Head of Supply Chain & Operations
We are currently looking for a Head of Supply Chain & Operations on behalf of our client, an industry leader in paint manufacturing. The Head of Supply Chain & Operations is a senior leadership role responsible for the end-to-end performance of the supply chain, from demand planning and procurement through production, warehousing, distribution, and facilities management.
The role ensures the business consistently delivers safe, high-quality product, in the right quantity, at the right cost, and on time, across wholesale, retail, and ecommerce channels. As a core member of the Senior Leadership Team, this role plays a critical part in enabling business growth, protecting margin, and delivering on GPG’s brand promise. The position leads and develops multi-disciplinary operational teams and works in close partnership with Sales, Retail, Marketing, Ecommerce, Finance, HR, and Innovation to ensure operational capability supports commercial ambition.
Key Purpose
To ensure the business produces the right product, in the right quantity, delivered on time, every time, while protecting safety, margin, and customer experience across wholesale, retail, and ecommerce channels.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Strategic Leadership & Purpose-Driven Growth
Lead the end-to-end supply chain function across planning, procurement, production, logistics, warehousing and facilities.
Develop and execute a supply chain strategy with GPG’s growth, sustainability and brand objectives.
Act as a key member of the Senior Leadership Team contributing to enterprise wide strategic decision-making and cross-functional alignment.
Serve as the ultimate escalation point for operational performance, service risk, and supply continuity issues.
Production Management
Oversee production operations to ensure consistent delivery of quality product aligned to forecasted demand.
Champion Right First Time (RFT) manufacturing standards and continuous improvement across all production activities.
Monitor and control key cost drivers, including volume throughput and cost per-litre, ensuring production costs support margin goals.
Ensure production efficiency supports margin protection while maintaining safety & quality standards.
Work with Sales, Marketing, and Retail leadership to ensure supply plans reflect seasonal demand, new product launches, and promotional activity.
Demand Planning, S&OP & Commercial Alignment
Oversee Inventory Management across the estate ensuring timely and efficiently distribution of products efficiently minimising stock loss.
Translate sales forecasts, marketing plans, promotional activity, and new product launches into executable production and supply plans.
Balance commercial ambition with operational capability, making informed trade-offs to protect service, margin, and customer experience.
Procurement & Supplier Partnerships
Lead procurement strategy to secure reliable, ethical, and value-creating supply of raw materials and third-party services.
Build resilient supplier partnerships through performance management, risk mitigation, and commercial negotiation.
Lead cost modelling, supplier cost breakdown analysis, and raw material cost management to protect margin.
Partner with Finance and Innovation on costed Bills of Materials (BOMs) for new products and reformulations.
Ensure procurement decisions align with sustainability commitments and long term business needs.
Inventory, Working Capital & Availability
Own inventory strategy across raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods.
Optimise stock levels to balance service, working capital efficiency, and obsolescence risk.
Partner with Finance to manage stock turns, aged inventory, and cash flow impact.
Ensure product availability supports wholesale partners, retail stores, and ecommerce fulfilment requirements.
Logistics, Distribution & Customer Fulfilment
Oversee fleet, warehouse, and distribution operations ensuring safe, reliable, and timely delivery across wholesale, retail, and ecommerce channels.
Deliver industry-leading OTIF performance to the stockist network and own continuous improvement in logistics execution.
Manage and work to continuously reduce cost per pallet while maintaining service, quality, or safety.
Ensure fulfilment processes, packaging standards, delivery reliability, and returns handling support a positive customer experience.
Retail, E-Commerce, Brand & Customer Experience Alignment
Partner closely with the Head of Retail (Cove & Co) to ensure stores are supplied to plan and stocked in line with merchandising and VM standards.
Support seasonal colour strategies, consultants, and store execution through reliable supply and availability.
Collaborate with Marketing and Ecommerce teams to ensure operational readiness for online demand, promotions, and growth.
Proactively identify and resolve constraints or demand spikes that could impact store or online customer experience.
Facilities, Health & Safety & Operational Resilience
Ensure operational site, premises, and equipment are maintained safely, efficiently, and compliantly.
Reduce downtime through structured maintenance planning, risk assessment, and investment prioritisation.
Hold end-to-end accountability for health & safety performance across production, warehousing, logistics, and facilities.
Build a proactive safety culture through leadership visibility, near-miss reporting, root cause analysis, and continuous improvement.
People, Leadership & Team Development
Lead, engage, mentor and develop high-performing teams across four interconnected operational disciplines.
Build a values-led culture centred on safety, respect, accountability and continuous improvement,
Establish clear accountability, performance expectations, and development pathways for leaders and their teams.
Build succession plans for critical operational roles and ensure leadership depth and resilience across the supply chain function.
Role-model collaborative leadership and calm decision-making in a fast-paced, growth environment.
Values & Culture Alignment
This role is critical to advancing the company’s commitment to:
Respect — acting fairly, ethically, and collaboratively with colleagues and partners
Excellence — consistently delivering high-performing, reliable operations
Partnership — working across functional boundaries to deliver for customers
Additionally, the role reinforces:
A safe and inclusive workplace
Ethical material sourcing and waste reduction
Developing people and teams for the long term
Protecting the customer experience across wholesale, ecommerce, and retail
SKILLS / EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:
Essential
Senior leadership experience in supply chain, manufacturing, operations, or logistics.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional operational teams.
Strong understanding of production environments and distribution models.
Demonstrated procurement and supplier management experience.
Commercially minded with experience of operational cost structures and process improvement.
Desirable
Experience in FMCG, chemical or manufacturing environments.
Exposure to omni-channel or ecommerce fulfilment models.
Experience with sustainability sourcing frameworks or ethical procurement frameworks.
PERSON SPECIFICATION:
Holistic, end-to-end supply-chain thinker with strong commercial judgement
Clear, empathetic and influential communicator
Data-driven decision-making with strong planning and problem-solving skills
Collaborative leader who works effectively across all functions
Calm under pressure and able to balance safety, quality, cost and customer needs
For more information, please apply through the link provided for the attention of Stephen Merrigan or email your CV to stephen.merrigan@osborne.ie
If you are interested in finding out more about the above role and would like to be considered other suitable roles that we may have available for your skill set – please attach your CV via the link provided
Please submit your updated CV in Word Format
If you are living in Ireland and hold a valid work permit, we would love to hear from you, if however, you do not hold a valid work permit unfortunately we will not be in a position to assist you with your job search.
Osborne are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Please visit www.osborne.ie for more information on all of our roles.
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