Supply Chain Operations Lead

Nestle Operational Services Worldwide SA•Solon, OH

6d•$110,000 - $125,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Supply Chain Operations Lead will be responsible for providing project management expertise that will drive integration, re-engineering and growth initiatives in the Supply Chain function, supporting the US Nestle Health & Nutrition business, new brands, acquisitions, and capital expense projects (CAPEX). This position manages a detailed project plan and facilitates a cross-functional team to ensure on time and successful completion of Operations/Supply Chain projects. This includes both new business acquisition/transition activities as well as new business models and capabilities for our existing business. The Supply Chain Operations Lead will also work closely with the Customer Service, Physical Logistics, Business Partners, Demand and Supply Planning, Factory Planning, Procurement, Marketing, Sales, Finance and Customers. It will be critical that this position has the skills to work effective under pressure, be an excellent communicator, and reflect a strong service orientation. This is a highly visible individual contributor role that requires a high degree of influence. Some of the key insight to have and build will include skills of SAP order to cash process, customer knowledge, knowledge of other industry solutions, knowledge of acquired company solutions, SAP-APO functionality, and project management experience. Finally, the Supply Chain Operations Lead role will also assist in evaluating new acquisition opportunities and guide the onboarding/transitioning of work to other Supply Chain functions at the appropriate time. This position will be either a remote or hybrid role based on the selected candidate’s geographic location. Strong preference will be given to applicants who live within a commutable distance within Bridgewater, New Jersey, Arlington, Virginia, or Solon, Ohio.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration or in a related field required.
5+ years of professional work experience in working within a Supply Chain position required, preferably with a Project Management background.
Demonstrated fluency in MS Office (Word/Excel/Outlook/PowerPoint) required.
Current or prior Project Management experience is required.
Experience of implementing processes and systems to improve organization and working methods is required.
Must have a strong analytical aptitude with a proven ability to analyze/interpret data and build quantitative models of business problems.
Willing and able to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines with minimal supervision.
Must have excellent communication (oral and written), organizational, presentation and stakeholder management skills (including the ability to develop and maintain strong, cross-functional stakeholder relationships) is required.
Ability to work and lead through change management and business transformation is required.
Willing and able to travel up to 20% to Nestle Nutrition and Health Manufacturing and Distribution Centers (domestic travel) is required.

Nice To Haves

Current or prior experience with ERP systems such as SAP is strongly preferred.
PMP certification a plus.

Responsibilities

Consolidates cross-functional project plans and requirements across all SC workstreams into one master plan and timeline, ensuring alignment with overall program objectives.
Identifies interdependencies between different functions (e.g. alignment needed between supply planning, IT system changes, procurement timelines) and incorporates mitigation steps in the plan, aligned with portfolio priorities and SteerCo guidance.
Project oversight for milestone management and communication for Supply Chain key activities.
Implementation and Customization for SAP planning and inventory management for New Business Integrations.
Facilitate and Problem Solve on necessary standalone solutions for operating plans where necessary.
Formalize a specialized monthly business planning process where needed or establish the ways of working for including new business in existing MBP processes; this includes Forecast Reviews, Availability Reviews, Supply Outlooks, and routine weekly inventory publications.
Coordinate the migration of workload from SC Development of some responsibilities to other functions as appropriate and when appropriate after project completion and stability; this includes transferring of activities to Logistics, Demand and Supply Planning, Master Data, Contract Manufacturing, Customer Service, and Procurement.
Multi-function large projects affecting multiple areas of supply chain and requiring coordination to keep all actions and responsibilities clearly assigned.
Strategic CAPEX Projects that require cross functional Implementation.
Evaluation and Exploration of Insourcing and CoMan source changes.
Lead teams on projects to explore cost savings opportunities.
Support escalated issues as needed to facilitate cross-functional discussions and resolve short-term and urgent problems.
Coordinate the end-to-end cutover plan for supply chain projects, ensuring all functional workstreams’ go-live activities (like data migration, system switches, process changes) are fully integrated and timed correctly.
Confirm that each workstream’s cutover tasks are on track and interdependencies (e.g. IT system freeze timing vs. inventory builds) are resolved.
Validate and communicate overall cutover readiness status to executives – providing one view of go-live preparedness, open risks, and any go/no-go decision points or contingency plans needed for a smooth transition.
Ensures escalation channels are active for any last-minute issues that require leadership action.
Serve as the central coordinator during Hyper Care, the intensive post-go-live support period.
Monitor all SC workstreams for critical post-implementation issues, ensuring swift issue resolution by engaging the right experts or escalating to the proper channels.
Confirms that the new supply chain processes/systems are stabilizing and meeting performance targets.
Continues to deliver high-level updates to executives on stabilization progress – summarizing issues encountered and resolved, any ongoing risks, and time-to-stability and coordinates lessons learned reviews across all workstreams, capturing improvement opportunities for future projects.
Once operations are stable and handover to “business-as-usual” teams is complete, leads the formal project closure for the SC portion.