Chief Supply Chain Officer — Interim, Pharmaceutical Distribution

The mandate

The business operates a network of third-party depots handling temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical inventory. The structure today shows fragmented temperature monitoring, inflated safety stocks and no enterprise authority over depot operations.

The interim is expected within two weeks for twelve months while the board redesigns the permanent supply-chain role. Search begins in month seven, and the last six weeks are reserved for route, inventory and vendor-governance transfer.

Handover is achieved when essential-medicine service exceeds ninety-eight per cent for sixteen weeks, cold-chain excursions fall below 0.2 per cent, inventory days decline from 112 to 78, and the successor has run one complete S&OP quarter.

The chief may reallocate inventory, suspend unsafe depots, invoke alternate carriers and award emergency work below ₹1 crore. Network closures, contracts above ₹5 crore and write-offs over ₹2 crore need executive approval; product release and demand pricing are expressly withheld.

Manufacturing scheduling inside plants, formulation portfolio choices and hospital tender strategy are not part of the brief. The supply-chain team supplies scenarios but does not inherit commercial or quality sign-off.

Why this seat is open

The excursion became a board event because prior warnings had not been escalated. Resignation removed the only enterprise-level supply-chain signatory during corrective action. The board wants decisive temporary cover until cold-chain controls and the permanent organisation are demonstrably stable.

What you will own

• Quarantine and disposition excursion-exposed stock through Quality while preserving a complete financial and custody record.
• Redesign cold-chain monitoring, alert escalation and lane qualification across owned and third-party depots.
• Decide inventory rebalancing by patient criticality, shelf life, demand confidence and qualified transport capacity.
• Introduce monthly S&OP with one constrained forecast, explicit allocation rules and executive exception decisions.
• Renegotiate carrier and depot service schedules around temperature performance, recovery rights and audit access.
• Reduce inventory days to 78 through SKU segmentation, expiry prevention and supplier-lot discipline.
• Transfer the network control book and chairing authority after the successor completes a full S&OP quarter.

Candidate qualifications

• More than twenty-two years in pharmaceutical, vaccine or medical-product supply chains with national executive scope.
• Led recovery from a material cold-chain excursion, including quarantine, patient-supply protection and vendor accountability.
• Deep experience in S&OP, inventory segmentation, GDP controls, lane qualification and temperature-monitoring technology.
• Record of reducing working capital without creating shortages in life-critical or highly regulated categories.
• Commercial skill in logistics contracting, paired with clear respect for independent Quality disposition authority.
• Ability to operate during product scarcity using transparent allocation principles and board-visible exception governance.