October has maintained the strong momentum we saw through September, with continued high levels of senior movement across Supply Chain, Operations, and Procurement leadership globally.
The market itself is far busier than earlier this year; annecdotally, leaders tell me they are receiving more approaches and are finding more opportunities than any other time so far this year. While hiring remains highly selective, companies are now more decisive in moving forward with critical appointments; signalling growing confidence and an appetite for transformation going into 2026.
This Month’s Takeaways
We've seen a strong demand for end-to-end Supply Chain and Operations leaders, particularly integrated leaders bridging Manufacturing and Supply Chain execution.
Consumer Goods and Industrial sectors continue to dominate hiring activity, though strong movement was also seen across Technology, Pharma, and Ingredients. Procurement leadership remains active, though this month saw greater emphasis on operational and manufacturing transformation roles at COO and CSCO level.
Executive Moves
October has seen another impressive round of senior appointments globally - highlighting continued strength across key industries:
- PVH Corp.: Patricia Gabriel joins as Chief Supply Chain Officer & Global Head of Operations, from her previous leadership role at Tapestry
- TVH: Tanja Dysli joins as Chief Operations Officer, from her previous role leading IKEA North America as CSCO
- Ingram Micro: Deepa D joins as SVP Global Operations & Supply Chain, from her prior role at BlueScope
- Imperial Brands PLC: Sami Pascal Naffakh joins as Chief Supply Chain Officer
- Novolex: Tamer Abuaita joins as Chief Operating Officer, from his previous leadership role at Stanley Black & Decker
- Brenntag: Bjørn Rici Andersen joins as Chief Operating Officer, from his current role at Rockwool Group
- CONMED Corporation: Josep Lluis Llorens joins as EVP Global Manufacturing Operations, from Haemonetics
- Sammontana S.p.A.: GAETANO D'ERRICO joins as Chief Supply Chain & Manufacturing Officer, from BD
- SUGAR Cosmetics: Siddhartha Roy joins as Chief Supply Chain Officer
- IFF: Oliver Kemmerich joins as SVP Global Operations, from his role at Symrise
- GLACIER: Christopher Fielden joins as Chief Operating Officer, from his previous role at BrewDog
- Astellas Pharma: Kevin Whitehead joins as SVP Head of Supply Chain Management, from Johnson & Johnson
- La Brosse & Dupont: Jérémy LEMIERE joins as Group Supply Chain Lead, from his role as Chief Supply Chain Officer at Stokomani
- Martinelli & Company: Amber Hood joins as SVP Operations & Supply Chain, from her previous leadership role at Keurig Dr Pepper
- Medtronic: Steeve Yammine joins from his previous role at BIC
- BDA, LLC: Kelly Bengston joins as Chief Operating Officer, from her previous role at CKA Restaurants
- BIORAY®: Neill King joins as Chief Operating Officer, from his previous role at FreshRealm
- Dart Container: Andrew Downard joins as Chief Supply Chain Officer, from his role as CSCO of Mativ
- Elia Group: Sébastien Barberis joins as Chief Procurement Officer, from his previous role at BT
Another exceptionally busy month, with continued strength in global hiring at the COO and CSCO level, particularly in manufacturing-led and consumer-facing sectors.
Regional Snapshot
North America – Remain an incredibly active region globally, with continued high demand for senior operations and transformation leaders. Momentum across Consumer, Industrial, and Tech remains robust. Private Equity activity is fueling both hiring demand and creating challenges for retention.
Europe – Hiring levels continue to rise after September’s rebound, particularly in France, Benelux, and DACH, where both Manufacturing and Procurement leadership searches have accelerated heading into Q4.
Asia Pacific – Continues to be one of the fastest-moving regions, with strategic hiring focused on localisation, resilience, and supply network diversification.
GCC – Sustains high demand for senior Operations and Supply Chain talent, with continued investment in infrastructure, consumer goods, and industrial capability.
Functional Trends
- We are seeing a huge demand for Customer Supply Chain leadership, and a particularly high demand for transformational leaders as companies push to build shared service centers to run their global Customer Operations teams. While leadership roles are based in a variety of locations, the shared service centers are trending towards Eastern Europe, Philippines, India, Malaysia and parts of Latin America.
- Integrated Operations & Supply Chain leadership remains the top priority - companies are seeking hybrid executives capable of bridging manufacturing, logistics, and transformation.
- Plant Director pipelining remains a priority for many organisations, particularly in mission-critical locations.
- Procurement hiring continues at pace, with emphasis on digital capability, sustainability, and supplier diversification.
- Technology & Data enablement is increasingly critical, with growing interest in leaders driving automation, analytics, and AI within global supply chains.
- Talent at C-1 and C-2 levels (VP and Senior Director) is in particularly high demand as recent C-suite appointments cascade through organisations.
Outlook for November
With consistent momentum across September and October, the Supply Chain leadership market looks to be ending Q4 on a high note.
Companies are prioritising long-term transformation hires over short-term fixes, and the market is showing clear signs of renewed confidence heading into 2026 planning cycles.
We expect to see continued movement at C-1 level, particularly across Integrated Supply Chain, Procurement, and Manufacturing leadership, as businesses close the year by strengthening their top teams.
Thank you for reading!