SCM Senior Specialist - Operations Lead & Manager

About the role

Air Liquide is hiring an SCM senior specialist (Operations Lead & Manager) for its Tsukuba site. The role is accountable for supply chain and product delivery to customers within a defined scope (site, region or country) and manages teams covering activities such as sourcing, dispatch and fleet maintenance. It acts as deputy to the SCM Manager and leads planning, logistics governance, inventory control and continuous improvement.

Key responsibilities

• Operational escalations: take ownership of operational escalations, supply chain bottlenecks and critical incident resolution at the Tsukuba site.
• Functional leadership: guide and review SCM Specialists and Finite Planners, drive SOP standardization and remove single points of failure.
• Cross-functional coordination with Customer Service, Commercial/Sales and Operations for high-priority shipments, emergency deliveries and supply disruptions.
• Rolling supply plans (1-2 weeks to 12 months) and lead site preparation for monthly S&OP/IBP reviews, presenting capacity vs. demand gaps, bottleneck plans and inventory projections.
• Manage 3PL warehouse vendors, freight forwarders and transport providers, including SLA/KPI monitoring and contract/rate negotiations.
• Enforce compliance with local laws and Air Liquide safety standards for dangerous goods and high-pressure gases, and oversee import/export compliance, customs clearance and RCA/CAPA for shipment non-conformances.
• Oversee the site-wide cycle count program, monitor raw material consumption, investigate BOM variances and reduce slow-moving and obsolete inventory.
• Champion a zero-accident safety culture, PPE and 5S standards, and lead Lean Six Sigma / continuous improvement projects.

Required profile

• 1-3 years of experience.
• Experience developing product marketing plans and strong management experience with a team; previous sales and marketing experience desirable.
• In-depth understanding of a relevant marketplace and the ability to analyse and predict market trends.
• Customer relationship and communication skills.
• Proven experience leading cross-functional meetings such as weekly site scheduling and monthly S&OP/IBP.
• High analytical capability, problem-solving skills and ability to perform under pressure.

Required skills

• ERP systems (SAP strongly preferred).
• MS Office (Word, Excel) or Google applications, with advanced Google Sheets skills required.