Supply Chain Network Adviser — E-commerce Marketplace

The mandate

The committee repeatedly asks whether incremental nodes and inventory placement are buying durable customer value or simply subsidising faster promises. Current models optimise average cost while hiding seller, category and peak-season differences.

Three days monthly include a network-model review, a field or seller session and Investment Committee attendance. A capital paper receives acknowledgement within forty-eight hours and a challenge note within five business days.

The nine-month appointment ends with approval of the next two-year network plan. A three-month renewal requires the COO and committee chair; the adviser has no line authority, site decision, executive responsibility or capital vote.

Two other substantive retainers may run concurrently. Service to another horizontal marketplace, major 3PL, property developer or automation provider involved in the plan must be declared, and transaction-linked fees are excluded.

Why the board wants this voice

Operations, categories and finance can each defend a different optimum. No director has recently designed a national marketplace network through demand volatility and seller heterogeneity. The board wants a neutral integrator of service, capital and ecosystem consequences.

What you will own

• Test demand and inventory assumptions by category, seller origin, promise tier and seasonal peak.
• Challenge whether each proposed node solves capacity, speed, resilience or commercial optics.
• Press the committee on stranded-capital risk when assortment or seller participation shifts.
• Shape principles for owned, leased, partner and seller-fulfilled capacity.
• Examine cost-to-serve after returns, failed delivery, transfer and ageing inventory.
• Guide trade-offs between national consistency and city-specific network design.
• Advise on evidence gates before land, lease or automation commitments are signed.

Candidate qualifications

• 22–28 years in e-commerce, retail or omnichannel supply-chain leadership.
• Direct design responsibility for an Indian network handling high SKU and seasonal complexity.
• Evidence of linking customer promise changes to contribution margin and working capital.
• Experience deciding owned-versus-partner fulfilment and large automation investments.
• Board-level communication on network risk, capacity and capital trade-offs.
• Independence from prospective property, 3PL and equipment providers.