Chief Supply Chain Officer — Cloud Platform

The mandate

A listed cloud-platform group has a supply network designed for earlier demand patterns and a more stable geopolitical environment. Hardware, data-centre capacity, specialised services, spares and technology partners are positioned through historical contracts rather than current customer consequence. Growth-stage governance now requires one executive to redesign resilience and working capital together.

The Chief Supply Chain Officer will influence operations supporting approximately €1,600 million in annual recurring revenue and lead around 750 employees and material partners. Scope includes network design, planning, strategic sourcing, procurement, inventory, logistics, supplier risk, capacity, fulfilment, sustainability and talent. Formal reporting runs to the Group Chief Executive or the executive committee sponsor nominated for supply resilience.

The starting point is a multi-tier dependency map linked to customer services. Components, cloud regions, distributors, manufacturers, field partners and specialist labour need visibility beyond direct suppliers. The CSCO will identify where one location, sub-tier provider, route or contractual restriction could interrupt multiple customers at once.

Network design should use scenarios rather than a single demand forecast. Growth, regional regulation, trade restriction, supplier failure and customer concentration can change the preferred footprint. Each option needs service, cash, capacity, tax, lead-time and exit consequences. Flexibility has value, but it should be priced rather than described abstractly.

Inventory policy must reflect customer consequence and variability. Critical spares, implementation hardware, security stock and obsolete components need different service levels. The leader will connect forecast error, lead time and fulfilment to working capital, ensuring that reduction does not silently increase downtime or expedite cost.

Geopolitical resilience requires operational choices. Dual sourcing, regionalisation, capacity reservation, redesigned components and alternate routes each take time to qualify. The CSCO will define triggers and test switching at realistic scale. A second supplier on paper is not resilience if tooling, certification or customer approval is missing.

Commercial and product teams must involve supply chain before commitment. New customers, configurations or regions can create unpriced inventory and service obligations. A commitment gate should reveal capacity, lead time, fulfilment and risk, allowing executives to change price, timing or design before signature.

Supplier economics will include quality, reliability, financial health, concentration and exit support. Unit-price savings can be overwhelmed by failure, freight, credits or internal intervention. Strategic suppliers need executive governance and comparable evidence, while important knowledge should not remain solely with vendors.

Planning will reconcile customer demand, installed-base obligations, inventory, capacity, suppliers and cash. Ranges and decision triggers are preferable to false precision. The CSCO will establish one cadence where variance prompts allocation or mitigation rather than competing explanations.

The organisation will need stronger analytical, risk and network-design capability. The new leader will clarify regional and category authority, assess senior roles and build succession. Procurement, planning and operations should share outcomes rather than optimise separate measures.

Why this seat is open

This is a new role in the next operating model, not an incumbent replacement. The board has set a four-to-six-month selection window so the successful executive can join ahead of capital and talent decisions. Current leaders remain accountable until activation of the remit.

What you will own

• Map multi-tier dependencies to customer and service consequence.
• Steward supply decisions affecting approximately €1,600 million of annual recurring revenue.
• Redesign the network across demand and geopolitical scenarios.
• Set inventory policy balancing resilience, fulfilment and working capital.
• Lead approximately 750 employees and material partners.
• Qualify alternate sources and routes through realistic tests.
• Embed supply evidence in commercial and product commitments.
• Build integrated planning, supplier governance and leadership succession.

The first 12 months

The first 90 days should reconstruct the network, meet the 30 stakeholders closest to demand and geopolitical risk and assess leaders. Stabilise critical dependencies. Agree network, inventory, commitment and mitigation gates with the board.

Months four to nine should qualify priority alternatives, reallocate inventory and renegotiate consequential suppliers. Put the commitment gate into use, improve planning and fill capability gaps. Initial value may include released cash, avoided disruption or more predictable fulfilment.

By year end, resilient supply, lower working capital and predictable fulfilment should move together. Performance must remain within 10% of approval, with three forecasts aligning demand, inventory, cash, customers and people. Severe supply exposures require an authorised mitigation inside 30 days.

What the board will measure

• Customer-critical dependencies visible beyond tier-one suppliers.
• Network decisions tested against geopolitical and demand scenarios.
• Inventory reduction without deterioration in service or expedite cost.
• Alternate sources operationally qualified before disruption.
• Retention over 90% for pivotal supply talent and ready succession for 70% of direct reports.
• Supplier economics incorporating failure, logistics and exit consequence.

The person

You are a Chief Supply Chain Officer, EVP Procurement or Manufacturing Executive with 18–22 years in technology or an adjacent complex enterprise. Your record includes reshaping a network beyond tier one and proving the resulting effect on resilience, stock and customer fulfilment.

Your accountable P&L, book, budget or portfolio has been at least €1,000 million, and you have led 750 or more people. Examples should show outcomes sustained across two reporting periods.

You understand technology supply, cloud dependencies, working capital and geopolitical risk. You can challenge commercial timing, test resilience beyond contracts and make network choices that preserve customer confidence.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is €340,000–460,000 plus annual incentive and LTI. This permanent Berlin role is onsite and supports international relocation. Notice of up to six months can be accommodated.

Confidentiality

The organisation, network, suppliers and geopolitical scenarios remain confidential. Identifying information will follow mutual relevance under an undertaking; published facts and values are deliberately composite.