Director Transportation Center of Excellence (Hybrid - Eagan, MN)

SOLVENTUM•Eagan, MN

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Solventum is a new healthcare company with a long legacy of creating breakthrough solutions for customers' toughest challenges. This role leads a high-impact team of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and Project Managers that shapes the future of transportation capabilities for a fully outsourced global network. The Director defines global standards, drives innovation and continuous improvement, and ensures consistent performance across all modes and regions in close partnership with the regional logistics organization. The role requires a strategic leader with deep transportation expertise, strong knowledge of regulated healthcare supply chains, and the ability to influence across a complex, global matrix. The Director ensures that the Center of Excellence (CoE) delivers best-in-class solutions that enhance service, optimize cost, improve sustainability, and enable scalable growth.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or higher (completed and verified prior to start)
Eleven (11) years of progressive experience in transportation management, logistics, or end‑to‑end supply chain operations, with exposure to outsourced/carrier networks
Master’s Degree or higher
Experience in change management, leading global transportation programs and managing outsourced providers.
Strong understanding of OSHA regulations, GDP and knowledge of managing Dangerous Goods and Medical devices.
Experience with Business Transformation in similar strategic functions, including ERP deployments and/or integrations.
Strong leadership and team development capabilities, with experience building and leading diverse, global teams.
Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to make data‑driven decisions and articulate trade‑offs clearly.
Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills across global, matrixed organizations.
Deep knowledge of transportation technologies, visibility tools, analytics, and best practices across modes and regions.
Strategic thinker with ability to translate vision into actionable plans and to drive change and adoption.
Results‑oriented, with a focus on delivering measurable impact in service, cost, quality, resilience, and sustainability.
Innovative mindset and ability to challenge the status quo.
Strong communication and presentation skills at executive level.
Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the vision and roadmap for the Transportation CoE, aligned with the global logistics and supply chain strategy.
Establish governance frameworks and performance standards for transportation processes across all regions and modes.
Design and conduct feasibility studies, distribution analysis and research projects to deliver cost reduction, cycle time compression, enhanced supply chain resilience and improved customer experience.
Lead the design and implementation of future-state transportation capabilities, including technology, processes, and people skills.
Partner with Digital Supply Chain / IT to evaluate and deploy transportation technologies (e.g., TMS, visibility platforms, control tower solutions, analytics) that enable end‑to‑end shipment visibility and proactive event management.
Drive innovation in areas such as cost‑to‑serve optimization, sustainability, service differentiation, and risk management.
Drive standardization of processes and solutions such as freight billing/invoicing, shipment damage reduction, freight mode optimization.
Periodically evaluate the global warehouse and transportation footprint to determine optimal flows, modes, and node locations, balancing lead times with logistics and inventory carrying costs, and CO2 emissions.
Partner with regional logistics teams to understand business needs and ensure CoE initiatives deliver measurable value.
Act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on transportation strategy and emerging industry trends (e.g., decarbonization, capacity constraints, regulatory changes).
Build, develop, and inspire a high-performing team of SMEs and Project Managers, fostering a culture of process excellence, collaboration and continuous improvement.
Set clear roles, responsibilities, performance goals and career development paths within and beyond the CoE.
Define KPIs and monitor performance of transportation programs and outsourced providers.
Drive cost optimization and service improvements through data‑driven decision making and cross‑functional collaboration with Logistics Procurement and regional teams.
Participate in carrier strategic business reviews with key logistics partners, continuously raising the bar on service, process excellence, and sustainability.