Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence Director

Ash Ind Europe GmbH; Schaffhausen; On-site; CHF 260,000 - 380,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Industry competitive salary

Job summary

Ashland is seeking a Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence Director at our Schaffhausen site to lead end-to-end planning and optimization across demand, supply, and distribution. You will collaborate with business units, regional managers, manufacturing, and SAP leaders to optimize service, inventory, and cost globally.

The role requires deep expertise in S&OP, network optimization, and SAP-driven processes, with a track record of improving customer service and working capital in a complex

Qualifications

• 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 across Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific in a specialty chemical environment.
• Bachelor's degree in related discipline; MBA or relevant Master’s degree preferred.
• APICS CPIM/CSCP, Lean Six Sigma, or program-management certification preferred.
• Direct experience leading, improving, and optimizing a global warehouse and distribution network including ocean freight and 3PL/warehouse operations.
• Experience with SAP S/4HANA, SAP IBP/APO, Arkieva, or equivalent advanced planning platforms across multiple geographies.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global planning and optimization agenda across demand, supply, capacity, production, inventory, deployment, distribution, and customer service.
• Design and implement enterprise S&OP/S&OE governance with clear decision rights and accountability by strategic business unit.
• Own and improve the global warehouse and distribution network, including design, footprint, 3PL governance, and transport.
• Govern demand planning, forecast accuracy, and planning integration across platforms.
• Develop service-level models and inventory policies to optimize cost-to-serve and lead times.
• Lead S&OP/S&OE governance readiness and KPI standards.
• Build global capability and continuous-improvement pipeline for supply chain governance.

Skills

Supply chain planning

S&OP/IBP

Leadership

SAP S/4HANA

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, Business, Chemistry, or related field

MBA or relevant Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Arkieva

SAP IBP/APO

Job description

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.

Responsibilities

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.

Qualifications and Experience

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.

Benefits and Perks

• industry competitive salary and benefits, pay-for-performance incentive plans and a diverse work environment where employees feel challenged and valued.

About Ashland

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.

Equal Opportunity

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.

Infinite possibilities Creating good chemistry isn’t just about what happens when you add the right ingredients together. It’s about what happens when the right people are one of the ingredients. Good chemistry – the kind that can transform a market or a world – is what makes Ashland different and what makes us better. If you’re passionate about the infinite possibilities created through good chemistry, we have a rewarding and challenging opportunity for you to help us make great things happen every day for our customers, our communities, our investors and our colleagues around the world.