Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence Director

Ash Ind Europe GmbH

Global Supply Chain and Distribution Center of Excellence Director

Are you the kind of person who is always thinking, sketching, seeking, and adjusting? Do you need to understand how things work—and then find ways to make them work better? Are you a passionate, tenacious problem solver who enjoys working with others who share your drive? Are you positive, constructive, and ingenious?

Are you always solving?

Then we’d like to meet you and bet you’d like to meet us.

Ashland has an exciting opportunity for a Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence Director to join our Ashland Industries Europe GmbH business at our Schaffhausen, Switzerland site. Reporting to the SVP, Operations, this highly visible enterprise role will lead formal supply chain planning and optimization and own the continuous improvement of Ashland’s global warehouse and distribution network. The Director will partner with business-unit, regional commercial managers, manufacturing, procurement, finance, quality/regulatory, customer service, technology, and SAP leaders to optimize end-to-end flow, service, inventory, capacity, and cost across all geographies.

The role sits at the center of a global operating model supporting approximately 16–17 manufacturing sites, multiple strategic business units, regional distribution networks, and regulated and non-regulated operations. It will establish enterprise governance for S&OP and S&OE, demand and supply planning, inventory and service-level optimization, strategic business-unit balancing, ocean freight, land transportation, third-party warehousing, and indent sales—shifting the organization from regional optimization to disciplined enterprise decision-making.

The responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead the global planning and optimization agenda across demand, supply, capacity, production, inventory, deployment, distribution, customer service, and working capital.

• Design and implement enterprise S&OP/S&OE governance, including process cadence, decision rights, RACI, escalation thresholds, executive trade-offs, and accountability by strategic business unit.

• Own and improve the global warehouse and distribution network, including network design, footprint and flow optimization, 3PL governance, warehouse standards, ocean freight, land transportation, carrier performance, and indent-sales execution.

• Govern demand planning, forecast accuracy and bias, supply and deployment planning, production balancing, inventory targets, and planning integration across Arkieva and SAP.

• Develop customer-classification and service-level models that segment service promises, inventory policies, safety-stock parameters, allocation rules, lead times, and cost-to-serve.

• Lead SAP S/4HANA supply chain readiness and adoption, including master-data governance, planning design, process templates,  controls, analytics, and KPI standards.

• Set and manage performance through OTIF/OTS, forecast accuracy and bias, plan adherence, inventory health, working capital, logistics cost, warehouse productivity, freight reliability, and service scorecards.

• Build global capability, standard work, and a continuous-improvement pipeline; act as the enterprise authority for supply chain governance and network optimization.

In order to be qualified for this role, you must possess the following:

• 15+ years of progressive leadership in supply chain planning, S&OP/IBP, logistics, warehousing, distribution, inventory management, manufacturing planning.

• 7+ years leading global supply chain organizations, ( planning and distribution) cross-functional teams in a specialty chemical environment

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, Business, Chemistry, or a related discipline; MBA or relevant Master’s degree preferred. APICS CPIM/CSCP, Lean Six Sigma, or program-management certification preferred.

• Required direct experience leading, improving, and optimizing a global warehouse and distribution network spanning the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific, including ocean freight, land transportation, 3PL/warehouse operations, global trade compliance and indent sales.

• Demonstrated ability to articulate, design, and implement S&OP/S&OE governance, demand and supply planning, inventory management, customer-segmented service models, and strategic business-unit optimization.

• Proven results improving customer service, network cost, inventory, working capital, and planning performance in a complex dynamic global environment.

• Hands-on expertise with SAP S/4HANA supply chain processes and master data; experience with SAP IBP/APO, EWM, TM, Arkieva, or equivalent advanced planning platforms.

• Experience in specialty chemicals, ingredients, consumer products, life sciences, pharmaceuticals.

• Enterprise leadership, ethical judgment, change leadership, and the ability to translate complex trade-offs into clear decisions and differentiated customer and business value.

In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland LLC. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, personal care and pharmaceutical. Visit www.ashland.com to see the innovations we offer.
 
At Ashland our vision is to be a leading, global specialty chemicals company whose inspired and engaged employees add value to all we touch. In fact our people, employees, customers and vendors define who we are. They are the driving force behind everything we do.
 
Not only do we value our customers but we value our employees, and we work to offer them a dynamic and challenging environment. We hold ourselves to high standards at Ashland, and we value integrity and honesty.
 
Ashland has a history of attracting the best people and keeping them. The reasons are simple: industry competitive salary and benefits, pay-for-performance incentive plans and a diverse work environment where employees feel challenged and valued. People come to Ashland and stay. As a growing Fortune 500 specialty chemicals company, we offer opportunities for development and advancement throughout our global organization. Our values define who we are and what we care about as a company. If you are looking for a relationship with a company instead of simply a job, this may be a great fit.

Ashland is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled/Gender Identity/Sexual Orientation. 

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. NOTE:  We do not accept resumes from external staffing agencies or independent recruiters for any of our openings unless we have a signed recruiting agreement in place to fill a specific position.