At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.
The PositionThe Opportunity
The Head of Supply Chain – Africa provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for end-to-end supply chain operations across the African continent. This senior role bridges regional and global teams, functioning as part of the regional Core Team and Extended Leadership Team. The position is responsible for co-crating the supply chain strategy, architecting resilient distribution networks, and implementing standardized digital solutions.
By transforming complex logistics, customs, and infrastructure hurdles into core
competitive advantages, the role guarantees business continuity and delivers an exceptional customer experience.
Major Responsibilities
You will transition Africa's supply chain network to the next level by leading the following major areas of responsibility:
- Strategic Leadership & S&OP: Co-create and implement the EMEA-LATAM and Africa Network Supply Chain strategy.
Establish and govern a unified Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP) framework to bridge operations, countries, and networks, aligning commercial demands with regional capabilities.
- End-to-End Fulfillment & Logistics: Oversee multi-modal freight (air, sea, road), warehousing, and Regional Distribution Centers. Drive process optimizations across Order Management, Demand Planning, and distribution to drastically reduce order lead times.
- Customer Experience & Digital Innovation: Implement a customer-centric local Care model, spearheading digital strategy (e-ordering, predictive tracking, and customer inventory management) to build real-time pipeline visibility and customer experience excellence.
- Partner Governance & Distribution: Negotiate and manage high-performing 3PL/4PL partnerships, freight forwarders, and clearing agents. Optimize distributor logistics to secure reliable and cost-effective product access across diverse territories.
- Compliance, Risk & Continuity: Partner with Regulatory and Quality teams to enforce strict GxP, Good Distribution Practice (GDP), and cold-chain compliance. Formulate robust business continuity plans and agile mitigation strategies for port congestion, forex limits, and policy shifts.
- Team Leadership & Transition coaching: Build, coach, and empower a high-performing supply chain team. Support the setup of new legal entities, acting as a transition architect, local talent coach, and stakeholder catalyst.
Key Performance Metrics:
- Service Quality: Target On-Time In-Full (OTIF) score ≥ 95% across core operating markets.
- Operational Velocity: Measurable reduction in end-to-end shipment transit and customs clearance times.
- Efficiency & Cost Control: Optimized days of inventory on hand (DIOH), zero write-offs of expired products, and year- over-year freight unit cost reductions through distributor and 3PL optimizations.
Who you are?
- Managerial Experience: Minimum of 5+ years of senior supply chain leadership experience, demonstrating a strong track record in regional supply chain operations (OM, planning, distribution, and customer care).
- Industry Expertise: Solid background in Diagnostics or Medical Devices, with deep market knowledge of African healthcare and commercial landscapes.
- Logistics & Compliance Mastery: Proven expertise in cold-chain management, GxP/GDP compliance, 3PL/4PL governance, and regional trade frameworks (AfCFTA, EAC, SADC, ECOWAS).
- Transformation & Project Skills: Demonstrated ability in leading structural setups, managing transition projects, and implementing digital platforms.
- Leadership & Communication: Agile, coaching-oriented style that empowers local talent, promotes psychological safety, and builds powerful alignment with local, regional, and global stakeholders.
- Language Skills: High-level professional fluency in English is mandatory; proficiency in French is highly advantageous.
Who we are
A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.
Let’s build a healthier future, together.
Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
