Senior Lead - Inventory Management

On Running - Portland, OR

Full-time - Senior

Portland, OR

About the position

On is seeking a Senior Lead for Inventory Management who will play a pivotal role in managing inventory allocation, placement, and distribution strategies for the Americas region. This position is crucial for directly impacting the financial performance of On. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with senior leaders in regional and global Supply Chain, Finance, and Compliance teams to develop and refine processes for inventory allocation across various geographies. This includes rebalancing inventory to optimize order fulfillment and ensuring accurate accounting within the distribution network. The Senior Lead will be responsible for aligning inventory strategies with the Sales cycle for both current and future seasons, ensuring that inventory is strategically placed to enhance customer satisfaction. In this role, you will be tasked with developing, implementing, and measuring inventory placement strategies that maximize order satisfaction, warehouse capacity, cost efficiency, transit times, and overall network utilization. You will serve as the primary voice for regional inventory perspectives within the global Supply & Demand Planning organizations, influencing long-range planning to align capacity with business growth objectives. Additionally, you will lead workstreams that ensure compliance with legal and operational requirements across the Americas, driving necessary operational improvements. Your responsibilities will also include spearheading the creation and implementation of product quality initiatives, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and accountability standards both internally and with external partners. You will lead a team focused on monitoring and optimizing inventory balance needs to support a multi-channel strategy, increasing transparency and identifying optimization opportunities. Furthermore, you will assess strategic initiatives aimed at improving inventory effectiveness and accuracy, while providing direction and accountability for your team in conducting process walkthroughs and ensuring compliance with internal controls and SOX regulations. You will champion the internal processes for inventory grading standards, implementing and refining programs to balance financial and customer experience expectations.

Responsibilities

• Manage inventory allocation, placement, and distribution strategies for the Americas region.
• Collaborate with senior leaders in Supply Chain, Finance, and Compliance teams to shape inventory processes.
• Lead efforts to maximize order fulfillment opportunities and ensure accurate inventory accounting.
• Develop and implement inventory placement strategies to maximize order satisfaction and network utilization.
• Serve as the primary voice of regional inventory in global Supply & Demand Planning organizations.
• Lead workstreams to ensure inventory control strategies meet legal and operational requirements.
• Drive the creation and implementation of product quality initiatives and SOPs.
• Lead a team responsible for monitoring and optimizing inventory balance needs.
• Assess strategic initiatives to improve inventory effectiveness and accuracy.
• Provide direction for conducting process walkthroughs and ensuring SOX compliance.
• Champion internal processes for inventory grading standards and refine programs for financial and customer experience balance.

Requirements

• 6+ years of experience in leading network optimization and inventory placement strategies.
• 2+ years of experience leading high-performing teams.
• Working knowledge of quality assurance/control methodologies and audits, with knowledge of US GAAP and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
• Excellent data analytics skills with knowledge in statistical methods.
• Ability to combine classical metrics with innovative storytelling.
• Knowledge of operational and business processes, ERP systems (preferably Microsoft D365), and financial applications.
• Continuous improvement mindset with the ability to manage multiple complex projects and prioritize tasks.