Supply Chain Planning Life Sciences Manager

Accenture; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 87,000 - 254,000; Full time

Job summary

Accenture in Illinois is seeking a Life Sciences Supply Chain and Operations professional to lead Integrated Business Planning, demand and supply planning, and execution in GMP‑compliant environments.

You will work with biopharma and med tech clients to drive governance, analytics, and transformation, while mentoring teams and navigating regulatory and capacity challenges across CDMO/CMO networks.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of experience on supply chain initiatives.
• Experience with integrated planning (IBP/S&OP) and life sciences planning.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent; MBA or advanced degree is a plus.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder engagement across client teams.

Responsibilities

• Find solutions to life sciences supply chain and planning challenges, including demand volatility and capacity constraints.
• Lead workshops and client engagements to drive improvements.
• Translate IBP decisions into short-horizon execution plans and schedules.
• Coach and lead small to medium sized teams with diverse backgrounds.
• Support client sales origination and thought leadership development.
• Drive AI-enabled planning and digital enablement initiatives.

Skills

Analytical skills

Strategy skills

Leadership

Client workshops

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

OMP

Kinaxis RapidResponse

SAP IBP/S4

o9 Solutions

Blue Yonder

Veeva Vault

SAP ERP

MES/MOM

Job description

Accenture is a leading solutions and services company that helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together the talent of our approximately 786,000 people, our proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work in the world. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity, and we measure our success by the 360° value we create for all our stakeholders. Visit us at accenture.com.

We are:

Accenture Supply Chain & Operations practice who specializes at the intersection of functional consulting, data, & technology. Our Life Sciences clients — spanning biopharma, med tech, and CDMO/CMO organizations — operate in one of the most complex, regulated, and high-stakes supply chain environments in the world. We come at their challenges from all sides with deep industry expertise, data-driven insights, and digital leadership. It’s our job to show clients how to take major leaps forward in planning, manufacturing, and supply chain operations — while meeting the demands of patient safety, regulatory compliance, and an evolving global supply network. How do we do it? We apply life sciences–specific planning frameworks, connect internal and external manufacturing networks, and build operating models that work for both biopharma and med tech environments.

You are:

A Life Sciences Supply Chain and Operations professional who helps biopharma and med tech clients implement and optimize end-to-end planning processes across their supply networks. You bring deep understanding of the regulatory environment, product lifecycle complexity, and external manufacturing dynamics that define this industry. You will lead and implement Integrated Business Planning (IBP), demand planning, supply planning, production scheduling, and inventory management capabilities — ensuring reliable product availability while managing the unique constraints of GMP-compliant, patient-centric supply chains.

As part of working with clients you will help with several aspects of life sciences integrated planning including:

• Integrated Planning Strategy: Design and implement IBP/S&OP frameworks tailored to life sciences environments, accounting for regulatory release cycles, CMO/CDMO network complexity, and the distinct planning dynamics of biopharma and med tech product portfolios.
• S&OP / IBP: Lead the full IBP cycle — including demand review, supply review, portfolio review, and executive S&OP — integrating commercial, clinical, regulatory, and operations inputs to drive aligned decision-making.
• Demand & Supply Planning: Develop demand and supply planning processes that account for life sciences–specific drivers including patient-based forecasting, launch ramp modeling, loss of exclusivity (LOE), batch yield variability, QA release buffers, and CMO/CDMO lead time dynamics.
• S&OE: Translate IBP decisions into short-horizon execution plans, ensuring production schedules, batch campaign sequencing, CMO order management, and serialization-compliant logistics are aligned with near-term patient and customer demand.
• Inventory Optimization: Develop multi-echelon inventory strategies that account for shelf life, retest dating, temperature-controlled storage, and regulatory hold periods — balancing service levels against working capital and write-off risk.
• Process Improvement & Digital Enablement: Identify opportunities to improve forecasting accuracy, reduce supply risk, and accelerate planning cycles. Implement AI-enabled planning tools, digital twins, and advanced analytics to modernize life sciences supply chain operations.
• Performance Management: Define and track life sciences–relevant KPIs including OTIF, forecast accuracy, batch cycle time, CMO on-time delivery, inventory days-on-hand, and write-off rate. Develop action plans to address gaps and drive continuous improvement.
• Operating Model: Design governance frameworks and planning operating models that integrate commercial, medical affairs, regulatory, quality, and operations functions — enabling coordinated decision-making across complex biopharma and med tech organizations.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and sustain relationships across client organizations — engaging executive leadership, commercial teams, supply chain functions, quality, and regulatory affairs — to align on planning priorities and communicate performance outcomes.
• Risk Management: Proactively identify supply chain risks specific to life sciences environments — including CMO/CDMO capacity constraints, API supply disruption, regulatory holds, and cold chain failures — and develop mitigation strategies to protect patient supply continuity.
• Reporting & Analytics: Provide data-driven insights into planning performance through advanced reporting and visualization — enabling senior leadership to make informed decisions on supply strategy, capacity investment, and network configuration.

The work

• Find solutions to clients’ life sciences supply chain and planning challenges — including demand volatility, CMO/CDMO capacity constraints, regulatory holds, and product lifecycle complexity
• Spot and solve challenges using your analytical & strategy skills to dive into data and compare vs. industry peers
• Lead workshops that look for ways to improve organizations and processes
• Determine what methods and procedures to use when completing projects
• Give clients insights that help make their companies work better, faster, and more efficiently
• Challenge legacy ways of working using constructive techniques that fuel client growth
• Use digital tech to help clients find new ways to make their orgs more effective and efficient
• Lead small to medium sized teams with diverse backgrounds skills and knowledge
• Effectively manage and coach others, collaborating with internal and external parties
• Support client sales origination and thought leadership development
• Ensure that projects help clients meet their key goals
• Drive a positive impact in the communities where we work
• Support delivery of generative AI and agent-based modeling to accelerate scalable use cases for Agentic planning operations — translating complex technical outputs into executive-ready insights and scalable solutions.

Travel Requirements

Travel is required for this role and could vary from 10-75%.

Here’s what you need

• Minimum of 5 years of experience working on Supply Chain initiatives
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working on Integrated Planning initiatives
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working in one or many of the following industries: Biopharma, Medical Devices / Med Tech, CDMO/CMO, or adjacent Life Sciences sectors
• Minimum of 2 years of external experience at a consulting firm or 5 years of internal consulting experience in a role equivalent to Manager level within industry
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent (minimum 12 years) work experience. (If associate degree, must have a minimum of 6 years’ work experience)

Bonus points if

• You have a deep specialization in one or more of the following life sciences planning domains: Patient-Based Demand Forecasting, IBP/S&OP, S&OE, Inventory Optimization, CMO/CDMO Supply Planning, or Clinical-to-Commercial Supply Transition
• You have the proven ability to work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment
• You excel in building and developing relationships, overseeing complex programs and demonstrating leadership
• You’ve earned an MBA or equivalent graduate degree
• You have hands-on experience with life sciences planning platforms such as OMP, Kinaxis RapidResponse, SAP IBP/S4, o9 Solutions, or Blue Yonder, and familiarity with adjacent systems such as Veeva Vault, SAP ERP, or MES/MOM platforms
• Lean or Six Sigma qualifications
• You can use the latest data analytics tools to spot opportunities for improvement
• Prior experience in driving insights using visualization tools (i.e. Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx) and analytics tools (i.e. Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics)

Compensation at Accenture varies depending on a wide array of factors, which may include but are not limited to the specific office location, role, skill set, and level of experience. As required by local law, Accenture provides a reasonable range of compensation for roles that may be hired as set forth below.
We anticipate this job posting will be posted until 09/08/2026.
Accenture offers a market competitive suite of benefits including medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability coverage, a 401(k) plan, bonus opportunities, paid holidays, and paid time off. See more information on our benefits here:

Role Location Annual Salary Range

• California $94,400 to $293,800
• Cleveland $87,400 to $235,000
• Colorado $94,400 to $253,800
• District of Columbia $100,500 to $270,300
• Illinois $87,400 to $253,800
• Maine $80,400 to $216,200
• Maryland $94,400 to $253,800
• Massachusetts $94,400 to $270,300
• Minnesota $94,400 to $253,800
• New York $87,400 to $293,800
• New Jersey $100,500 to $293,800
• Virginia $87,400 to $270,300
• Washington $100,500 to $270,300

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