Director- Data Science – Supply Chain and Logistics

As the global leader in Eyecare, Alcon is on a sustained growth path driven by an innovative portfolio of products in Vision Care, Surgical and Pharmaceuticals. Data and Data Science are key levers that help power and accelerate this growth. 

The Director of Data Science, Supply Chain and Logistics, will lead an integrated team, working with enterprise functional leaders to focus on solving the top enterprise challenges in this domain.  Partnering closely with the Global Head of our Supply Chain, key IT and Business leaders and the Data Science community, this role is key in evolving our traditional AI ecosystem, monitoring and evaluating Traditional AI experiments, identifying high-impact use cases for scalability, and overseeing the integration of Traditional AI across the Supply Chain and Logistics. For the right candidate, this position may be evaluated at the Senior Director level.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Direction    

•    Develop and implement the strategic roadmap for Traditional AI initiatives focusing on the Supply Chain and logistics value chain, ensuring alignment with the organization's overall goals and objectives and driving value through AI Models.

•    Identify and prioritize high-impact Traditional AI use cases that can be scaled across the organization.

Operational Excellence

With an end-goal of running supply chain operations through a digital control tower, this role will be pivotal in leveraging Data Science and Operations Research practices to provide predictive and prescriptive insights to:

•    Optimize global shipping and transportation with real-time data and AI automation 
•    Transportation modes and routes for costs, service levels, efficiency and sustainability. 
•    Predict disruptions and recommended mitigations —whether common issues like empty miles or unexpected events etc.
•    Ensuring seamless and cost-effective logistics operations.
•    Effectively manage demand complexities with AI-driven forecasting and real-time sensing. 
•    Reduce complexities of inventory across your supply chain with optimize balance of stock levels, prevent stockouts, and optimize aging inventory to improve service levels, reduce costs, and drive efficiency. 

•    Streamline order management (OTIF as key KPI)

•    Improve order accuracy, optimize fulfillment networks, and dynamically respond to supply and demand fluctuations. 

•    Availability checks to dynamic network selection, ensure every order is fulfilled efficiently, cost-effectively, and on time.
•    Drive Integration and adoption
•    Drive the integration of AI solutions into existing business processes and systems to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. 
•    Optimize other emerging areas as business cycles change 

Leadership & Team Management:

•    Deep understanding of new and emerging trends in Data Science and solid understanding of Alcon business and business imperatives with ability to translate data science opportunities into business value opportunities.
•    Experience leading an AI and Data strategy for Supply Chain and Logistics including a thorough understanding of the business models and business planning, data engineering, story-telling, data management, governance, strategy and standards.
•    Must be able to connect with and communicate with key business stakeholders in non-technical terms, while displaying a fundamental understanding of the business.
•    Articulation of compelling analytics success stories to inspire others to understand data as a strategic business asset to drive significant growth opportunities.

Stakeholder Collaboration

•    Work closely with stakeholders across the organization to drive results working with both dedicated and matrixed teams.

•    Key stakeholder and teams include Global Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Commercial Operation, IT and the broader Data Science community. 

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

•    Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies to drive continuous improvement. 
•    Foster a culture of continuous learning and development within the data science team.
•    Monitor and evaluate Traditional AI experiments to inform best practices and ensure continuous improvement.

Experience:

•    10+ years of experience in data science, with a focus on supply chain optimization.
•    Proven track record of leading and developing high-performing data science teams.
•    Extensive experience with machine learning, AI, and advanced analytics in the supply chain and logistics business domain
•    Anchoring Technologies: AWS Data and Data Science stack, MS Azure AI stack, other AI/ML dev tools an