Supply Chain Manager

Sika is a specialty chemicals company with a leading position in the development and production of systems and products for bonding, sealing, damping, reinforcing, and protecting in the building sector and motor vehicle industry. Sika has subsidiaries in 101 countries around the world and manufactures in over 300 factories. Its more than 27,500 employees generated annual sales of CHF 11.20 billion in 2025.

Position Title: Supply Chain Manager

Reporting to: Operations Manager

Business: Automotive & Industry

Location: Chakan, Pune

Overview

The Supply Chain Manager will lead end-to-end supply chain operations for our Automotive & Industry business, ensuring uninterrupted material availability, optimizing cost, and enhancing delivery performance across global and domestic supplier bases. This role manages buying, logistics, inventory, supplier relationships, Customer Services, and demand planning while supporting new product launches and sustainability goals. The ideal candidate has deep experience in automotive supply chains, strong analytical skills, and a track record of operational excellence.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Supply Chain Strategy & Planning

• Develop and implement supply chain strategies aligned with production schedules, SOP timelines, and annual business goals.
• Lead demand forecasting and capacity planning to ensure supply readiness for both current and future vehicle programs.
• Lead complete S&OP Process.
• Drive risk assessment and mitigation plan for critical product and build strong Business Continuity and Contingency Plan.
• Drive Capacity Planning process and derive Capacity Constraints and enhancement plan to meet pipeline Business requirement.

• Buying & Supplier Management

• Manage sourcing strategies for global inter-company and local and global third-party suppliers, ensuring timely delivery, cost competitiveness and quality compliance.
• Understand global trade practices and derive benefits from same.
• Evaluate supplier performance using KPIs such as OTD (On-Time Delivery), PPM (Parts Per Million), warranty impact, and logistics scorecards.
• Negotiate contracts, long-term agreements, and cost reduction initiatives while maintaining strong supplier partnerships.
• Close coordination for Product Transitions and continuity.

• Inventory & Materials Management

• Optimize inventory levels for raw materials, consumables, and finished goods using lean and JIT principles based on Leadtime.
• Ensure Customer supplies without any disturbance and proactive planning.
• Oversee MRP processes, safety stock calculations, and demand-supply balancing.
• Minimize obsolescence and excess inventory through lifecycle tracking and engineering change coordination.

• Logistics & Distribution

• Understand requirements from Business and Customer to create stronger distribution channel.
• Lead inbound and outbound logistics operations, ensuring efficient movement of all Product lines.
• Work closely with 3PL/4PL partners, transporters, and warehouse teams for cost, speed, and reliability improvements.
• Implement logistics optimization projects, including route planning, consolidation, and export compliance for global shipments.

• Customer Service

• Drive Complete Order Management process for maximizing customer satisfaction.
• OTIF compliance
• Close coordination with Customer on understanding specific requirements.
• Lead Claim Management process for faster Customer issue resolution on Supply Chain related topics.
• Monitor forecast vs offtake variance of key customer accounts and lead discussion with customer to keep variances, if any, within agreed SLA

• Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with Production, Engineering, Quality, Finance, and Program Management to ensure smooth daily operations and launch readiness.
• Support new product development (NPD) by coordinating procurement and ramp-up planning.
• Facilitate resolution of supply disruptions, quality issues, and engineering changes.

• Data, Systems & Compliance

• Ensure data accuracy across ERP/MRP systems and drive digitalization initiatives (RFID, dashboards, automation).
• Monitor compliance with automotive standards such as IATF 16949, ISO 9001, ISO14001, and regulatory import/export guidelines.
• Prepare and present timely supply chain reports to leadership.

Competencies

Functional

• Strong expertise in MRP/ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, or equivalent).
• Excellent negotiation, vendor management, and analytical skills.
• Strong understanding of automotive production processes, PPAP, BOM management, and quality systems VDA, IATF, ISO etc.
• Good Knowledge of working with Automotive and Industrial Customers like Maruti, Tata, SML etc.
• Knowledge of lean methodologies, Kanban, and continuous improvement tools.
• Familiarity with global sourcing and import/export regulations.

Behavioural

• Good communication skills.
• Team worker with the ability to influence cross-functional teams

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply chain, Operations, Engineering, Business, or related field
• MBA or relevant Master’s preferred
• Min. 10 years of supply chain experience (automotive industry highly preferred)
• Certifications (CSCP, CPM, APICS, Lean Six Sigma) are an advantage

We offer competitive salaries, aligned with local market benchmarks and the specific scope and responsibilities of each role. Compensation is determined based skills relevant to the position, education and/or training. We are committed to fair and equitable pay practices in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.