What Does It Take to Lead a Global Supply Chain? Lessons from Jabil Director of Global Procurement Vadym Shakhno
October 28, 2026 | By Jabil Procurement & Supply Chain Team
Vadym Shakhno | Director of Global Procurement, Jabil
With more than 14 years at Jabil, Vadym Shakhno has built his career across procurement, planning, and materials management. Today, he leads a global organization responsible for approximately $2 billion in annual spend. We asked him what his experience has taught him about leadership, technology, and supply chain execution.
Q: You started your career at Jabil as a Buyer. How has that experience shaped the way you lead a global supply chain organization today?
A: Starting as a Buyer taught me that even the smallest decisions can have a significant impact on manufacturing operations. When materials don't arrive on time, it's not just a procurement issue. It affects production schedules, customer commitments, and ultimately the business. That perspective has stayed with me throughout my career. Today, I lead a global team, but I still approach challenges with that same understanding of what it takes to execute. A strategy is only as good as the team's ability to deliver on it.
Q: Today, you lead more than 100 supply chain professionals managing approximately $2 billion in annual spend. What's the biggest challenge in operating at that scale?
A: One of the biggest challenges is making sure everyone is working from the same information and toward the same priorities. Procurement, planning, logistics, and operations are all interconnected, but they can easily become disconnected if you don't have the right processes and communication in place. At this scale, consistency matters, but so does flexibility. You need to build a disciplined operating model while giving teams the ability to respond to different customer needs, changing market conditions, and unexpected disruptions.
Q: You've helped expand Jabil's vCommand platform to more than 27 customers. What have you learned about what organizations really need from supply chain technology?
A: I think there's a misconception that more data automatically leads to better decisions. It doesn't. What matters is having the right information at the right time and knowing what to do with it. With vCommand, we're helping connect information across inventory, lead times, supply availability, logistics, and customer commitments so teams can identify potential issues and respond earlier. Technology and AI have tremendous potential, but they should support the people making decisions, not replace their expertise. Ultimately, the value comes from better execution and stronger outcomes for our customers.
Partnering with Jabil
For organizations building greater optionality across high-stakes, high-variability supply chains, repeatable performance requires more than point solutions; it requires an operating partner with proven scale, expertise, and the ability to turn insight into action. From targeted assessments and advisory to managed services, logistics execution, and data-informed market intelligence, Jabil helps leaders move from insight to execution across procurement and supply chain operations.
Jabil brings practitioner depth and global operating scale to help organizations execute with more resilience, control, and speed, without relying on one-off workarounds.
With 60+ years of supply chain expertise supporting 400+ leading brands, and backed by 100+ locations across 25+ countries and 38,000+ supplier relationships, plus $25B+ in annual procurement spend and 3,000+ supply chain experts, Jabil is built to deliver outcomes that hold up under volatility.