maintenance and vendor engagement for two laboratory equipment, supporting uninterrupted testing and characterization of refractory materials.

• Authored technical paper titled “Use of Low Carbon Content Nano-Carbon Added Magnesia-Carbon Brick in Steel Ladle Metal Zone at Tata Steel, Jamshedpur” published in Japanese Journal J-GLOBAL
• Steel Icon “Going Above and Beyond, Collaborator” and Great Work: “Responsibility” recognition

• Bachelor of Technology & Master of Technology, 5 Year Integrated Dual Degree, Ceramic Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi

• Agile Strategy for Competitive Advantage, Duke University
• Customer-Centric Innovation, Duke University
• Introduction to Generative AI: Concepts and Techniques, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute
• Product Management, IBM
• Generative AI Essentials: Overview and Impact, University of Michigan
• Digital Transformation for Agile Organizations, Duke University
• Excel Data Visualization and Dashboard Design, Maven Analytics
• Lean Management Fundamentals, Starweaver
• Corporate Strategy, University of London and UCL School of Management

• Pride Ally - part of QUEERious 2.0, spreading awareness to LGBTQI+ students on inclusivity at Tata Steel
• Core Team Member and Emcee, Annual Technical Meet, Indian institute of Metals Conference
• Participated in the trek to lower Himalayas, trek to Siyari Top (11,600 ft) organised by Tata Steel Adventure Foundation