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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

Careers

Supply chain director

Designing a distribution network, choosing locations, negotiating structuring contracts and arbitrating between cost, lead time and availability: the supply chain director decides how products reach their markets.

Designing a network, not just running it

Network design commits years: where to place a warehouse, which markets to serve from which point, what inventory level to hold and where. The director then arbitrates sourcing strategy — single supplier and low price against dual sourcing and resilience. Structuring contracts are negotiated at this level, with multi-year service commitments. Resilience takes a growing place: a network that absorbs a disruption is worth more than an optimal one that breaks.

  • Design a distribution network and choose its locations
  • Arbitrate a sourcing strategy between cost and resilience
  • Negotiate multi-year contracts and service commitments
  • Steer overall performance and prepare the response to a disruption

The networks to be designed

  • Distribution groups serving several regions of the country
  • Manufacturers sourced internationally and exporting their output
  • Mining companies with critical spares and consumables flows
  • Pharmaceutical purchasing bodies and cold chains
  • Regional groups operating in several countries

What the official catalogue states

These values are not estimates: they are the very definition of the programme in the filed document. Any change goes through a catalogue update, hence through a formal decision. That is what allows a figure announced today to be found unchanged on enrolment day, then on award day.

Expert and executive

qualification level
7
months of programme
9

Led by an instructor.

taught hours
700 h

1 credit = 25 h of work, 10 of them taught.

credits
70

Framework of the « Supply Chain Director » qualification, code TP70.

competency blocks
5

The learning the qualification attests

The qualification attests these blocks, and it names them. A recruiter reading an application can therefore know precisely what the holder demonstrated, rather than infer it from a title. The hours shown for each block complete the picture: they state how long the skill was practised with an instructor present.

  1. 01

    Supply chain strategy

    Master plan, network, insourcing, resilience, cost-service trade-offs — 200 taught hours.

  2. 02

    Strategic procurement and suppliers

    Purchasing policy, dependency, contracting, supplier risk — 180 taught hours.

  3. 03

    Steering and performance

    Forecasting, inventory, service level, total logistics cost, systems — 170 taught hours.

  4. 04

    International, customs and compliance

    International flows, customs regimes, compliance, continuity in unstable contexts — 100 taught hours.

  5. 05

    Executive conduct

    Managing a supply breakdown, arbitrating in degraded situations — 50 taught hours.

Reaching supply chain leadership

Entry into this occupation runs through one or more of these programmes. They combine: a short certificate opens the door, a longer programme consolidates the position a few years later. The fees shown match the real billing unit — per year for a long programme, one-off for a short format.

ProgrammeDurationCreditsTaught hoursFees
International Trade · Bachelor's degree2 years1201200 h5 000 000 GNF per year
Certificate in Leading Distributed Teams · Professional certification4 months12120 h2 800 000 GNF in total
Supply chain director — Careers | IHETC — IHETC