Stephen Sichak
CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, Executive Fellow, Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance, Retired President of Global Divisions, CIO, GM, and Operational Leader Accelerating Growth and Profitability
Steve acts as a thought partner on strategic issues and plays a lead role in select member outreach for the Higher Ambition Leadership Alliance. Steve is a former public company executive officer with leadership and broad execution experience from a GM perspective, a demonstrable track record of delivering results in Operations, Marketing, IT, and Integrated Supply Chain, and adding value enterprise-wide. Overseeing a global business with $1Bn+ in annual global revenues, he led organizations with up to 31,000 people with a record of confident leadership and sound judgment. His expertise in improving financial performance by strengthening the core; leading complex manufacturing, new product development, creation and implementation of best practices, merger integration, and functional transformations informs all his work.
Steve served as the Hold Separate Manager, Soft Tissue Core Needle Biopsy business divestment for Becton Dickinson (BD), managing the business to ensure its continued economic and marketing viability and competitiveness. In this role, he worked with the European Monitoring Trustee to ensure compliance with the conditional approval.
Earlier, as EVP and Chief Integrated Supply Chain, Steve led global Procurement, Manufacturing & Supply Chain operations, Global Sustainability, Environmental Health and Safety, Facilities and Aviation and was a member of the BD Management Committee and an Executive Officer. He improved financial performance by strengthening the core through continuous improvement projects, more than doubling annual savings, and successfully integrated the CareFusion operations into BD (currently meeting/exceeding corporate expectations). Steve expanded gross margins by reducing operating expenses, improved G&A performance through strong procurement performance, and reduced indirect spending. He also developed a plan to integrate operations for the C.R. Bard acquisition; developed capability and people enterprise-wide and fostered innovation; and enabled corporate functions to have a unified voice, improving management’s decision-making regarding functional investments.
Before, as SVP, Integrated Supply Chain (2009–2015), Steve maintained financial performance during harsh macro-economic conditions through enhanced performance within operations and the establishment of new functional capabilities. He elevated performance enterprise-wide by reorganizing Manufacturing, enabled revenue-base expansion, and facilitated the reduction of operating costs through improved efficiency, strengthening earnings during a period of slowing revenue growth.
Steve joined BD as Director of Marketing in 1993 and progressed to positions of greater scope and responsibility. He led Corporate Planning, the North American SAP Implementation, and served as CIO and in leadership roles. He started his healthcare career as a Marketing Manager at Baxter-Travenol in Deerfield, IL.
Steve is a Trustee of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and has served as Co-Chair and Interim President of that organization. He is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the DePaul University College of Science and Health and was a Board member of the Global Healthcare Exchange. Steve and his family reside in New Jersey.