Industry Thought Leader, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)/Retail

Job location: This is a remote position. You can work from home and be located anywhere in Canada or USA unless you are located in Ottawa, Canada where you would be expected to work a Hybrid model.

About the team

Reporting to the VP of Industry Outreach and Thought Leadership, the Industry Thought Leader, CPG/Retail, ensures that Kinaxis is positioned as a leader in supply chain planning/execution and analytics within the CPG/Retail industry. You will serve as a sentinel to identify relevant trends and market inflection points, evangelize externally in both writing and speaking, drive an industry-first vision internally, and engage key prospects, customers, partners, and industry and academic experts.  

Working closely with relevant forums within the supply chain, industry and analytics communities, the Industry Thought Leader, CPG/Retail will stay abreast of current and future opportunities for Kinaxis within the CPG/retail space, as well as disruptive opportunities and threats. Partnering with stakeholders across the organization, you will share responsibility for representing our credibility by serving as a recognized expert with deep industry expertise in CPG/retail, in order to translate the dynamics of supply chain planning and execution within that industry.

What you will do

• Represent Kinaxis publicly as a recognized content expert in supply chain and analytics, including responding to press inquiries.
• Give innovative and thought provoking presentations and participate in panels and workshops at steering industry events, both with a horizontal and vertical focus.
• Produce thought leadership pieces in the form of blogs, white papers, social media posts, videos, etc. on topics related to supply chain and analytics.
• Monitor and evaluate emerging trends within and outside of supply chain that have potential to disrupt supply chain, both positively and negatively.
• Encourage and promote peer-to-peer and company-to-company networking at both Kinaxis-sponsored events and within the professional community of supply chain and analytics.
• Collaborate with peers and help drive an industry-first approach to supply chain by leading an internal Industry Council, which is a cross-functional team focused on a specific vertical.
• Diligently participate in relevant research communities within academia and beyond to keep topic area knowledge current and share experiences both internally and externally.
• Be a voice for CSCOs back to our internal teams – represent the top challenges and top priorities of our leading executives to ensure our products and messaging stay focused on the right issues.
• Consult at a credible peer level with key customers occasionally, as appropriate.

What we are looking for

• Bachelor’s degree in related field; Masters preferred
• Must have 10+ years’ experience working as a practitioner in a senior Supply Chain management role within CPG and/or Retail. Experience may include combination of practical experience and consulting in Supply Chain
• Recognition as an expert in supply chain management, with a strong preference for a focus on supply chain planning
• In-depth understanding of issues on the minds of supply chain executives and senior leaders, as well as the business value of supply chain and the alignment of business and supply chain strategies
• Strong writing skills and experience communicating messages via blogs, articles, white papers, videos, etc. for external audiences
• Excellent presentation skills to audiences large and small
• Experience and skill using social media to communicate ideas.
• Ability to take a position, based on facts, and support that position, both externally and internally, with clear evaluation.
• Outstanding communication and reflective listening skills and the ability to adjust message as needed.
• Ability to work as an individual contributor with limited administrative support
• Ability to identify how changing technologies (e.g. IOT, AI/ML, Industry 4.0) will impact supply chain planning and execution in one or more specific industries
• When feasible, ability to travel up to 50% of the time, within North America as well as internationally.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to collaborate both with peers as well as C-level executives.
• Energetic, Sales savvy