Spotlight on Leila Jalai

Leila Jalai is Chief Supply Chain Officer at David Yurman, where she leads the end-to-end global supply chain, spanning merchandise financial planning, demand planning, product development, engineering, sourcing, manufacturing, quality, and logistics. 

With nearly 25 years of experience across diverse industries, including luxury, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, and utilities, she has held leadership roles at Under Armour and Estée Lauder, following a decade in technology and supply chain consulting at Accenture.

Fun fact: Leila has lived on three continents and in more than six cities, experiences that have shaped her global perspective and curiosity about different cultures.

Learn more about the New York CSCO Community here. 
 

Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.

I started my career as a mechanical engineer designing HVAC systems before transitioning into technology and supply chain consulting, where I worked on solving complex business challenges. I later moved to New York to pursue my Executive MBA at Columbia University and transitioned from consulting into operational leadership roles. Each experience broadened my business and leadership perspective, ultimately leading me to David Yurman, where I can combine my passion for the creativity and craftsmanship of luxury with my experience in building and transforming businesses.
 

What is one of your guiding leadership principles?

One of my guiding principles is to challenge the status quo while creating an environment where people feel empowered to do the same. I believe strong leaders bring clarity to complex problems, encourage different perspectives, and give their teams the ownership and support to make decisions. Meaningful transformation happens when people understand why change matters and feel accountable for shaping it.
 

What is the greatest challenge CSCOs face today?

I believe one of the greatest challenges is balancing efficiency with adaptability in an increasingly unpredictable environment, while preserving what creates value for the business and its customers. Supply chains are facing volatility across demand, commodity costs, trade policies, and global sourcing, while expectations for speed, service, and profitability continue to rise.
 

What is the key to success for someone just starting out as a CSCO?

Understand the business before trying to transform the supply chain. Spend time with customers, commercial leaders, suppliers, and frontline teams to understand where the company creates value and where the real constraints exist.

Equally important is having an enterprise mindset. Businesses are more interconnected than ever, and decisions made in one function have implications across the entire organization. A successful CSCO needs to look beyond functional priorities, understand the broader business implications of their decisions, and build strong cross-functional partnerships to drive outcomes that benefit the enterprise as a whole.
 

How do you measure success as a leader?

I look at success through two lenses: business performance and organizational capability. Delivering results matters, but I also look at whether we are building an organization that can sustain and improve those results over time.

For me, a meaningful measure of leadership is whether the team is becoming stronger, making better decisions, collaborating more effectively, and taking greater ownership. The strongest outcome is an organization that continues to perform and evolve beyond any individual leader. 
 

What is the value of being a member of Gartner C-level Communities?

The opportunity to exchange perspectives with leaders navigating similar challenges across different industries is incredibly valuable. While our business models may differ, many of the strategic challenges we face around technology, talent, resilience, and transformation are shared.

Throughout my career, I have seen the value of bringing insights and best practices from other industries into my own organization. Gartner C-Level Communities provides an opportunity to challenge my thinking, learn from the successes and experiences of peers, and build meaningful relationships with leaders who bring different perspectives to solving common challenges.

Governing Body members share their insights and leadership perspectives to shape the agendas and topics that address the top priorities impacting business leaders today.