Head of Technology, Supply Chain & Research & Development

London Stock Exchange Group; Leeds; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading beauty products company is seeking a Head of Technology Supply Chain & R&D Platforms to drive digital transformation across global operations. This pivotal role involves strategic leadership over enterprise applications, from logistics to compliance, ensuring alignment with operational excellence. The ideal candidate will oversee a team of 40 professionals while managing vendor partnerships and driving innovation. This position offers a unique opportunity to shape the technological landscape of a global organization, focusing on sustainability and customer-centric delivery.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Professional development opportunities

Comprehensive health benefits

Qualifications

• Proven experience in leading technology initiatives in supply chain and R&D.
• Strong understanding of application lifecycle management.
• Experience in cloud-based solutions and platforms.

Responsibilities

• Define application strategy and architecture for supply chain and R&D.
• Oversee software development lifecycle for various solutions.
• Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders on IT delivery.
• Manage vendor ecosystem and ensure compliance.
• Collaborate with Data and Analytics teams for integration.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Digital transformation

Agile methodology

Vendor management

Data analytics

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent experience

Tools

SAP BY

Data lakehouse technologies

Job description

Role Summary

The Head of Technology Supply Chain & R&D Platforms is a strategic and transformative leader responsible for powering Wellas global operations through innovative scalable and business-aligned technology. As a key partner to senior Supply Chain and R&D leaders, this role drives digital transformation across planning, manufacturing, logistics, product innovation and compliance—unlocking end‑to‑end efficiency, accelerating speed to market and shaping the future of Wellas product and supply ecosystems.

A leading beauty products company is seeking a Head of Supply Chain & R&D Platforms to drive the digital transformation of its global operations.

The Head provides both strategic and operational leadership across the full lifecycle of enterprise applications that support these functions, with ownership of ERP and operational platforms that enable planning, manufacturing, logistics, product innovation and regulatory processes. The role ensures these systems are secure, scalable and aligned to support global process excellence across critical value streams.

This role holds overarching accountability for platform operations within the SC & R&D domains, including system stability, service continuity, support responsiveness and integration of the local OT team. It plays a central role in reducing complexity, harmonizing global capabilities and driving standardization across the application landscape. The Head also champions a buy‑over‑build strategy and leads the shift from locally customized solutions to globally scalable platforms.

As a senior thought partner, the Head sits on the functional leadership team and acts as a mini‑CIO translating business strategy into technology delivery. The role leads a team of 40 professionals—including Functional Experts, Architects, Service Delivery Managers, Data Product Owners and Local OT—and oversees a global budget of XXM. A key focus is on building domain‑specific IT expertise, partnering with vendors and creating a forward‑leaning outcome‑driven technology organization that supports end‑to‑end processes like Discover to Launch and Order to Cash.

Key Responsibilities

• Application Strategy & Architecture

  Define and govern the enterprise application strategy for Supply Chain and R&D in alignment with business capability models and architectural principles. Own and maintain the IT roadmap across key SC & R&D processes (e.g., Plan to Forecast, Source to Pay, Make to Deliver, Discover to Launch) and systems (e.g., SAP BY). Lead modernization efforts by identifying and eliminating legacy debt, streamlining platforms and driving adoption of scalable cloud‑first solutions. Promote a buy‑over‑build application strategy to accelerate delivery, reduce complexity and ensure maintainability. Drive the shift from locally customized solutions to standardized global platforms that support consistent, scalable and efficient operations. Collaborate closely with Enterprise Architecture to ensure adherence to integration and interoperability standards.

• Solution Delivery Operations & Lifecycle Management

  Oversee the full software development lifecycle across packaged solutions, SaaS platforms and custom builds. Ensure end‑to‑end ownership of the application lifecycle, aligning roadmap development and operations to deliver sustained business value across Supply Chain and R&D domains. Ensure robust quality through disciplined release management, testing and change control processes. Champion user experience excellence and drive business adoption and enablement. Ensure stable and reliable platform operations in collaboration with central global IT teams responsible for service management, infrastructure and support. Act as the operational escalation point for SC & R&D platforms, aligning platform performance with business continuity, manufacturing uptime and planning reliability needs.

• Business Engagement & Value Delivery

  Act as a trusted advisor to SC and R&D business leaders and global process owners, aligning IT delivery with functional transformation needs. Proactively drive strong interfaces with business stakeholders, ensuring that platform capabilities and enhancements are tightly aligned with operational and strategic needs. Shape and guide application‑enabled transformation portfolios across innovation, product lifecycle planning and logistics. Drive end‑to‑end ownership in cross‑functional initiatives, especially where data, IT and OT intersect. Support the enablement of sustainability, traceability and regulatory initiatives through effective platform capabilities. Accelerate innovation in areas such as supply chain visibility. Represent IT on governance forums, including the Business Change Board, ensuring investment alignment with strategic priorities. Define, measure and communicate business value, ROI and outcomes driven by application platforms.

• Vendor & Partner Ecosystem Management

  Manage vendor ecosystem across SAP and non‑SAP (e.g., BY, Sievo, AEB) ensuring delivery compliance and value realization. Ensure vendor performance, contractual compliance and value realization. Collaborate with Procurement on sourcing strategies, licensing agreements and service‑level alignment. Maintain compliance with InfoSec, data privacy and regulatory standards across all third‑party integrations. Oversee budget and resource allocation, aligning investments with transformation priorities and operational needs.

• Data Analytics & AI Integration

  Collaborate with MDM, Data, AI & Analytics teams to ensure application data is structured, integrated and insight‑ready. Oversee application data models and their contribution to enterprise data lakehouse or mesh strategies. Enable embedded AI/ML capabilities across operational platforms.

• Leadership & Organizational Development

  Build, lead and develop a unified team of 11 FTEs—including Local OT—by integrating previously siloed SC and R&D support into a unified platform team composed of Functional Experts, Architects, Service Delivery Managers, Project Managers, Data Product Owners and Local OT representatives. Cultivate a mindset of responsiveness, continuous improvement and user‑first thinking. Foster strong business partnering and drive a culture of accountability and service excellence. Drive talent development, succession planning and leadership growth across digital and enterprise system teams. Foster strong engagement with business stakeholders to prioritize application needs and maximize adoption.

Performance Metrics

• Project Delivery: % of initiatives delivered on time, scope and budget with measured business impact (e.g., cycle time reduction, compliance improvement).
• Technology Debt Reduction: Annual % of applications modernized or rationalized.
• Business Satisfaction: Function‑specific NPS and enablement scores from SC and R&D stakeholders on IT delivery and responsiveness.
• Deployment Velocity: Cycle time for system updates and new capabilities.
• Cost Efficiency: Optimization of licensing, maintenance and vendor spend.
• Operational Stability: MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) and incident resolution rates for supply chain and R&D platforms.