Alcott has been retained to search for a Head of Supply Chain – India & South Asia for one of the global FMCG companies.
Role Overview
Our client, one of the world’s leading FMCG companies, is seeking an experienced Head of Supply Chain – India & South Asia to lead its end-to-end supply chain organization. This is a high-impact, high-visibility leadership role with responsibility for a significant manufacturing, supply chain and operational footprint across India.
The role will have end-to-end responsibility across manufacturing, supply and demand planning, sourcing, third-party manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, quality, engineering, EHS, productivity and customer service. The successful candidate will lead a large, multi-site organization and work closely with regional and global leadership teams.
This is a broad enterprise leadership position rather than a traditional manufacturing or factory leadership role. The successful candidate will be responsible for connecting commercial demand, manufacturing, sourcing, planning, logistics, customer service, quality, engineering, sustainability and talent into an integrated, resilient and growth-ready supply chain.
A key mandate will be to translate the company’s growth strategy into an integrated supply chain roadmap that delivers service, capacity, cost competitiveness, productivity, resilience, digital transformation and organizational capability.
The role requires a strategic and operational leader who can influence senior stakeholders across Commercial, Manufacturing, Procurement, R&D, Finance, HR and regional/global Supply Chain teams while leading a complex and geographically dispersed operating organization.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the end-to-end Supply Chain function in India, spanning manufacturing, planning, sourcing, third-party manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, quality, engineering, EHS, productivity and customer service.
- Develop and execute an integrated annual operating plan and long-term supply chain strategy aligned with business growth, innovation, capacity requirements, resilience, cost competitiveness and sustainability.
- Ensure safe, reliable and high-quality product supply by maintaining strong standards of quality, regulatory compliance, EHS and operational discipline across manufacturing sites, external partners, logistics and warehousing operations.
- Lead manufacturing excellence across a complex multi-site network, driving plant performance, asset utilization, line productivity, engineering reliability and continuous improvement.
- Develop the manufacturing and supply network required to support significant future business growth, balancing Greenfield, Brownfield and third-party manufacturing opportunities while protecting service, quality, cost and business continuity.
- Strengthen strategic sourcing and upstream supply capabilities to improve material availability, supply security, quality and resilience while developing sustainable long-term supplier and partner relationships.
- Lead demand and supply planning, logistics and customer service to create a responsive supply chain that improves product availability, inventory health, distribution efficiency and business continuity.
- Optimize the warehousing and distribution network to improve customer service, cost competitiveness, responsiveness and operational resilience.
- Own and accelerate the Supply Chain productivity and cost transformation agenda, including manufacturing costs, freight, warehousing, network optimization, inventory and capital effectiveness.
- Identify and execute significant productivity opportunities across manufacturing and logistics to strengthen overall business margins.
- Partner closely with Commercial, R&D, Procurement and Marketing to support innovation launches, new channels, capacity decisions, portfolio transitions and evolving customer requirements.
- Ensure the supply chain has the capacity, flexibility and capabilities required to support the company’s future product portfolio and growth agenda.
- Lead Supply Chain transformation, digitalization, automation and advanced analytics across the end-to-end value chain.
- Drive adoption of advanced planning, demand sensing, logistics visibility, smart manufacturing and shopfloor automation capabilities to improve decision-making, productivity and customer service.
- Strengthen service performance and OTIF, particularly across fast-growing and emerging channels.
- Build future-ready digital and AI-enabled Supply Chain capabilities and leverage global capabilities and shared-service organizations to create scalable ways of working.
- Champion sustainability across the value chain, including responsible sourcing, resource efficiency, sustainable operations and broader environmental commitments.
- Build, develop and lead a high-performing, multi-disciplinary Supply Chain organization across manufacturing and corporate functions.
- Develop robust talent pipelines and succession plans for critical leadership positions while strengthening frontline and organizational capability.
- Lead a large, geographically dispersed and operationally intensive workforce, including exposure to unionised manufacturing environments, creating a culture of safety, accountability, inclusion and high performance.
- Act as a senior member of the business leadership team, contributing beyond Supply Chain to business strategy, growth, culture, risk management and organizational transformation.
- Build effective relationships with suppliers, manufacturing partners, logistics providers, external stakeholders and other strategic partners to strengthen supply security, compliance and business continuity.
- Establish and monitor critical Supply Chain KPIs across service, availability, cost, productivity, safety, quality, capacity, inventory, people and sustainability.
Key Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Industrial Engineering, or a related discipline; a postgraduate qualification in Supply Chain, Operations or Business Administration would be advantageous.
- 20+ years of progressive leadership experience across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Engineering, Logistics and/or end-to-end Operations, ideally within FMCG, Foods, Consumer Goods or a comparable high-volume manufacturing environment.
- Significant India market and operational experience, with a strong understanding of the complexities of managing large-scale manufacturing and supply chain operations in the country.
- Demonstrated success leading large, complex, multi-site operations, including a combination of company-owned and third-party manufacturing networks.
- Deep operational expertise across Manufacturing, Quality, Planning, Logistics, Warehousing, Engineering, EHS and Productivity.
- Proven ability to lead complex manufacturing and distribution networks while balancing scale, responsiveness, cost, customer service, quality and business continuity.
- Strong business and commercial acumen, with the ability to translate enterprise growth ambitions into practical capacity, network, investment and capability decisions.
- Demonstrated experience leading large-scale Supply Chain transformation, automation, digitalization and productivity programmes.
- Strong understanding of digital supply chain, advanced analytics and AI-enabled capabilities, with experience using technology to improve planning, manufacturing, logistics and decision-making.
- Strong track record of delivering measurable cost, productivity, service and operational improvements across manufacturing and Supply Chain.
- Experience enabling significant business growth through capacity expansion, network development, new product introductions and channel evolution.
- Proven people leadership experience across large and geographically dispersed organizations, including exposure to unionised manufacturing environments.
- Strong stakeholder-management capabilities within complex global and matrixed organizations, with the ability to influence senior leaders across business and functional teams.
- Ability to operate as both a strategic and operational leader, seeing the full value chain, making effective trade-offs and translating strategy into execution.
- Strong cross-functional leadership capabilities, connecting Commercial, Manufacturing, Procurement, R&D, Finance and Supply Chain around common business priorities.
- Demonstrated ability to challenge established ways of working and lead major transformation, digitalization, automation and productivity initiatives.
- Strong people and culture leadership, with the ability to create safety, accountability, inclusion, engagement and high performance across frontline and leadership populations.
- Strong resilience and risk-management capabilities, with the ability to anticipate disruption, protect business continuity and make effective decisions in complex environments.
- Excellent executive presence, judgement, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to operate effectively within a global, multicultural and matrixed organization.