Logistics Operations Director Jobs in Madison, WI

At Emmi Roth, we're passionate about creating exceptional cheeses. As a leader in the specialty cheese industry, we blend traditional craftsmanship with innovation. Our commitment to local sourcing and quality makes us a trusted brand in the food industry.
Joining Emmi Roth means becoming part of a team that values creativity, collaboration, and a shared dedication to excellence. You'll have the opportunity to work with some of the finest cheeses in the world while contributing to a company that prides itself on both heritage and progress. If you're passionate about food, craftsmanship, and making an impact, we'd love for you to be a part of our journey!
Summary
The Logistics Manager reports to the Director of Logistics and provides leadership and process oversight for a three-shift refrigerated distribution operation responsible for the safe, accurate, and cost-effective movement, storage, and shipment of finished goods, ingredients, packaging, and related materials. This role supports warehouse execution, Production support, inventory integrity, cold-chain compliance, food safety, team development, continuous improvement, capacity readiness, cost control, and daily operational performance. This position partners closely with transportation operations and supports DOT compliance, fleet oversight, and related transportation initiatives. DOT compliance and fleet management experience are preferred. This position works on-site at the Stoughton facility daily, maintains visibility across all shifts, and may occasionally work outside normal business hours to support alignment and issue resolution.
Duties and Responsibilities
• Maintain safety as the top operational priority by reinforcing safe work practices, compliance, risk awareness, and accountability.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and performance management for supervisors, leads, warehouse team members, and logistics support roles across three shifts.
• Oversee staffing, routines, and processes for receiving, replenishment, picking, staging, loading, shipping, returns, rework support, and material movement.
• Ensure Warehouse processes support daily Production needs through material availability, staging flow, communication, escalation, and follow-through.
• Oversee warehouse and material handling processes to protect product integrity, temperature control, food safety, quality, traceability, and compliance.
• Oversee shipment coordination, including appointments, load readiness, pickup and delivery follow-up, escalation, claims support, service recovery, and documentation.
• Monitor KPIs for safety, food safety, temperature compliance, inventory accuracy, service, labor productivity, trailer utilization, claims, damages, and customer complaints.
• Govern inventory control, including cycle counts, lot control, FEFO rotation, holds, damages, losses, adjustments, and root-cause corrective actions.
• Partner with Quality and Food Safety to maintain audit readiness, sanitary transportation processes, traceability, trailer inspections, seal control, cold-chain monitoring, and corrective actions.
• Oversee operating routines that align shifts on priorities, staffing, service risks, inventory issues, equipment needs, safety concerns, improvement actions, and handoffs.
• Manage staffing, labor standards, overtime control, scheduling, training, attendance, performance coaching, succession planning, engagement, and operating budget support.
• Lead continuous improvement using data, root-cause analysis, standard work, process mapping, and scenario planning to improve safety, service, quality, cost control, and capacity readiness.
• Ensure effective use of ERP, WMS, reporting tools, temperature monitoring, and related technologies to improve visibility, traceability, and decision-making.
• Facilitate issue resolution with Operations, Planning, Procurement, Customer Service, Sales, Finance, Maintenance, Quality, and Food Safety.
• Reinforce a culture of safety, food safety, accountability, urgency, respect, continuous improvement, and ownership.
Qualifications
• Education, experience, leadership, technical skills, certifications, and industry knowledge required for success.
• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Operations Management, Business, or related field required; equivalent experience may be considered.
• 8-10+ years of progressive logistics, warehousing, distribution, transportation, or supply chain experience, preferably in food, dairy, refrigerated, frozen, or temperature-controlled operations.
• 5+ years of people leadership experience, including supervisors, leads, hourly teams, multiple shifts, performance management, training, scheduling, and labor planning.
• Experience coordinating shipment execution, carrier communication, appointments, claims support, on-time delivery follow-up, and service recovery.
• Strong knowledge of food safety, cold-chain handling, sanitary transportation, traceability, holds, trailer inspection, seal control, temperature compliance, audits, and quality systems.
• Experience with ERP, WMS, inventory control, dashboards, Microsoft Office, and data analysis.
• DOT compliance and fleet management experience preferred.
• Proven ability to lead in a fast-paced, high-volume refrigerated distribution environment with competing priorities and cross-functional dependencies.
• Strong financial acumen with experience supporting budgets, labor productivity, equipment costs, and improvement savings.
• Excellent communication, coaching, conflict resolution, influencing, and change management skills.
• Experience with continuous improvement methods such as root-cause analysis, standard work, Lean, Six Sigma, 5S, visual management, process mapping, or structured problem solving.
• Ability to work on-site at the Stoughton facility daily and maintain visibility across all three shifts, including occasional evenings, nights, weekends, holidays, or adjusted hours.
• Preferred certifications include APICS/ASCM, Lean Six Sigma, HACCP, PCQI, food safety, forklift/train-the-trainer, DOT transportation, or related logistics and quality certifications.
Physical Requirements
The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is constantly required to use hands and fingers to handle or feel objects and controls.
• Frequently required to walk, bend and reach with hands and arms
• Constantly required to talk and hear
• Constantly sitting for long hours
• Occasionally lift up to 50 pounds
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus naturally or with correction.
Please note that these physical requirements are representative but not exhaustive. The actual physical demands may vary depending on the specific tasks and work conditions within the facility.
(Occasionally = 1-33% of the time; Frequently = 33-66% of the time; Constantly = 66-100% of the time)
Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Work is typically performed in an office setting with regular work done in the distribution center
• Frequently exposed to a moderate level of noise that may make it difficult to concentrate
• Occasionally exposed to wet, humid with slippery conditions, hot and cold environment
(Occasionally = 1-25% of the time; Frequently = 26-75% of the time; Constantly = 76-100% of the time)
Benefits
• Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance
• Basic Life Insurance
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Flexible spending accounts & Health Savings Accounts
• 401k Retirement Plan
• Paid Holidays
• Paid Vacation
• Employee Assistance Program
• Short term/Long term disability
• Volunteer time off (VTO)
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Pet insurance
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