Vice President, Warehouse Operations
We are seeking a Vice President, Warehouse Operations to lead and transform enterprise-wide warehousing, distribution, inventory management, and logistics execution capabilities. This executive will build a best-in-class warehouse organization that operates with the discipline, efficiency, and customer-centricity of a leading third-party logistics provider (3PL) while supporting the company's rapid growth and expansion across North America.
Strategic Leadership
- Develop and execute a world-class enterprise warehousing and logistics strategy aligned with company's growth objectives.
- Create a scalable warehouse operating model across all facilities.
- Lead warehouse network planning, expansion, and optimization initiatives.
- Establish operational standards, KPIs, and governance processes across all warehouse locations.
- Partner with Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Procurement, Transportation, and Finance to ensure company's warehouses support all stakeholders throughout the organization and our customer base.
- Serve as a senior point of contact for key customers to ensure seamless execution and a 3PL-grade customer experience.
Warehouse Operations Management
- Provide direct leadership for all warehouse facilities and warehouse management teams across North America.
- Ensure consistent execution of receiving, storage, inventory control, picking, shipping, and material handling processes.
- Drive warehouse productivity, throughput, service levels, and inventory performance.
- Establish labor planning models and workforce strategies to support operational demand.
- Ensure warehouse capacity planning aligns with customer service-level agreements (SLAs) and production requirements, balancing multiple customers' demand across shared facilities.
- Oversee seasonal demand planning and peak-volume execution strategies.
Safety, Quality, and Compliance
- Champion a safety-first culture across all warehouse operations.
- Ensure compliance with OSHA, FDA, GMP, SQF, customer, and regulatory requirements.
- Lead initiatives to reduce recordable incidents and improve overall workplace safety performance.
- Maintain warehouse readiness for audits, inspections, and customer visits.
- Ensure compliance with all inventory traceability and product handling requirements.
Inventory Management
- Establish best-in-class inventory control processes and standards.
- Drive inventory accuracy, cycle count compliance, and reconciliation processes.
- Partner with Supply Chain, Finance, and customers to improve inventory visibility and deliver customer-facing inventory reporting.
- Minimize inventory losses, damages, and obsolescence.
- Ensure proper management of raw materials, packaging materials, WIP, and finished goods inventories.
Technology and Systems
Lead design, utilization, and optimization of all warehouse and logistics systems including SAP S/4HANA, Elettric 80 WMS, YMS software, and other ERP platforms.
Directly oversee custom implementations and enhancements throughout the software suite.
Oversee all automated warehouse programs, including the LGV fleet.
Embrace AI and machine-learning tools to drive demand and labor planning, warehouse modeling and simulation, advanced analytics, and automated reporting.
Financial Management
- Own warehouse operating budgets and customer-level P&L across all facilities, including cost-to-serve and margin performance by account.
- Develop annual operating plans and capital expenditure strategies.
- Work with the Sales & Finance teams to develop and manage storage, handling, and accessorial billing and rate structures that fully recover cost-to-serve, and identify opportunities to improve the cost structure while maintaining service and quality standards.
- Monitor labor productivity, storage and handling costs, equipment utilization, and operational expenses against billed revenue to protect operating margins.
- Deliver financial performance against established targets.
Talent Development
- Recruit, develop, and retain high-performing warehouse leadership teams.
- Build succession plans for key operational positions.
- Establish leadership development programs and operational training standards.
- Foster a culture of accountability, engagement, and operational excellence.
- Lead performance management processes across the warehouse organization.
Continuous Improvement
- Lead Lean, Six Sigma, and operational excellence initiatives across the warehouse network.
- Identify and implement process improvements that increase productivity and reduce costs.
- Standardize best practices across all locations.
- Drive warehouse automation and technology initiatives where appropriate.
- Establish a culture of accountability, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement.
Qualifications
Required:
- Bachelor's degree in supply chain, Logistics, Engineering, Business, or related field.
- 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in multi-site warehousing, distribution, logistics, or supply chain operations.
- Third-party logistics (3PL), public/multi-client warehousing, or high-volume contract manufacturing experience.
- Demonstrated history of administering effective billing and cost-to-serve structures.
- Extensive hands-on SAP S/4HANA experience, including leading custom implementations, configurations, and enhancements in a warehouse or supply chain environment.
- Experience both manual (forklifts) and automated (LGV fleet) warehousing environments.
Preferred:
- MBA or Master's degree in a related field.
- Lean Six Sigma certification.
Leadership Competencies
Strategic Thinking, Business Acumen, Operational Excellence, Customer Focus, Talent Development, Change Leadership, Executive Presence, Data-Driven Decision Making, Continuous Improvement, Cross-Functional Collaboration.