Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence Director

About the role

Ashland Industries Europe GmbH is looking for a Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence Director for its Schaffhausen, Switzerland site. Reporting to the SVP, Operations, this highly visible enterprise role leads formal supply chain planning and optimization and owns the continuous improvement of Ashland's global warehouse and distribution network. It partners with business-unit, regional commercial, 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.

Key responsibilities

• 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 covering service promises, inventory policies, safety stock, 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, plan adherence, inventory health, working capital, logistics cost, warehouse productivity and service scorecards.
• Build global capability, standard work and a continuous-improvement pipeline, acting as the enterprise authority for supply chain governance and network optimization.

Required profile

• 15+ years of progressive leadership in supply chain planning, S&OP/IBP, logistics, warehousing, distribution, inventory management and manufacturing planning.
• 7+ years leading global supply chain organizations (planning and distribution) cross-functionally in a specialty chemical environment.
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, Business, Chemistry or a related discipline; MBA or relevant Master's preferred.
• APICS CPIM/CSCP, Lean Six Sigma or program-management certification preferred.
• 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.
• Experience in specialty chemicals, ingredients, consumer products, life sciences or pharmaceuticals.

Required skills

• Direct experience leading, improving and optimizing a global warehouse and distribution network across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, including ocean freight, land transportation, 3PL/warehouse operations, global trade compliance and indent sales.
• 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.
• Enterprise leadership, ethical judgment, change leadership and the ability to turn complex trade-offs into clear decisions.