Global Supply Chain Vice President

Vice President, Global Supply Chain

About Us

Akona Process Solutions brings together the proven expertise of four established brands—Spiroflow, Kason, Cablevey, and Marion—to deliver industry-leading solutions in material handling and processing. With a combined legacy of over 200 years, Akona specializes in mixers, blenders, dryers, screeners, tubular drag conveyors, and bulk material handling systems. Our solutions are designed to improve efficiency, hygiene, and performance in industries such as food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and chemicals. Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Akona serves customers globally with centers of excellence in the USA, and UK.

Position Summary

Akona is creating a Vice President of Global Supply Chain to take end-to-end accountability for how material flows into and through our operations — procurement, materials planning, inventory, and shipping & receiving — globally. The role carries a solid line over North American supply chain and functional (dotted-line) oversight of European supply chain, which reports solid-line to the EU General Manager. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this leader owns the “source, plan-materials, and deliver” functions and serves as the operational and system-of-record authority for supply chain across the business.

This is a build-and-transform role for an operator, not a caretaker. It is designed for a proven Akona operations leader who knows our plants, our people, and our Epicor environment firsthand. The immediate priorities are to drive real adoption of Epicor, build out the standard work that lets the function scale, install disciplined inventory and procurement controls, and modernize procurement with AI-enabled tools already in flight. The role is central to Akona’s value-creation plan and carries significant visibility with the executive team and ownership.

Key Responsibilities

Transformation Priorities

Epicor Adoption & Internal Championship

• Serve as the Operations team’s internal champion and resident expert for Epicor — the person the plants and functions turn to for how work should be transacted in the system.
• Partner with Creative, our ERP adoption and training consultancy, to drive full adoption and data integrity across procurement, materials planning, inventory, and shipping & receiving — then carry that expertise in-house as the engagement winds down.
• Establish usage-compliance standards and hold the organization accountable to transacting in real time, eliminating off-system workarounds, spreadsheets, and manual tracking.
• Partner with Finance, IT, and Production to ensure master-data accuracy (item masters, BOMs, routings, lead times, safety stock, reorder points) that MRP depends on.

Standard Work & SOPs — Foundational

• Treat standard work as a critical, early priority — the foundation the rest of the function scales on. Identify, document, and implement standard work and SOPs across procurement, materials planning, inventory, and shipping & receiving to create consistency and reduce variation.
• Build a continuous-improvement discipline within the function; train and hold the team accountable to standard processes.
• Develop and mentor the supply chain team, building capability in Epicor, materials planning, and procurement.

Procurement, Cost-Out & AI Enablement

• Lead the procurement function — supplier management, sourcing strategy, PO discipline, and cost / lead-time performance.
• Step into the Didero implementation and drive it to completion, putting AI-enabled procurement (demand and price signals, supplier risk, spend analytics, automated PO workflows) into productive use.
• Deliver year-over-year cost-out and productivity savings on a total-cost-of-ownership basis; strengthen procurement controls and segregation of duties in coordination with Finance.
• Develop supplier risk, continuity, and dual/multi-sourcing strategies, and implement supplier performance management (scorecards and structured business reviews).

Inventory Controls & Working Capital

• Design and implement inventory controls, policies, and cycle-count / physical-inventory discipline that ensure accuracy and auditability.
• Reduce obsolete and slow-moving (E&O) inventory through structured review, disposition, and root-cause prevention.
• Improve inventory turns and optimize working capital while protecting service levels and plant uptime.
• Establish inventory KPIs (turns, accuracy, E&O, fill rate, days-on-hand) and a review cadence with Operations and Finance.

Ongoing Accountabilities

Materials Planning (MRP)

• Own materials planning — translating demand and forecast into the buy-and-make signals (purchase requisitions and planned work orders) that keep the plants supplied without overstocking. This is distinct from plant production scheduling, which remains with site operations.
• Mature MRP capability within Epicor and keep planning parameters accurate and trustworthy.

Inventory, Shipping & Receiving

• Own inventory management and the shipping & receiving functions across the North American sites.
• Own delivery performance to customers, including on-time-in-full (OTIF) and order-fulfillment metrics; manage inbound/outbound freight and 3PL/carrier performance.

Planning & S&OP Participation

• Own the supply-side plan and support a formal S&OP process that aligns commercial demand with supply, capacity, and inventory; partner with Sales/Commercial and Finance on demand planning and forecast accuracy.

European Supply Chain Oversight & Trade Compliance

• Provide functional (dotted-line) oversight of European supply chain, including Darwen (UK). European supply chain reports solid-line to the EU General Manager; this role sets standards, systems, and controls and drives alignment across regions.
• Support compliance with import/export requirements, customs, tariffs, and Incoterms on cross-border flows, and monitor evolving trade requirements affecting sourcing and logistics.

Special Projects

• Own the inventory workstream on the Friedrichsdorf lab relocation — transfer, reconciliation, and controls — and other transformation projects as assigned.

Qualifications

• Proven operational and site leadership in a manufacturing environment (plant / P&L management or equivalent), with a track record of driving results on the floor and through people.
• Direct, hands-on Epicor experience and the credibility to serve as the Operations team’s internal Epicor champion; comparable Tier-1/Tier-2 ERP experience considered.
• Strong working knowledge of procurement, materials planning (MRP), inventory, and shipping & receiving — or a demonstrated ability to master them quickly.
• Track record installing standard work, controls, and continuous improvement across one or more sites (Lean / Six Sigma a plus).
• Demonstrated appetite for AI and analytics tools applied to procurement and supply chain.
• Strong cross-functional leadership — able to partner with Finance on controls and working capital and with Production on materials flow and scheduling seams.
• Ability to lead across regions and drive standards through a matrixed European organization; willingness to travel internationally.
• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Engineering, or a related field preferred; APICS / CPIM / CSCP a plus but not required. Experience in a private-equity-owned or transformation environment is a plus.

Success in the First 12 Months

• Measurable, sustained improvement in Epicor usage compliance and data integrity across supply chain, with the Creative-supported adoption effort landed and expertise held in-house.
• The Didero implementation driven to completion, with at least one AI-enabled procurement capability in productive use.
• A documented set of standard work / SOPs adopted across the supply chain organization.
• Inventory controls in place, with a defined reduction in E&O / slow-moving inventory and improvement in turns.
• Delivered cost-out savings from the largest-vendor sourcing work.

Onsite - Monroe NC

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Disability insurance
• Family leave
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Prescription drug insurance
• Referral program
• Retirement plan
• Tuition reimbursement
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person

Salary : $125,734 - $197,240