Director of Supply Chain – Alternative Energy

Supply Chain Jobs in Profile #8:

One thing we hear a lot from some senior candidates is a desire to move into smaller, more entrepreneurial companies. There are a few reasons for this:

• More and more candidates prefer and are excited by the prospect of an entrepreneurial “startup”-style workplace culture to a more traditional corporate culture. The truth is that many mid to senior career professionals want a chance to put their own thumbprint on something and get a feel for what it’s like to be right at the pulse of what’s going on. Many say they have just had enough of bigger-company politics and the accompanying bureaucracy of projects that can spiral out of control and sometimes take forever to reach completion.
• Lots of small companies seek to hire Supply Chain expertise just as they’re transitioning from primarily research and development and into mass production. They’re looking for those with real on the ground experience and contacts who know how to build a supply chain from grass roots and can source manufacturers and leverage off existing ongoing relationships. From a professional development standpoint, senior individuals in Supply Chain relish the possibility of this because they really know their stuff and they love these Greenfield opportunities because they let them really step up and make a fundamental difference on a growing organization. And for them the growth potential and opportunity cost for savings and supply chain/buying best practices is huge.
• A crucial Supply Chain executive role at an intriguing and successful startup also looks great on a resume. It demonstrates a real level of business depth and certainly no fear of risk and desire to grasp opportunity by the proverbial horns.
• There are many new, smaller companies involved in businesses that are really on the cutting edge. Whether it’s an alternative energy company looking to leverage new engineering technologies, or a company looking to manufacture inexpensive water filtration systems for developing countries, these types of companies are extremely exciting to work for. And the crucial avenue to profitability for them is an efficient and optimized Supply Chain.

To that last point, we’re very pleased to be engaged by an emerging company in the Alternative Energy space seeking to find a top performer in Supply Chain. They’re working on engineering and production of advanced solar technology that will drastically increase the lifespan of solar components and equipment. Anyone who’s read a newspaper in the past five years can see that companies in this space are crucial to the future of energy. Not only is there huge growth potential in Alternative Energy from an economic standpoint, but it also provides the potential for a huge benefit to humanity. What could be a cooler company to work for?

The Director of Supply Chain that we’re sourcing for this client needs to be well-versed in contract manufacturing abroad, with an existing base of contacts. They need to have a background in cost estimation for high volume assembly and manufacturing of Metal and plastic injection molding. It’s an opportunity to establish a vendor base and negotiate and manage contracts from the ground-up, while managing relationships with suppliers. For our part, we’re thrilled to be recruiting for a crucial Supply Chain role in such a forward-looking sector. If you or someone you might know has a background in manufacturing and would be a good fit for this job, we’d love to hear from you. Call Sam Manna 416 364 9919 today or email him at sam.manna@argentus.com