Natascha Schijven

Natascha Schijven is the founder and Managing Director of advisory and training company Pinwheel. She is a publicly recognized thought leader and executive adviser in next generation business strategy, accelerated and sustainable cost transformation, complex program governance, communications and change management.

Recently recognized by the Supply Chain Management Association as one of the ‘100 Influential Women in Canadian Supply Chain,' she is a sought-after public speaker and panelist in subjects ranging from transformation governance, executive presence, industry 4.0 impact on cost management, to orchestrated negotiations, analytics-based sourcing and harnessing diversity.

Natascha began her career almost 20 years ago in manufacturing for a global packaging company where she gained first-hand expertise in local plant operations and direct strategic sourcing for Europe. After 5 years in the packaging industry she accepted a position for a global chemicals company where she was responsible for strategic sourcing of indirects for the EMEA region. After 6 years in industry, Natascha moved into consulting, first with A.T. Kearney and then for Deloitte. Most recently she was a Vice President at A.T. Kearney and a Partner at Deloitte. During her corporate consulting career, she became a recognized thought leader in advanced analytics-based sourcing and large-scale, complex cost transformation. She was responsible for leading sustainable cost take-out and turn-around projects for some of the world’s largest food & beverage, pharmaceuticals and chemicals companies in Europe, North America and Asia, helping her clients save billions of dollars through embedding double-digit cost-reducing processes and approaches. She is particularly credited for her leadership in leveraging digital/advanced analytics in cost management, change management, large program governance and for her deep category subject matter expertise across direct and indirect sourcing.

Natascha is a trusted adviser to executives running businesses ranging from $5 MM to $75 Bn in revenue. Her clients include multi-million- and billion-dollar companies and some of the best-known brands in the world. She is praised for her authenticity, respectful challenging and ability to guide executives to exceed what they thought possible. Having been a consulting client in industry herself she has been on the other side of the table: “It simply comes down to being authentic and truthful, speaking from one human to another, acknowledging each other’s contribution and recognizing this. That helps clients not to see consultants merely as ‘guns for hire’, or ‘suits’ encroaching upon their territories but as true friends and collaborators.”