Global Inventory Strategy and Optimization Lead

The businesses of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany•Chandler, AZ

10d•$120,000 - $150,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Global Inventory Strategy and Optimization Lead serves as the central point of coordination for global inventory management and governance, including material risk across regions. Working with regional planning and procurement teams, this role consolidates inventory positions, supply constraints, inventory exposures, and mitigation strategies into a single source of truth for executive decision-making. In a global Make-to-Order (MTO) environment, the Lead establishes inventory policies, leads optimization and allocation governance, and provides analytics and reporting to surface risks, opportunities, and trade-offs while promoting inventory discipline across the organization. The role requires a highly analytical planning professional with expertise in inventory management, materials planning, supply risk management, and business analytics, along with strong communication skills. The Lead works with large datasets, defines inventory strategies, and influences leaders across operations, finance, and regional planning teams without direct authority. This is a hybrid position located in Allentown, PA, or Chandler, AZ, with 15% travel required. The position does not offer work authorization sponsorship; external applicants must be eligible to work in the United States.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Business, or a related field.
At least 5 years of supply chain planning experience in a manufacturing environment.
Experience supporting multi-site Make-to-Order (MTO) manufacturing and intercompany supply networks.
Hands-on experience with SAP planning solutions, MRP, APO SNP, and PPDS.

Nice To Haves

APICS CPIM or CSCP certification.
Experience working with complex bills of materials (BOMs) and supporting manufacturing operations.
Advanced analytical, organizational, communication, and 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 global manufacturing, procurement, and supply chain teams, influence stakeholders, and drive accountability.

Responsibilities

Establish global 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 apply consistent strategies, challenge assumptions, and identify opportunities to optimize inventory across the network.
Develop inventory segmentation, safety stock, replenishment, coverage, and positioning strategies that support business objectives while minimizing excess inventory and supply risk.
Partner with operations, finance, and planning teams to align inventory investment and objectives across the enterprise.
Develop and maintain executive dashboards, KPI scorecards, and reporting tools covering inventory performance, material availability, allocation status, inventory exposure, and supply risk.
Analyze inventory performance, shortages, excess and obsolete inventory, service impacts, and trends to identify risks, quantify business impacts, evaluate scenarios, and recommend actions to leadership.
Improve inventory reporting, metrics, and planning analytics to enhance decision quality and inventory effectiveness.
Consolidate regional inventory positions, validate planning assumptions, identify cross-regional opportunities, and support cross-functional decisions and standardized practices.
Maintain standardized inventory policies, planning parameters, governance processes, inventory definitions, planning calendars, and data quality standards.
Serve as the global steward of inventory governance and ensure a disciplined, repeatable process across regions.
Lead 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, facilitating stakeholder alignment, evaluating competing business priorities, and driving decisions consistent with allocation policies and prioritization frameworks.
Identify customer, operational, financial, and inventory risks resulting from shortages and supply constraints, and ensure visibility of mitigation and recovery plans.
Coordinate network inventory balancing strategies to prevent simultaneous shortages and excess inventory across regions and manufacturing locations.
Develop executive-ready inventory reviews covering performance, projections, supply risk exposure, shortage outlooks, allocation decisions, excess inventory trends, recovery plans, KPI performance, scenario analyses, and recommendations.
Provide leadership with timely, accurate, actionable information for strategic and operational decisions.
Own the global inventory control tower as the single source of truth for inventory position, exposure, allocation status, material availability, and supply risk visibility.