Daniel Kovacs

Led the end-to-end restructuring of Strategic Procurement, Logistics (AOG), and Material Planning for a team of 42 FTE. My focus was on shifting the departments from a reactive cost-center to a proactive engine for competitive advantage. Key Impact Areas: Antifragile Operations: Redesigned operating processes and spend/risk governance to ensure supply chain resilience. Spearheaded agile methodologies and digital transformation, replacing manual bottlenecks with data-driven, semi-automated workflows to accelerate decision-making. Commercial Value & Cash Flow: Leveraged the Kraljic portfolio strategy and disciplined tendering to deliver over €2M in total P&L impact (hard savings and cost avoidance) while significantly improving cash flow via strategic rebate structures. Performance Culture: Transformed logistics reliability to ~95% On-Time Performance (OTP) by embedding a culture of high accountability and operational discipline. Talent Architecture: Identified and promoted high-potential internal talent to ensure a sustainable, high-performing leadership pipeline.

Managed the strategic overhaul of high-stakes categories including Ground Support Equipment and Fueling operations. Focused on transforming $10M+ in spend into a source of competitive advantage by balancing aggressive cost improvement with long-term supplier stability. Key Impact Areas: Commercial Value Creation: Realized over $1M in hard savings and $2.7M in cost avoidance. Achieved this by "smartening" global operations—not just cutting prices, but reducing unit-demand and optimizing total cost of ownership. Advanced Negotiation & Dispute Resolution: Restored critical supplier relationships and delivered $200K+ in cash-flow benefits. Utilized high-stakes methodologies (Black Swan/Harvard) to turn adversarial disputes into collaborative, value-generating partnerships. Category Strategy & Opportunity Identification: Architected global RFP structures that identified $M+ in untapped savings opportunities, ensuring the category remained resilient against market volatility.

Strategic procurement leader for Wizz Air and Indigo Partners’ sister airlines (Cebu Pacific, Frontier, JetSMART, Lynx, Volaris). Managed complex, multi-country IT and technical services initiatives, including PSS system RFIs, global technical supply RFPs.

2019–2022: Purchasing Manager (IT, Marketing & Technical) Role Focus: Driving aggressive cost-efficiency and strategic alignment during a period of rapid business scaling. Aggressive Value Capture: Delivered 15%+ hard savings and 20%+ cost avoidance across high-growth categories. Achieved through rigorous TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) analysis and a relentless approach to contract restructuring and "tough" negotiations. CIO Strategic Partnership: Collaborated directly with technology leadership to align technical spend with business growth. Spearheaded cloud infrastructure strategies that ensured the company’s tech stack was both scalable and cost-efficient. Process Standardization: Transitioned fragmented technical and marketing spend into a disciplined, governed structure, reducing "rogue spend" and improving procurement’s influence on the P&L.

Commercial Development & Revenue Strategy Architected and executed commercial initiatives to diversify and maximize revenue streams, bridging the gap between procurement discipline and business growth. Revenue Optimization: Delivered a 25%+ increase in revenue by identifying untapped opportunities and better utilizing existing assets across Advertising, Retail, and Transport services (Taxi/Shuttle). Strategic Asset Utilization: Re-engineered the approach to "old" revenue streams, applying a procurement mindset to contract structures and vendor partnerships to extract higher margin and better performance. Commercial Synergy: Balanced procurement-led cost discipline with aggressive commercial development, ensuring new revenue initiatives were both profitable and scalable.

Commercial Sales & Market Development Drove revenue growth and market penetration for Airport OOH advertising through disciplined market research and strategic client acquisition. Market Intelligence: Conducted deep-dive research into the Hungarian market to identify high-potential leads and translate market gaps into commercial opportunities. Relationship Equity & Growth: Consistently exceeded sales targets (€250K+), focusing on "Antifragile" client relationships that resulted in strategic partners more than doubling their investment in subsequent years. Predictable Cash Flow: Secured long-term contracts that shifted the revenue model from transactional sales to stable, long-term cash flow, fortifying the business's commercial foundation.

Guest Relations & Sales Drove growth through communication and end-to-end operational support, ensuring service excellence in high-pressure environments. Persuasive Communication: Exceeded sales targets by 120%+ through the delivery of high-conversion pitches and briefings, honing the influence skills necessary for high-stakes negotiations. Operational Reliability: Managed end-to-end guest experiences—from arrival briefings to hotel welcomes—ensuring a seamless services and immediate conflict resolution. Stakeholder Engagement: Acted as the primary point of contact for diverse international guests, building the foundational "soft skills" required to manage complex stakeholder groups in later procurement leadership roles.