The situation
Six months before a planned Oracle Cloud SCM go-live, the network's Director of Supply Chain resigned. The program depended on the director for item master governance decisions, par-level policy, and clinical stakeholder management. An internal candidate was capable but not ready for the full scope, and the executive team did not want to risk the go-live date.
The brief
Two problems, one budget. The network needed a permanent director with hospital procurement and ERP delivery experience, and it needed the program's data workstream to keep moving in the meantime. The VP Finance also wanted the search run confidentially until an appointment was made.
What we did
- Split the problem. We proposed a retained search for the director and, in parallel, two contract SCM analysts from our network who had completed Oracle Cloud implementations elsewhere, starting within two weeks.
- Wrote the scorecard with the VP Finance and the program director. Year-one outcomes were defined as: go-live delivered, item master governance in place, and stockout rate on critical categories reduced.
- Mapped the market. Every director-level supply chain leader in Ontario hospitals, shared services organizations, and GPOs, plus distribution leaders with hospital customers. Forty-one names; twelve conversations; six structured interviews.
- Shortlisted four candidates in week four with full assessment notes. Two had led an Oracle Cloud SCM go-live; one had led an SAP go-live in a health authority; one was a strong internal-style successor from a GPO.
The outcome
The network appointed a director from a shared services organization who had led the same implementation two years earlier. She started in week nine after negotiating an earlier release from her notice period, which we facilitated. The contract analysts stayed through go-live and one converted to a permanent role under the new director. Go-live happened on the original date. Eighteen months later the director remains in role and has since briefed us on two further hires.
What made the difference
Treating the contract and permanent needs as one plan rather than two separate requests, and being able to interview credibly for Oracle Cloud SCM experience rather than taking it at face value.