Global Inventory Strategy and Optimization Lead

Merck•Chandler, AZ

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

This role serves as the central point of coordination for global inventory management and governance, including material risk across regions. The Global Inventory Strategy & Optimization Lead works closely with regional planning and procurement teams to consolidate regional inventory positions, supply constraints, inventory exposures, and mitigation strategies into a single source of truth that supports executive decision-making. In a global Make-to-Order (MTO) environment, this role establishes inventory policies, leads optimization and allocation governance, and provides the analytics and reporting needed to proactively surface risks, opportunities, and trade-offs while instilling inventory discipline across the organization. The ideal candidate is a highly analytical planning professional who combines expertise in inventory management, materials planning, supply risk management, and business analytics with exceptional communication skills. They are comfortable working with large datasets, defining inventory strategies, and influencing leaders across operations, finance, and regional planning teams without direct authority.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field.
5+ years of supply chain planning experience in a manufacturing environment.
Experience supporting multi-site MTO (Make-to-Order) manufacturing and intercompany supply networks.
Hands-on experience with SAP planning solutions, MRP, APO SNP & PPDS.
Advanced analytical organizational and communication problem solving skills.
Deep understanding of material planning, inventory management, MRP, safety stock methodologies, inventory optimization, and supply chain processes.
Working knowledge of SAP including material management and SAP purchasing processes.
Proven ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams (global manufacturing, procurement, and supply chain organizations) and influence stakeholders and drive accountability.

Nice To Haves

APICS CPIM or CSCP certification.
Experience working with complex BOM (bill of materials) and supporting manufacturing operations.

Responsibilities

Lead the global inventory strategy by establishing inventory policies, safety stock methodologies, planning parameters, and governance processes that balance customer service, working capital, and supply continuity.
Coordinate with regional inventory planning teams to ensure consistent application of inventory strategies, challenge inventory assumptions, and identify opportunities to optimize inventory across the network.
Develop global inventory segmentation, safety stock, replenishment, coverage, and inventory positioning strategies that support business objectives while minimizing excess inventory and reducing supply risk.
Partner with operations, finance, and planning teams to align inventory investment and inventory objectives across the enterprise.
Serve as the planning organization's inventory analytics expert by developing and maintaining executive dashboards, KPI scorecards, and reporting tools that provide visibility into inventory performance, material availability, allocation status, inventory exposure, and supply risk.
Analyze inventory performance, material shortages, excess and obsolete inventory, service impacts, and inventory trends to identify risks, quantify business impacts, evaluate scenarios, and support leadership with data-driven recommendations.
Continuously improve inventory reporting capabilities, inventory metrics, and planning analytics to enhance decision quality and inventory effectiveness.
Drive global inventory alignment by consolidating regional inventory positions, validating planning assumptions, identifying cross-regional inventory opportunities, and supporting cross-functional decision-making while promoting standardized inventory management practices across the organization.
Maintain standardized inventory policies, planning parameters, governance processes, inventory definitions, planning calendars, and data quality standards.
Act as the global steward of inventory governance to ensure a disciplined, repeatable inventory management process across all regions.
Lead the global management of material constraints, inventory exposure, allocation decisions, and long-term supply risks, particularly for strategic and long lead-time components.
Chair and coordinate the Allocation Board by facilitating stakeholder alignment, evaluating competing business priorities, and driving decisions consistent with established allocation policies and prioritization frameworks.
Identify customer, operational, financial, and inventory risks resulting from material shortages and supply constraints, while ensuring visibility of mitigation and recovery plans across the enterprise.
Coordinate network inventory balancing strategies to prevent simultaneous shortages and excess inventory across regions and manufacturing locations.
Develop executive-ready inventory reviews that communicate inventory performance, inventory projections, supply risk exposure, shortage outlooks, allocation decisions, excess inventory trends, recovery plans, KPI performance, scenario analyses, and key recommendations.
Ensure leadership receives timely, accurate, and actionable information to support strategic and operational decision-making.
Own the global inventory control tower, establishing the single source of truth for inventory position, inventory exposure, allocation status, material availability, and supply risk visibility across the enterprise.