01
USS Nimitz (CVN-68)
Aircraft carrier deployment in the Western Pacific, keeping a floating city supplied, operating and ready.
Greater Chicago Area
Alan Salter
- Founder & Principal, Caravel International Partners
- VP of Strategic Partnerships, CT SCAN
- U.S. Navy Veteran
- Board Member
“Make it better than when I arrived.”
I build strategies that hold up in execution, and step in when others don't.
01About
Strategy that holds up in execution.
Through Caravel International Partners, I help leaders turn strategy into execution and get important initiatives moving when progress has stalled.
Over more than 30 years, from serving as a U.S. Navy Supply Officer to leading procurement, supply chain, operations and transformation, I've sat in several seats around the table, across pharma, medical devices, consumer goods, defense, private equity-backed businesses and nonprofits.
An engagement might begin with an emerging idea, a major change, or an initiative that has lost momentum. I listen, ask useful questions, and help colleagues agree on a practical path forward.
Progress takes clear ownership, timely decisions and the discipline to follow through.
02U.S. Navy
Service
02
VXE-6 / LC-130
Supporting the National Science Foundation in Antarctica.
03
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)
Member of the builder and commissioning team bringing a new ship and crew together.
04
U.S. Navy Supply Officer
Lessons carried forward
“Know your responsibility, take care of your people, prepare for what others may not see coming, and never lose sight of the larger mission.”
Honor. Courage. Commitment.
03Impact
Impact, by the numbers.
01
0+
Years
Cross-sector leadership
02
$0.0B+
Annual spend led
At Takeda's largest business unit, supporting $17B+ in revenue
03
$0M
FSP program operationalized
04
<20 days
Supplier approval cycle
From 20+ to under 8 days
05
0%
Cut on an $800M marketing agency spend
06
$0M
Annual savings on a $160M category
07
$0M + $1M
Annualized savings plus cash release
For a PE-backed healthcare company
08
Up to
0%
Of savings targets
09
$0M+
Bottom-line savings at Black & Decker
04Experience
Career timeline.
CT SCAN
CurrentOct 2026 – Present
- Strategic introductions and partnerships with pharma and biotech sponsors, CROs and collaborators.
- Connecting CT SCAN's Predictive Enrollment Engineering and DYNO AI with clinical trial recruitment challenges.
Founder & Principal
May 2024 – PresentOriginally founded Sep 2013 – Apr 2015
- Enterprise transformation and execution advisory.
- For Knipper Health (PE-backed), defined an integrated roadmap across M&A integration, IT consolidation, procurement and operations.
- Drove $8M annualized savings plus a $1M cash release through supplier rationalization and SaaS/IT renegotiations.
- Led WMS migrations and eSignature/eDMS initiatives.
- Improved financial governance and capital reporting.
- Orchestrated pre- and post-acquisition programs.
Zensights
CurrentConsultant, Subject Matter Expert
Feb 2026 – Present
Nonprofit Resource Partners
Partner & President
Sep 2024 – Apr 2026
- Relaunched and scaled a fractional staffing and back-office firm for nonprofits.
- Built go-to-market and partnership programs.
- Built scalable delivery operations and KPI tracking.
Takeda
9 years 1 monthDirector, R&D Clinical Partner Management
Jan 2023 – Apr 2024
- Operationalized a $60M FSP program.
- Cut supplier approval from 20+ to under 8 days.
- Co-developed a unified FSP Management System, reducing management overhead 10–20%.
- Established partnership-level governance with three key suppliers, then six more FSP providers.
Procurement Lead & Senior Business Partner, USBU
Jan 2020 – Jan 2023
- Built the procurement function for Takeda's largest business unit: $1.5B+ spend supporting $17B+ revenue.
- Added $500M in managed spend.
- 10% reduction on an $800M agency spend via a tactic-based pricing baseline.
- $5M+ savings across 40 global brands in patient services.
- Competitive marketplace for a $600M facilities spend.
- Up to 300% of savings targets.
- Integrated Shire across 3,000+ stakeholders.
Chief of Staff / Head of Strategic Initiatives US, Global Real Estate, Facilities & Procurement
Sep 2019 – Sep 2022
- Managed a $500M regional budget.
Associate Director / Global Category Manager, Business Intelligence
Apr 2015 – Aug 2019
- Led a $160M global sourcing transformation with a team of eight.
- $9M annual savings.
- Dynamic Market Place eSourcing tool delivering $8M savings over three years.
- Centralized $12M spend.
Senior Advisor and Chair of STRIVE, the veteran employee resource group, throughout.
Hospira
Lake Forest, ILSenior Program Manager
Apr 2012 – Sep 2013
- $40M plant closure and outsourcing strategy.
- $65M serialization compliance program across nine plants.
- Labeling program for 850+ products.
Global Sourcing Leader, Glass
Apr 2010 – Mar 2012
- $110M spend.
- $3M annual savings.
- $6M inventory reduction via Vendor Managed Inventory.
Triad Group
Global Sourcing Manager
Jun 2009 – Mar 2010
- Supply chain due diligence for a $40M acquisition.
- $25M spend; $1M+ savings.
CR Bard
Global Sourcing Manager
Mar 2006 – Aug 2008
- $400M spend.
- Grew savings from $100K to $1M a year.
- Supplier scorecard program.
- $5M+ revenue from launches.
Black & Decker HHI
Integrations Project Manager
Oct 2003 – Feb 2006
- $45M+ bottom-line savings.
- 150+ value engineering projects ($4.6M annual).
- Consolidated 4 manufacturing operations for $100M annual savings.
U.S. Navy
Supply Officer
05Background
Education, sectors and community.
Education
Miami University
BA, Economics
1987 – 1991NROTC
Community
- Nonprofit board member
- Historical society service
Organizations
- U.S. Navy
- GE Lighting
- Black & Decker
- Hospira
- CR Bard
- Takeda
- CT SCAN
Industries
- Pharma & Life Sciences
- Biotech & Clinical-Stage
- CROs & CDMOs
- Medical Devices
- Healthcare Services
- Consumer Packaged Goods
- Private Equity-Backed
- Defense & Aerospace
- Nonprofit
Skills
- Business Transformation
- Leadership
- Strategic Planning
- Cross-Functional Team Building
- Nonprofit Leadership
- Procurement
- Supply Chain
- Operations
- Supplier Strategy
- Program Leadership
06Thought leadership
Writing, conversations and features.
Article series on LinkedIn74+ posts
Caravel Compass
An article series on category strategy and execution.
- #73Build a Business Case Leaders Can Trust
- #74Design Implementation into the Category Strategy
Pharma Prescribed Podcast with Adam Walker
“The Navy Leadership Rule Most Pharma Bosses Get Wrong”
Watch the episodeThe Real Edits Spotlight
“Alan Salter, Leadership Through Purpose”
Read the feature07Contact
Get in touch.
Reach out by email or book a time to talk.
Send a message
Opens your email app with a message to Alan ready to write.