The demand for innovative Supply Chain Directors is high. Compared to last year, we have seen an increase of 33%, particularly in West and East Flanders and Antwerp. Today, the role of a Supply Chain Director is transforming to a more analytical and commercial role.
Julide Tunali, Senior Manager in our Engineering & Supply Chain division, gives an insight on which skills are required to become an innovative Supply Chain Director and what the future holds for highly qualified specialists in this domain.
How has the role of a Supply Chain Director evolved so far?
Julide: “With the development of Industry 4.0, the supply chain function has become much more digitalised and hence the new era of supply chain recruitment. The role of a Supply Chain Director is transforming towards a more analytical one and will require broader access to new channels of delivery.
To face these new developments and evolutions, today’s Supply Chain Director needs to be a more innovative solutions-oriented professional.”
Which skills are required to be an innovative Supply Chain Director?
“Today, the Supply Chain Director is no longer using the traditional ways of implementing the supply chain life cycle but a more innovative one. That is why the new skill set for a supply chain leader includes a more business development approach, more innovative standing in logistics solutions and a more communicative style in reading the demands of the client. While the client will be designing the demand from home in a tailor made fashion, the Supply Chain Director is the one following the trends of demand and creating the most accurate solutions of delivery. Today we are speaking about drones delivering the perfect tailor made TV designed for each different customer and how the Supply Chain Director will design that scheme. In that road, weather forecasting or market research data are just some of the new information channels that a Supply Chain Director will turn his face to. In fact, the Supply Chain Director becomes more a marketeer and more digitalized than ever.”
What does the future of supply chain management look like?
“As the profile of the Supply Chain Director is changing drastically, companies looking to recruit are in need of more commercial professionals who are eager to be challenged. Strong interpersonal skills, entrepreneurial spirit intermingled with a data oriented mindset are high on the wish list. This means companies are and will transform their workforce in supply chain into more analytical profiles and together with robotization and automation, some positions in logistics will disappear, replacing the seats with business development supply chain and supply chain analytics consultants. Today, this transformation is happening at every level, yet still the Supply Chain Director seems to hold a super strong tutorial position to face the changing scheme.”
Do we see an evolution in salaries as well for Supply Chain Directors?
“Today, the salaries of young supply chain professionals are rising, as they are in high demand. For Supply Chain Leaders with +10 years of experience, a salary range of 95-180k EUR is applicable. As the demand for Supply Chain Directors with a technical background and strong analytical mindset is high, we expect these salaries will increase more in the years ahead.”
Find out more?
Looking for a specialist to lead your supply chain team? Contact our engineering & supply chain team today. Looking for a new challenge? Have a look at our latest supply chain vacancies.
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