PhD student position in Supply Chain Planning in Digital Supply Chains

The Division of Supply and Operations Management is looking to hire a PhD student in supply chain planning with an interest in digital technology.

Information about the division and the research
The Division of Supply and Operations Management is part of the Department of Technology Management and Economics. We conduct research in production logistics, industrial marketing and purchasing, and operations management. Our goal is to perform high quality research and education at bachelor, master and doctoral levels. We focus mainly on empirical case-based research in close interaction with industry.

Digital supply chain platforms, including advanced analytics and advanced planning and scheduling systems, enable the development and implementation of advanced forecasting in demand planning and opportunity-, scenario-, and business driven sales and operations planning processes. It also allows making effective use of real-time supply chain data to monitor and model demand and supply fluctuations, as well as supply chain disruptions, to drive short-term re-balancing of demand and supply plans in sales and operations execution processes. Consequently, digital supply chain technologies potentially contribute to advance the demand and supply planning in companies and supply chains. This is not least the case in uncertain and dynamic environments such as engineer-to-order operations, aftermarket supply chains, circular supply chains, and when major supply chain disruptions occur, e.g. as in the case of the Covid-19 situation. Still, few companies manage to implement and unlock the full potential of this technology, and therefore fail in developing and benefiting from advanced and mature demand and supply planning processes.

This PhD student project focuses on supply chain planning, targeting the challenge of creating business value by use of digital supply chain platforms and advanced planning and scheduling functionalities in demand and supply planning. The exact focus will be discussed and decided together with the supervisor. The PhD student will take part in research projects with various companies involved, which will provide access to a broad range of empirical settings. Consequently, the research will focus on empirical studies in collaboration with industry.

Major responsibilities
As a PhD student, your major responsibility is to pursue doctoral studies in relation to some specific research aim. Overall, PhD studies include a number of doctoral courses, reviewing literature, designing research studies, interacting with industrial companies, collecting and analysing empirical data and reporting research results. You will take part in ongoing and future projects at the division in the area of supply chain planning. As a PhD student you take an active role in this research in preparing for and collecting empirical data, conducting analysis and presenting results. During the project, results will continuously be presented to the public, to the industry, at international conferences, and in scientific publications. Written and oral communication is crucial.

As a PhD student you will also, to a maximum of 20%, be involved in teaching bachelor and master courses in the area of operations and supply chain management, and/or other departmental tasks.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Qualifications
The successful candidate for this position has a Master's degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in supply chain management, operations management, production engineering, or equivalent. The position requires fluency in English, both in verbal and written communication. Moreover, you need a sound knowledge of Swedish. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

In addition to the formal qualifications, selection is also based on the performance of the candidates in other work (e.g. thesis and advanced level courses), as well as on interviews and assignments. Besides good subject knowledge, emphasis will be on motivation, ability to cooperate, initiative to work independently, and personal suitability for research training. Work experience in relevant fields is meritorious.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20200323 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as pdf-files, as below:

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, Ref. number)
• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous experience of relevance for the position (e.g. education, thesis work and, if applicable, any other research activities)
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.

Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. The files may be compressed (zipped).

Application deadline: 31 August, 2020

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***