Supply Chain Planning Life Sciences Manager

Life Sciences Supply Chain And Operations Professional

Accenture Supply Chain & Operations practice who specializes at the intersection of functional consulting, data, and technology. Our Life Sciences clientsspanning biopharma, med tech, and CDMO/CMO organizationsoperate in one of the most complex, regulated, and high-stakes supply chain environments in the world. We come at their challenges from all sides with deep industry expertise, data-driven insights, and digital leadership. It's our job to show clients how to take major leaps forward in planning, manufacturing, and supply chain operationswhile meeting the demands of patient safety, regulatory compliance, and an evolving global supply network. How do we do it? We apply life sciencesspecific planning frameworks, connect internal and external manufacturing networks, and build operating models that work for both biopharma and med tech environments.

You are:

A Life Sciences Supply Chain and Operations professional who helps biopharma and med tech clients implement and optimize end-to-end planning processes across their supply networks. You bring deep understanding of the regulatory environment, product lifecycle complexity, and external manufacturing dynamics that define this industry. You will lead and implement Integrated Business Planning (IBP), demand planning, supply planning, production scheduling, and inventory management capabilitiesensuring reliable product availability while managing the unique constraints of GMP-compliant, patient-centric supply chains.

As part of working with clients you will help with several aspects of life sciences integrated planning including:

• Integrated Planning Strategy: Design and implement IBP/S&OP frameworks tailored to life sciences environments, accounting for regulatory release cycles, CMO/CDMO network complexity, and the distinct planning dynamics of biopharma and med tech product portfolios.
• S&OP / IBP: Lead the full IBP cycleincluding demand review, supply review, portfolio review, and executive S&OPintegrating commercial, clinical, regulatory, and operations inputs to drive aligned decision-making.
• Demand & Supply Planning: Develop demand and supply planning processes that account for life sciencesspecific drivers including patient-based forecasting, launch ramp modeling, loss of exclusivity (LOE), batch yield variability, QA release buffers, and CMO/CDMO lead time dynamics.
• S&OE: Translate IBP decisions into short-horizon execution plans, ensuring production schedules, batch campaign sequencing, CMO order management, and serialization-compliant logistics are aligned with near-term patient and customer demand.
• Inventory Optimization: Develop multi-echelon inventory strategies that account for shelf life, retest dating, temperature-controlled storage, and regulatory hold periodsbalancing service levels against working capital and write-off risk.
• Process Improvement & Digital Enablement: Identify opportunities to improve forecasting accuracy, reduce supply risk, and accelerate planning cycles. Implement AI-enabled planning tools, digital twins, and advanced analytics to modernize life sciences supply chain operations.
• Performance Management: Define and track life sciencesrelevant KPIs including OTIF, forecast accuracy, batch cycle time, CMO on-time delivery, inventory days-on-hand, and write-off rate. Develop action plans to address gaps and drive continuous improvement.
• Operating Model: Design governance frameworks and planning operating models that integrate commercial, medical affairs, regulatory, quality, and operations functionsenabling coordinated decision-making across complex biopharma and med tech organizations.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and sustain relationships across client organizationsengaging executive leadership, commercial teams, supply chain functions, quality, and regulatory affairsto align on planning priorities and communicate performance outcomes.
• Risk Management: Proactively identify supply chain risks specific to life sciences environmentsincluding CMO/CDMO capacity constraints, API supply disruption, regulatory holds, and cold chain failuresand develop mitigation strategies to protect patient supply continuity.
• Reporting & Analytics: Provide data-driven insights into planning performance through advanced reporting and visualizationenabling senior leadership to make informed decisions on supply strategy, capacity investment, and network configuration.

The work:

• Find solutions to clients' life sciences supply chain and planning challengesincluding demand volatility, CMO/CDMO capacity constraints, regulatory holds, and product lifecycle complexity
• Spot and solve challenges using your analytical & strategy skills to dive into data and compare vs. industry peers
• Lead workshops that look for ways to improve organizations and processes
• Determine what methods and procedures to use when completing projects
• Give clients insights that help make their companies work better, faster, and more efficiently
• Challenge legacy ways of working using constructive techniques that fuel client growth
• Use digital tech to help clients find new ways to make their orgs more effective and efficient
• Lead small to medium sized teams with diverse backgrounds skills and knowledge
• Effectively manage and coach others, collaborating with internal and external parties
• Support client sales origination and thought leadership development
• Ensure that projects help clients meet their key goals
• Drive a positive impact in the communities where we work
• Support delivery of generative AI and agent-based modeling to accelerate scalable use cases for Agentic planning operationstranslating complex technical outputs into executive-ready insights and scalable solutions.

Travel Requirements:

Travel is required for this role and could vary from 10-75%.

Here's what you need:

• Minimum of 5 years of experience working on Supply Chain initiatives
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working on Integrated Planning initiatives
• Minimum of 5 years of experience working in one or many of the following industries: Biopharma, Medical Devices / Med Tech, CDMO/CMO, or adjacent Life Sciences sectors
• Minimum of 2 years of external experience at a consulting firm or 5 years of internal consulting experience in a role equivalent to Manager level within industry
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent (minimum 12 years) work experience. (If associate degree, must have a minimum of 6 years' work experience)

Bonus points if:

• You have a deep specialization in one or more of the following life sciences planning domains: Patient-Based Demand Forecasting, IBP/S&OP, S&OE, Inventory Optimization, CMO/CDMO Supply Planning, or Clinical-to-Commercial Supply Transition
• You have the proven ability to work creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment
• You excel in building and developing relationships, overseeing complex programs and demonstrating leadership
• You've earned an MBA or equivalent graduate degree
• You have hands-on experience with life sciences planning platforms such as OMP, Kinaxis RapidResponse, SAP IBP/S4, o9 Solutions, or Blue Yonder, and familiarity with adjacent systems such as Veeva Vault, SAP ERP, or MES/MOM platforms
• Lean or Six Sigma qualifications
• You can use the latest data analytics tools to spot opportunities for improvement
• Prior experience in driving insights using visualization tools ( i.e. Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx) and analytics tools ( i.e. Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics)