Network Head - Direct Materials Planning

At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections,  where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

The Network Head, Direct Materials (DM) Planning is a highly visible, strategic leadership role accountable for ensuring the resilient, cost-effective, and standardized supply of direct materials across the global manufacturing network. Acting as the primary architect and leader of the “One Direct Materials Network”, this leader bridges the gap between global supply chain and site execution for Direct Materials. The Head of DM Planning leads a hybrid/matrix organization, providing direct leadership to central strategic roles and a distributed team of Network Direct Materials Planners embedded at the manufacturing sites.

The Opportunity

• Serve as the primary transformation leader and enterprise architect for the 'One Direct Materials Network', driving a fundamental shift in the global operating model.

• Define and govern network standards for DM planning, establishing standard processes and capability frameworks across all manufacturing sites.

• Own global resource allocation and organizational structures required to sustain the DM Planning function globally and locally.

• Oversee effective supply chain governance for direct materials, serving as the primary liaison regarding critical DM supply issues.

• Drive financial performance for Direct Materials inventory, optimizing Working Capital and scope of ~800m CHF on yearly spend.

• Direct the strategic design of global inventory policies, including segmentation, safety stock, and risk mitigation strategies.

• Partner with Global Procurement and Quality to embed proactive supply chain risk assessments into portfolio management.

• Lead cross-functional task forces to resolve severe supply shortages and optimize service and cost tradeoffs.

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing matrix team, fostering an environment of self-organization and psychological safety.

Who you are

You are an outstanding strategic leader with the agility to navigate the complexities of pharmaceutical industry dynamics and direct materials supply chains. You possess the resilience to lead through ambiguity and crises with a calm, methodical approach, while your financial acumen allows you to identify critical cost versus resilience tradeoffs. As a visionary architect and coach, you excel at driving organizational change in decentralized environments and influencing senior stakeholders across a complex matrix without needing direct authority.

Further you have the following qualifications and experience:

• BS/MS Degree in life sciences, engineering, supply chain, or business; an MBA or Masters in Supply Chain is preferred.

• 12–15+ years of professional experience in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry with deep expertise in Supply Chain or Procurement.

• 5-7+ years of experience in people management, with a proven track record of leading geographically distributed matrix teams.

• Extensive experience in Supply Chain planning, operations, and leading large-scale transformations.

• Proficiency with advanced planning systems (e.g., OMP) and ERP systems such as SAP.

• Excellent communication skills tailored for Executive Management and the ability to distill complex scenarios into actionable decisions.

Ideally this role is located in Basel with some flexibility for EU PT sites.

Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.

Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.