Director of Planning

Overview

Amgen is one of the worlds leading biotechnology companies, driven by a mission to serve patients. We are seeking an experienced and visionary Director of Planning to lead end-to-end planning activities across Amgens India operations. This strategic leadership role will oversee and integrated commercial and clinical planning organization based in Hyderabad, managing a team of 50+ professionals responsible for tactical planning, raw material buying and planning, network modelling, and business performance management.

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Planning Leadership

• Lead the integrated global planning function encompassing both global clinical and commercial supply chains, ensuring synchronization between demand, supply, and inventory management.
• Drive operational excellence and agility through robust planning processes and advanced digital planning tools.
• Provide strategic leadership on planning priorities, ensuring alignment with global supply chain strategies and patient delivery commitments.

2. Commercial Demand Consolidation and Insights

• Oversee global demand consolidation and insights to ensure a robust consensus forecast focused on reducing demand variability and providing a quality input into the commercial planning and scenario modeling processes
• Collaborate with regional planning teams to address demand trend breaks or provide insights to support a robust demand review process with country affiliates, partners and distributors.

3. Clinical and Commercial Planning

• Lead the clinical supply planning function, ensuring investigational materials are available on time, in full, and in alignment with clinical development timelines and regulatory milestones. Lead commercial supply planning to secure uninterrupted product supply, optimizing network efficiency, cost, and service levels.
• Collaborate closely with manufacturing, quality, regulatory, and commercial teams to balance global priorities and local execution.

4. Network Modelling and Scenario Planning

• Lead development of sophisticated supply network models to assess capacity, lead time, and risk scenarios.
• Drive digital and data-led decision-making to evaluate alternative network designs and risk mitigation strategies.
• Translate model insights into actionable business recommendations for senior and global leadership.

5. Raw Material Buying and Planning

• Oversee global raw material planning, procurement collaboration, and supply risk management for assigned portfolios.
• Ensure supplier reliability, demand visibility, and inventory optimization across the extended supply network.
• Lead initiatives to strengthen supply assurance while driving working capital efficiency.

6. Business Performance Management

• Own key planning performance metrics including service levels, forecast accuracy, inventory turns, and cost-to-serve.
• Drive monthly business performance reviews, providing data-driven insights and strategic recommendations.
• Champion process excellence, digital transformation, and capability-building initiatives across the planning organisation.
• Oversee site support for SAP/MES interface

People Leadership

• Lead, inspire, and develop a team of 50+ planning professionals, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Build planning capability and talent depth to support Amgens global growth and transformation journey.
• Promote diversity, inclusion, and collaboration across functions and geographies.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelors or Masters degree in Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Life Sciences, or Business Administration; advanced degree preferred.
• 20+ years of progressive experience in supply chain and planning roles within pharmaceutical, consumer packaged goods (CPG), or fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries.
• Deep understanding of GMP and GCP interfaces, regulatory requirements, and the unique complexities of managing investigational products.
• Proven success leading large-scale, cross-functional planning organizations in a global matrix structure.
• Strong digital acumen experience implementing or operating advanced planning systems such as SAP IBP, Kinaxis Rapid Response, OMP, or equivalent.
• Expertise in end-to-end planning, network optimization, and business performance management.
• Exceptional analytical, strategic thinking, and communication skills with a proven ability to influence senior executives.