European Head Of Supply Chain & Planning

European Head of Supply Chain & Planning

Where S&OP excellence meets genuinely end to end ownership - Global electronics group

£80000 to £(phone number removed) basic plus bonus and benefits

Kent, hybrid, minimum 3 days at Head Office |

Not a turnaround. A perfection mandate.

If you have spent your career fixing broken supply chains, this is not that job. Our client has already done the hard part: over the past four years it has consolidated its European warehousing, upgraded its demand forecasting systems, and built genuine end to end capability across sourcing, freight, inventory and distribution. What is missing is the data and analytics layer that turns a very good operation into an exceptional one, and that is where you come in.

Who you are

You are university degree educated, with a consistent career history that shows genuine progression rather than a series of short stints. We are not looking for interim experience or frequent job changes; this role suits someone building a stable, deliberate career upward, not moving between organisations every year or two. At your core, you are a strong demand planner and global planning data scientist: someone who builds scenario models rather than single point forecasts, quantifies and mitigates risk, and is genuinely comfortable pulling data together from multiple sources, some of it incomplete, to reach a defensible view. Hands-on fluency in Microsoft Dynamics 365 (BC365), SQL and Power BI is expected, since you will build your own reports rather than depend on someone else to, giving the business the helicopter view it currently lacks. Your career almost certainly started in demand planning or S&OP and has grown into broader, end to end leadership of sourcing, freight, inventory and distribution, rather than through procurement alone.

A visible leadership role, not a desk job

This is not a backroom analyst role, and the data is only half of it. You sit on the senior operational leadership team, highly visible, and you are just as comfortable presenting a plan and defending it in the room, in front of senior commercial and finance colleagues, as you are building it. You lead a strong, established team, and you communicate with the confidence and clarity of someone who expects to be listened to, not someone who lets the numbers do the talking for them. You will work closely with commercial to build the S&OP plan itself, constructively challenging assumptions and negotiating a realistic consensus number rather than simply accepting or overriding what you are given. As new product introduction accelerates and customer projects grow larger and more complex, supply chain increasingly needs to be in the room early with engineering, commercial and finance colleagues, not informed after decisions are already made, and much of what this role achieves depends on being seen and heard as a genuine member of the senior leadership team, not just a source of numbers for others to act on.

Where you are likely working now, and where this would not be a fit

This business operates on a genuinely same day dispatch model: the order that comes in today ships by the end of today, and tomorrow the order book starts again from empty. Realistically, you are in consumer electronics or technology distribution, e-commerce or multichannel retail running its own warehousing, general consumer goods e-commerce, or a telecoms or technology accessories distributor with Far East sourced product. Automotive and industrial aftermarket is another strong match, particularly urgent parts and spares supply such as vehicle off road repair, where the whole model already depends on same day availability. What all of these share is the operating rhythm this role needs: order to ship measured in hours, not days. Two backgrounds are unlikely to translate well: traditional automotive manufacturing, built around long, multi-year platform cycles, and heavily regulated environments with long approval chains. Equally, a career built primarily in procurement or sourcing rather than across the full supply chain is unlikely to be the right next step, since sourcing is only a modest part of this role.

The role and the team

You will own demand planning, S&OP, sourcing, freight and logistics in every mode and direction, inventory management, and in-house warehousing, with full budget ownership from day one, reporting to the Group Operations Director. Inventory sits close to the centre of it: cash tied up in stock, sourced from the Far East against real lead times, and balancing that against the same day and next day service promise is one of the genuine tests of the role. You would lead a strong, autonomous team spanning sourcing, logistics, demand planning and warehouse leadership, an empowered team that comes to you with solutions, not problems, and expects clear direction, not micromanagement. You will need to lead this team, not manage it, setting strategy and objectives and trusting your people to deliver against them. Day to day warehouse operations are owned by an experienced Warehouse Manager, so this is not a floor-level role, though a genuine working understanding of warehousing and inventory matters. This is not a pure procurement role, and it is not a transformation mandate: the foundations are already built, and this role is about precision, insight and continuous improvement on top of them.

The package

A basic salary of £80000 to £(phone number removed) depending on experience, plus a competitive bonus scheme, private medical cover, a matched pension, wellbeing support, and a genuinely hybrid working pattern based from a Kent office with easy access from North Kent, South East London and Essex. Public transport links to the office are limited, so a car is necessary for the commute.

Right to work and eligibility

You will need to already hold the right to work in the UK without the need for employer sponsorship, now or in the future, since sponsorship is not available for this role. Relocation support is not available, so you should already be living within a genuinely commutable distance of North Kent, with your own transport, given limited public transport links to the office. You should also have a minimum of five years of directly relevant supply chain leadership experience gained within the UK and Europe.

Next step

If this sounds like the next chapter of your career rather than a repeat of the last one, we would like to hear from you. Apply with your CV or contact us directly for a confidential conversation