The Supply Chain Roundtable
Career and leadership conversations for supply chain professionals
So much content is being created around supply chain resilience, uncertainty , technology, AI influence and optimisation.
What we hear much less about is the humans behind the supply chain: the career dynamics, leadership challenges and organisational realities of these roles.
This session is about the realities of professional lives of managers, leaders and experts working in global supply chain management.
Who this is for
Supply chain sector draws people who think in systems, move fast under pressure, and find complexity interesting.
Few roles combine analytical rigour, crisis management, and cross-functional negotiation at this level.
Supply chain managers, procurement professionals, S&OP leads, planning directors and logistics professionals manage teams, negotiate with global suppliers, and navigate matrix organisations where formal authority does not always match the level of responsibility.
They are also the first ones called when something breaks. The last ones invited when strategy is being shaped.
This session is for midlevel and senior supply chain professionals.
Working inside large organisations in pharma, FMCG or industrial sectors, based in the UK, Europe or Switzerland, at a point in their career where the human and organisational side of the work matters as much as the technical.
How the session works
This is a small, closed group discussion on Zoom.
I open with a topic based on patterns I observe across the supply chain community in Europe, based on the feedback from the supply chain professionals I have worked with.
Everyone shares their own perspective and experience.
I believe the best conversations happen when people feel comfortable speaking honestly, so we keep the group small and the format relaxed.
The session runs under a confidentiality agreement. What is shared here stays here.
This is not a coaching session and the intention is not to sell!
If you are a coach or service provider looking to promote your services, this is not the right session for you.
Of course you are welcome to join if you want to have an exchange with other professionals in the group.
This session is a space for networking in meaningful and introvert-friendly way: Instead of random small talk in big group you get to know other professionals through their insight and opinion!
FORMAT
Closed Zoom session
DURATION
60 minutes
GROUP SIZE
Up to 15 professionals
FREQUENCY
Every six weeks
CONVERSATION TOPICS
Each session focuses on one career or organisational topic specific to supply chain professionals. These are the conversations that rarely get space in a cross-functional meeting room.
Some ideas:
Accountability without influence or control: when your results depend on decisions made by other functions
Influence without authority or regardless of your official title in S&OP and cross-functional planning
Career growth and visibility inside roles still classified as operational( and less strategic)
Navigating company politics and organisational dynamics in matrix environments
Leading teams and developing people while managing heavy operational demands
Managing extended scope and responsibility
Building credibility at the senior level when your function is the last one consulted
ABOUT YOUR HOST: SARA MOBARHANFARD
I spent over a decade in different supply chain and S&OP roles before becoming a leadership coach and advisor.
My skills in sourcing helped my launch and grow a successful sustainable fashion brand a journey that taught me so much about entrepreneurship as a totally different business context.
As a coach I have supported many supply chain professionals , and I kept hearing what I had felt during my own corporate years: this sector is often misunderstood and underestimated, and the people inside it are some of the most talented professionals in any organisation.
The conversation about their career development and leadership challenges rarely gets a dedicated space.
That is why I (finally!)started this roundtable.
I hold an MSc in Supply Chain Management and am an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC). I have worked with more than 400 private clients from companies including Roche, Novartis, ABB, Nestlé and Hilti.
The first sessions are free
This space is small by design.
To join, complete a short registration form so we can make sure the group is the right fit for each other.
This is a peer conversation, and your perspective is what makes it worth having.