SCM Excellence - Customer War Room & Material Shortage Crisis Management

A Career at HARMAN

As a technology leader that is rapidly on the move, HARMAN is filled with people who are focused on making life better. Innovation, inclusivity and teamwork are a part of our DNA. When you add that to the challenges we take on and solve together, you’ll discover that at HARMAN you can grow, make a difference and be proud of the work you do every day.

Job Description

Introduction: A Career at HARMAN Automotive

We’re a global, multi-disciplinary team that’s putting the innovative power of technology to work and transforming tomorrow. At HARMAN Automotive, we give you the keys to fast-track your career.

• Engineer audio systems and integrated technology platforms that augment the driving experience
• Combine ingenuity, in-depth research, and a spirit of collaboration with design and engineering excellence
• Advance in-vehicle infotainment, safety, efficiency, and enjoyment

About the Role 

The Manager, Customer War Room & Material Shortage Crisis Management will act as a individual contributor and Project Leader within HARMAN's Global Supply organization, created to own and lead customer war rooms for critical material shortage situations and ensure structured crisis management across affected commodities, suppliers, plants, programs, and customers. 

The role provides clear ownership for customer-facing crisis leadership by setting up, leading, and driving customer war rooms from issue intake through mitigation execution, decision alignment, escalation, and customer communication. The role sets direction, enables critical decision-making across parallel workstreams, and orchestrates cross-functional teams spanning Category Management, Supply Chain Planning, Critical Parts Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, Finance, Legal, Sales, Program Management, and Customer Communication. 

This role is designed to provide strong operational leadership during customer-impacting shortage situations, ensuring that mitigation actions, risk transparency, and decision needs are managed consistently and with clear ownership across internal stakeholders and customer interfaces. 

In times of market stability, the role will lead and support critical supply chain projects with high business impact, ensuring effective execution and sustainable results.  

This role reports into the Global Supply Chain Management Excellence Leader and requires seniority, robustness, strong cross-functional leadership, and the credibility to operate and escalate at senior executive level.  

What You Will Do

• Lead end-to-end Customer War Rooms and Taskforces ensuring critical material shortages are translated into clear customer impact, priorities, and actions
• Coordinate cross-functional teams across Supply Planning, Plants, Operations Procurement, Engineering, CPM and Customer Account Management (CAM) to drive timely shortage resolution
• Ensure effective preparation and input quality before each War Room meeting, including production plans, finished-goods run-out, component constraints, mitigation actions, and customer demand.
• Drive structured decision-making during War Room meetings by clarifying priorities, resolving ownership gaps, and ensuring the agreed process is followed.
• Maintain strong execution discipline by documenting decisions, assigning owners and deadlines, and actively following up on actions until risks are mitigated or closed
• Identify issues requiring management escalation, facilitate rapid cross-functional problem solving, and ensure blockers are addressed at the appropriate organizational level
• Communicate and escalate at all levels and moderate high-stakes governance forums from operational reviews to executive Steering Committee briefings; act as single voice toward OEM customers / CAMs on shortage status, run-out risks, allocation decisions, and mitigation progress
• Support Lessons learned and continuously improve Taskforce and War Room operating model, including process, governance, tools, data quality, meeting effectiveness and communication, using lessons learned from ongoing shortage cases

What You Need 
 

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, or a related field; Master's degree strongly preferred 

• 7+ years of experience in procurement, supply chain, or category management - with proven leadership experience in crisis, taskforce, or program management environments 

• Deep expertise in electronics supply chain management and procurement within an automotive Tier 1 or electronics manufacturing context 

• Demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate cross-functional project teams under sustained pressure, including alignment across procurement, engineering, quality, sales, finance, and legal functions 

• Proven ability to moderate high-stakes meetings and governance forums with mixed audiences - from operational function leads to Executive Leaders - including conflict facilitation and decision crystallization under time pressure 

• Strong executive communication skills: concise, visually compelling decision papers and briefings tailored to senior management approval logic and OEM-facing communication standards 

• Confidence in escalation management - knowing when and how to raise issues through the right channels without losing stakeholder trust 

• Solid understanding of SIOP/IBP process design and demand management frameworks (EDI, SAP MM/PP, IBP, or equivalent) in the automotive industry 

• Excellent analytical capabilities: ability to integrate multi-source supply, demand, financial, and risk data into coherent executive-ready narratives 

• Fluent in English 

• Experience in Project Management with focus on successful and in time execution 

What You Can Expect

• A hybrid work environment that balances flexibility with in-person collaboration, with most office-based roles onsite three days a week.
• Access to employee discounts on HARMAN and Samsung products (including JBL, Harman / Kardon, AKG, and others)
• Learning and development opportunities through our award-winning HARMAN University programs
• Wellness benefits designed to support your overall well-being
• Tuition reimbursement support
• Access to the HARMAN campus fitness center and cafeteria, where available
• An inclusive and diverse work environment that supports both your professional and personal development

#LI-Hybrid

#LI-AB5

HARMAN is proud to be an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.