Supply Chain & Operations Director

Role: Director, Supply Chain & Operations – EuropeLocation: Gdańsk / Poland or Cambridge / UKRegion: Continental Europe, UK, Ireland

About the Role

The Director, Supply Chain Operations – Europe is responsible for leading the end-to-end planning and fulfillment organization across the European Residential Fire business. This leadership role integrates Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Customer Service, Order Management, Distribution, and Third-Party Logistics (3PL) management into a single operating model focused on delivering best-in-class customer service while optimizing inventory, working capital, and operational costs.

The role serves as the European supply chain leader and primary owner of the regional SIOP process, ensuring alignment between commercial demand, supply capabilities, logistics execution, and financial objectives. The position works closely with Sales, Finance, Operations, Procurement, Product Management, and the North American Demand and Supply Planning leadership teams to establish consistent planning standards, share best practices, and drive continuous improvement across the global organization.

In addition, this role is responsible for governance, performance management, and strategic development of the company’s distribution network, including third-party logistics providers supporting operations across the UK and Continental Europe.

This position reports directly to the Vice President of Operations & Supply Chain with dotted line reporting to the EMEA Sales Director.

Key Responsibilities

Supply Chain Leadership

Lead the European Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Customer Service, and Distribution teams.

Establish clear performance expectations and drive accountability through KPI management and operational reviews.

Develop organizational capability through coaching, succession planning, and talent development.

Foster a culture focused on customer service, operational excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Partner closely with North American Demand and Supply Planning leaders to align processes, planning methodologies, governance standards, and reporting.

Demand Planning & Commercial Forecasting

Own the regional demand planning process across the UK, Ireland, and Continental Europe.

Lead monthly Demand Reviews as part of the SIOP process.

Partner with Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Product Management to develop accurate consensus forecasts.

Drive improvements in forecast accuracy, forecast bias, and planning discipline.

Monitor demand trends, customer requirements, pipeline activity, market developments, and promotional plans.

Coordinate collaborative planning activities with key customers and channel partners.

Provide executive visibility to forecast risks and opportunities.

Supply Planning & Inventory Management

Own the regional supply planning process and ensure alignment between customer demand, inventory targets, and supply capabilities.

Translate demand plans into executable replenishment, production, procurement, and deployment plans.

Lead monthly Supply Reviews and provide clear recommendations regarding supply risks, service impacts, and inventory projections.

Manage supply constraints, shortages, and recovery plans.

Develop inventory strategies that balance service levels, working capital objectives, and business growth requirements.

Reduce excess and obsolete inventory while maintaining target service performance.

Drive inventory deployment decisions across European distribution locations.

SIOP & S&OE Leadership

Serve as the regional process owner for Sales, Inventory, and Operations Planning (SIOP).

Lead monthly Demand and Supply Review processes.

Facilitate executive SIOP reviews and support decision-making through scenario analysis and trade-off recommendations.

Drive weekly Sales and Operations Execution (S&OE) processes to manage short-term supply and demand alignment.

Ensure planning outputs support financial forecasts and business objectives.

Customer Service & Order Management

Lead customer service and order management processes supporting the European business.

Drive improvements in order entry quality, order fulfillment performance, and customer experience.

Manage escalations related to customer orders, service issues, supply shortages, and fulfillment challenges.

Partner with Sales and Customer Service teams to ensure timely communication regarding service risks and customer commitments.

Ensure effective backlog management and prioritization processes.

Support commercial execution through proactive management of customer requirements and supply commitments.

Distribution, Logistics & 3PL Management

Own the operational performance of third-party logistics providers supporting UK and European distribution activities.

Establish service agreements, KPIs, governance processes, and performance scorecards for all logistics partners.

Conduct regular business reviews with 3PL providers to drive continuous improvement in cost, service, inventory accuracy, and operational performance.

Monitor warehouse operations, including inventory accuracy, OTIF performance, order cycle time, storage utilization, picking and shipping accuracy, transportation performance, and returns processing.

Ensure compliance with applicable safety, regulatory, customs, transportation, and trade requirements.

Lead network optimization initiatives to improve customer service, reduce logistics costs, and enhance operational flexibility.

Manage warehousing and distribution budgets and identify productivity opportunities across the logistics network.

Drive corrective actions and continuous improvement plans with logistics providers as necessary.

Commercial Execution & Cross-Functional Coordination

Partner with regional Sales, Finance, and Product Management teams to ensure achievement of commercial objectives.

Support monthly forecasting, revenue planning, backlog management, and financial estimate processes.

Provide visibility on service risks, inventory positions, and fulfillment opportunities.

Coordinate actions across Sales, Planning, Procurement, Customer Service, and Logistics to ensure alignment and execution.

Support major customer initiatives, new product launches, promotions, and strategic growth opportunities.

Performance Management & Analytics

Own and report regional supply chain KPIs, including forecast accuracy, forecast bias, OTIF, customer service levels, inventory turns, Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO), backorder performance, fill rate, inventory accuracy, logistics cost as a percentage of sales, warehouse productivity, excess and obsolete inventory, and working capital performance.

Lead root-cause analysis and corrective action plans for KPI gaps.

Present performance updates, risks, opportunities, and improvement initiatives to senior leadership.

Continuous Improvement & Systems

Drive continuous improvement initiatives across planning, distribution, logistics, customer service, and inventory management processes.

Standardize planning methodologies and operational reporting.

Leverage ERP, planning systems, analytics tools, and automation technologies to improve decision-making and execution.

Ensure planning master data integrity and governance.

Partner with IT and global planning teams on future system enhancements and digital transformation initiatives.

Qualifications

Required

Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Engineering, or related field.

Significant leadership experience in supply chain.

Experience leading Demand Planning, Supply Planning, Customer Service, or Distribution functions.

Experience managing cross-functional teams and complex stakeholder environments.

Strong understanding of SIOP, inventory management, supply planning, and logistics operations.

Experience managing third-party logistics providers and warehouse operations.

Experience working in multinational business environments.

Preferred

Master’s Degree, preferably an MBA or Supply Chain Management degree.

APICS / ASCM certifications such as CSCP, CPIM, or CLTD.

Experience with SAP, Kinaxis, Oracle, or other advanced planning systems.

Experience within consumer products, durable goods, building products, or industrial manufacturing sectors.

Demonstrated success driving inventory optimization, service improvements, and operational transformations.

Key Success Measures

Forecast Accuracy

OTIF Performance

Inventory Turns and DIO

Working Capital Improvement

Service Level Achievement

Excess and Obsolete Inventory Reduction

Logistics Cost Improvement

3PL Performance Scores

SIOP Maturity and Compliance

Team Engagement and Talent Development

What we offer (Gdańsk)

We offer excellent development opportunities, a competitive salary and exceptional benefits including the following:

A collaborative and high-performance culture focused on innovation and growth

Career development and progression opportunities

Flexible working arrangements

Competitive salary and benefits 

Meal Vouchers

LuxMed Medical Insurance

MultiSport Card

IKE/IKZE Additional Pension Contribution

Individuals may also be eligible for an annual performance bonus based on both individual and company’s performance. The final compensation for this position will be set based on the individual’s knowledge, skills, and experience as it relates to the job requirements. Kidde Global Solutions is committed to providing a competitive benefits package to our employees. 

Your journey with us

We always aim to provide a fair and valuable recruitment process for everyone. If selected, you will follow the next stages:

Initial call with our recruitment team

Up to 3 interviews with the Hiring Manager and Key Stakeholders

Our commitment to you

As an employer of choice, our greatest assets are the expertise, creativity, and passion of our employees. We strive to provide a great place to work that attracts, develops, and retains the best talent, promotes employee engagement, fosters teamwork, and drives innovation for the benefit of our customers. We aim to create an environment where you feel that you belong, with diversity and inclusion as the engine to growth and innovation. We develop and deploy best-in-class programs and practices, providing enriching career opportunities, listening to employee feedback, and always challenging ourselves to do better. The values that guide us are respect, integrity, inclusion, innovation, and excellence.

We’re excited for you to join us and make a difference.