Associate Manager, Inventory Management

We are hiring an Associate Manager, Inventory Management in a permanent role.

This is an individual contributor role working a minimum of 1-3 days on-site in the Central Distribution Centre in Venlo.

The Job's Mission

As a member of the Inventory Planning team, this roledrives inventory strategies across Europe with a strong focus on safety stock management, network flows, and inventory parameter setting in close collaboration with Operations and IBP teams.

The role has a strong mid- to long-term planning focus, working closely with divisional suppliers and IBP partners to align inventory strategies with business needs and supply capabilities.

This will be achieved by:

• Driving processes to create, review, optimize, and govern inventory-setting practices for items in the EMEA CDC,LRDs (local country warehouses&kitrooms), with a strong focus on safety stockmethodologyand inventory parameters.

• Identifying, reviewing, and addressing root causes of inventory imbalance, excess, and obsolescence to improve inventory health and availability across the network, while also considering broader cost drivers across European operations.

The work will involve stakeholder management and alignment across Operations, IBP, European and divisional leadership, EMEA Supply Chain Planning, CDC and local warehouse teams, Finance, and relevant commercial and cross-functional partners.

Key Activities & Accountabilities

• Gather, analyze, andvalidatedata to support safety stock decisions, inventory parameter reviews, andaccurateinventory level visibility across Europe.

• Play an active role in connecting Commercial and Operations teams to implement a robust inventory planning strategy.

• Be a partner to CDC and LRD operations teams while aligning with commercial, divisional, marketing, and finance functions to balance service levels, inventory investment, and supply risk.

• Drive inventory improvements that enhance service, reduce excess, and improve working capital efficiency.

• Collaborate with global IBP teams to align inventory planning assumptions, safety stock requirements, and mid- to long-term inventory needs.

Education:

• Degree level in Business / Engineering / Supply Chain Management

• APICS accredited or professional supply chain accreditation preferred

• Fluency in English is essential; Dutch is preferred.

• Lean Six Sigma certification is a plus.

• Project management experience is a plus

Experience:

The ideal candidate should have 5-7 years of work experience with a proventrack recordin European operations, inventory planning, supply chain, PMO, or finance in a multinational medical device company, including:

• 3-5 years of people and/or process management experience

• Strong analytical and business acumen.

• Excellent collaboration and communication skills; cross-functional influencing skills; global teamwork and cultural awareness.

• Strong technical acumen working with enterprise resource planning software.

• Strong influencing skills with the ability to drive alignment and action across functions.

• Demonstrated experience inestablishingprograms or initiatives that resulted in positive change.

• Previousexperience applying Lean Six Sigma tools or equivalent in operations or supplychain.

Competencies

• Strong interpersonal skills - the individual requiresexcellent communicationskills (written & verbal) plus theability to relatewell to colleagues from varied divisions,markets& cultures.

• Analytical - Able toassess complex data,identifypatterns, synthesizeinsightsand turn them intoclear inventory decisions.

• Strategic - A strongstrategic thinkerwho considers both the short- and long-term impact of decisions.

• High achiever - Is creative &seeksto deliver the best in anagreedtimeframe

• Activator - A self-starter who canmulti-taskand motivate others and self to get the job done.

• Team player - Works effectively with others and is willing and able todriveideas, plans, and responsibilities collaboratively.

• Change agent - Has the courage to challenge the status quo and the ability to manage, deliver, and execute change.

• Result-oriented - Strongresultsorientation witha track recordofdeliveringhigh-quality outcomes.

Requirements

• Location - At a minimum, 1-3 days a week at the EMEA CDC in Venlo

• Flexibility - Able to work across time zones with US-based suppliers