Wayfair Recruits a New Supply Chain Chief to Protect its Global Supply Lines

Wayfair has announced that Sean Halligan has joined the company as its new Chief Global Supply Chain Officer.

Halligan has replaced Allan Lydall and is the online home goods retailer’s second-ever supply chain chief since the role was established in 2019.

This relatively niche role is poised to explode in popularity in the coming year as companies that have felt the squeeze of the pandemic and resulting supply chain bottlenecks elevate their logistics and supply chain executives to C-suite importance. These promotions typically give an executive more opportunities to provide input into day-to-day operations and allow them to elevate supply chain issues directly to the CEO.

As the company’s new top logistician, Halligan will spearhead growth across the Boston-based company’s proprietary end-to-end logistics offering, called CastleGate. He will specifically focus on driving the ongoing expansion of Wayfair’s fulfillment center and delivery network as well as the development of its global freight network.

Halligan comes to Wayfair from Cardinal Health, where he spent the last three and a half years leading its supply chain initiatives. Before that, Halligan was Nike’s VP of North American Fulfillment, Logistics and Operations. However, the bulk of his experience was garnered over 18 years at Target, including three years as its VP of Global Logistics and Trade.

“Sean’s exceptional leadership track record and deep operations expertise spanning distribution, transportation, supply chain systems and automation strongly position him to lead Wayfair’s supply chain team,” Wayfair COO Thomas Netzer shared in the company’s announcement.

Halligan joins Wayfair ahead of its plans to launch its first-ever brick and mortar stores, which are expected to open in Massachusetts in 2022. It will be on his shoulders to ensure the company can stock both its physical and online stores as supply chain issues impact all industries.

The new supply chain guru will likely be working shoulder to shoulder with another new C-suite executive, Fiona Tan, who is set to become the company’s new CTO next month. Together, the two are set to tackle large-scale projects for CastleGate, such as building the foundations for data integration and its own Transportation Management System.