Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Director of Supply Chain

🎯 Role Definition

The Director of Supply Chain leads the design and execution of a resilient, cost-efficient, and customer-focused supply chain. This position owns strategic planning, demand and inventory planning, supplier management, transportation and distribution, warehouse operations, and continuous improvement initiatives. The Director partners with commercial, manufacturing, finance, and product teams to align supply chain capabilities with business objectives, optimize working capital, and enable scalable growth.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Supply Chain Manager / Head of Supply Chain Planning
Global Logistics Manager / Head of Distribution
Senior Procurement or Strategic Sourcing Manager

Advancement To:

Vice President, Supply Chain
Chief Supply Chain Officer (CSCO) / Chief Operations Officer (COO)
Senior Vice President, Global Operations

Lateral Moves:

Director of Manufacturing / Operations
Director of Global Logistics & Distribution
Director of Procurement & Supplier Management

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and own the end-to-end supply chain strategy that supports corporate objectives, including growth, margin improvement, customer service levels, and sustainability targets; present strategic roadmaps and progress to executive leadership and the board.
Lead demand planning and S&OP (Sales & Operations Planning) processes by collaborating with sales, marketing and product teams to ensure accurate forecasts, consensus plans, and timely trade-off decisions between service, cost and inventory.
Design and implement inventory management policies (safety stock, reorder points, cycle counts) to optimize working capital while meeting agreed customer service levels across SKUs and geographies.
Oversee procurement and strategic sourcing activities, including category strategy, supplier selection, contract negotiation, total cost of ownership analysis, and supplier performance management to ensure cost reduction and supply continuity.
Own global logistics and distribution strategy including inbound/outbound transportation, 3PL management, freight optimization, mode selection, and cross-dock operations to reduce lead times and transportation spend.
Lead network design and capacity planning initiatives—warehouse footprint, DC locations, cross-border flows, and network modeling—to support scalability, reduce transit times, and lower landed cost.
Manage supplier relationships and partnerships, including performance scorecards, risk assessments, contingency planning, and collaborative improvement programs to strengthen the supplier base.
Implement and govern supply chain KPIs and dashboards (OTIF, inventory turns, forecast accuracy, lead times, landed cost, fill rate) to provide timely insight and accountability across the organization.
Drive continuous improvement and operational excellence programs (Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen) across planning, procurement, manufacturing interfaces and distribution centers to increase productivity and reduce waste.
Own supply chain risk management, including supplier risk assessments, geopolitical impact analyses, alternate sourcing strategies, and business continuity planning to mitigate disruptions.
Lead cross-functional projects to improve SKU rationalization, new product introductions (NPI), demand shaping, and end-to-end product launch readiness in close partnership with product development and marketing.
Develop and manage the supply chain budget and P&L impacts, identifying and delivering cost-to-serve reductions and margin improvement initiatives while tracking realized savings.
Implement and optimize supply chain systems and technologies (ERP, TMS, WMS, APS/Kinaxis, demand planning tools) and lead digital transformation projects to improve planning accuracy and execution efficiency.
Oversee global and regional compliance for trade regulations, customs, Incoterms, import/export controls and sustainability reporting to ensure legal compliance and minimize penalties.
Build, coach and develop a high-performing supply chain organization—hire, mentor and set objectives for managers across planning, procurement, logistics and inventory teams.
Lead cross-border logistics and customs strategy, including bonded inventory management, duty optimization, and foreign trade zone strategy to reduce landed costs and cycle times.
Partner with manufacturing and quality teams to align production planning, capacity constraints and quality control processes for on-time delivery and product conformance.
Drive supplier development and innovation programs that enable cost reduction, lead time compression and differentiated capabilities such as near-shoring or sustainable sourcing.
Coordinate with finance to align inventory accounting, working capital targets, and capital expenditure requests for supply chain investments (automation, new warehouses, systems).
Serve as the executive sponsor for sustainability and ethical sourcing initiatives within the supply chain—implement traceability, supplier audits, and reduction of carbon footprint in logistics and sourcing decisions.
Manage third-party relationships (3PL, carriers, customs brokers) including contracts, SLAs, performance governance and continuous improvement to ensure scale and service reliability.
Drive data-driven decision-making by establishing analytics capabilities, standardized reporting, root-cause analysis and scenario planning for trade-offs between cost, service and risk.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory supply chain analytics to answer business questions, validate initiatives and inform executive decision-making.
Contribute to the organization’s cross-functional supply chain technology roadmap and data governance to improve master data quality, forecast inputs and ERP configurations.
Collaborate with IT and analytics teams to translate business requirements into system enhancements, integrations and analytics deliverables for improved visibility and automation.
Participate in agile project governance and sprint planning for supply chain transformation initiatives; act as backlog owner for prioritized supply chain features.
Provide subject matter expertise during M&A, SKU rationalizations, and strategic sourcing events, including due diligence and integration planning for supply chain operations.
Champion a culture of continuous learning and process standardization across global teams, documenting SOPs and ensuring consistent execution across sites.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Supply chain strategy development and execution for multi-national operations.
Demand planning and S&OP process ownership with measurable improvements in forecast accuracy.
Inventory optimization techniques: safety stock modeling, ABC/XYZ analysis, service-level trade-offs.
Strategic sourcing and supplier management, including RFP/RFQ process and contract negotiation.
Logistics and distribution management (TMS/WMS experience and 3PL governance).
ERP and planning systems expertise (SAP ECC/S4HANA, Oracle, Kinaxis, Blue Yonder/ JDA, Manhattan).
Advanced Excel, statistical forecasting tools and BI tools (Power BI, Tableau) for KPI reporting and scenario modeling.
Knowledge of customs, trade compliance, Incoterms, and international shipping regulations.
Network design and transportation optimization, freight cost modeling and mode selection.
Lean, Six Sigma or equivalent continuous improvement methodologies; project management (PMP) experience.
Data literacy: ability to work with supply chain data, basic SQL or experience partnering effectively with data teams for analytics use cases.
Cost-to-serve modeling, landed cost calculations and working capital management techniques.
Experience with cold chain logistics, hazardous materials, or industry-specific regulatory requirements (if applicable).

Soft Skills

Strategic leadership with the ability to translate corporate strategy into executable supply chain plans.
Cross-functional influence and stakeholder management at senior levels (Sales, Finance, Manufacturing).
Strong negotiation and supplier relationship management skills with demonstrable outcomes.
Excellent communication and presentation skills—comfortable presenting to executive leadership and boards.
Change management skills to lead digital transformations and process adoption across global teams.
Analytical mindset with problem-solving rigor and data-driven decision making.
Coaching and people development capability to build and retain high-performing teams.
Resilience, adaptability and crisis management under supply chain disruptions.
Customer-centric orientation focused on balancing service levels with cost efficiency.
Collaborative mindset and ability to operate in matrixed, global organizations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree (MBA, MS in Supply Chain Management, Logistics or Operations) or relevant advanced certification (CSCP, CPSM, CIPS).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Supply Chain Management
Logistics and Transportation
Industrial Engineering
Business Administration / Finance
Operations Research / Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

10–15+ years of progressive supply chain experience with at least 5–8 years in leadership or director-level roles.

Preferred:

12+ years of experience in a global supply chain environment, including omnichannel logistics, procurement, and manufacturing interfaces.
Proven track record managing P&L impacts, delivering measurable cost savings, implementing ERP/TMS/WMS solutions and leading large-scale transformation programs.
Experience working with global suppliers, multi-currency environments, and complex regulatory landscapes.