Director of Supply Chain & Operations

About the Role

The Director of Supply Chain & Operations provides strategic and operational leadership across manufacturing, production, procurement, materials management, inventory, production planning, warehousing, and logistics. This position is accountable for aligning people, materials, equipment, systems, and production capacity to meet customer demand, quality expectations, service requirements, and company financial objectives. The Director develops the people, processes, systems, and performance standards needed to improve safety, production efficiency, labor productivity, inventory performance, cost, quality, and scalability.

As a member of the leadership team, this position partners with Quality, R&D, Sales, Finance, Customer Service, and executive leadership to support business growth and operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Operations & Manufacturing Leadership
  • Provide leadership and direction for manufacturing, production, warehouse, shipping, and receiving operations, ensuring work is performed safely, efficiently, on schedule, and in accordance with quality and food safety standards.
  • Lead operational managers and supervisors in improving labor productivity, throughput, schedule attainment, capacity utilization, downtime, waste, and overall plant performance.
  • Evaluate capacity, labor, equipment, maintenance needs, and operational constraints; resolve bottlenecks and recurring issues through root-cause analysis.
  • Establish standardized processes, work instructions, operating procedures, and performance expectations.
  • Ensure operational readiness for new products, volume growth, process changes, equipment additions, and other business requirements.
  • Partner with Quality and Food Safety to ensure operations comply with applicable quality, regulatory, food safety, and company requirements.
• Supply Chain, Planning & Procurement
  • Lead purchasing, strategic procurement, materials planning, demand planning, inventory management, production scheduling, and logistics activities.
  • Own material and production planning decisions, aligning forecasts, customer demand, raw-material availability, production capacity, labor, and finished-goods requirements.
  • Adjust forecasts, purchasing plans, inventory targets, and production schedules as requirements change.
  • Maintain inventory that supports production and service while minimizing excess, obsolete, and slow-moving materials.
  • Lead supplier sourcing, negotiations, cost management, supplier performance, and strategic procurement initiatives.
  • Strengthen supplier relationships, mitigate supply risks, and establish contingency and dual-sourcing plans where appropriate.
• Warehousing & Logistics
  • Provide oversight for warehousing, material flow, shipping, receiving, and logistics to support accurate, timely, and efficient movement of materials and finished goods.
  • Improve warehouse organization, inventory accuracy, space utilization, material handling, and shipping and receiving processes.
  • Evaluate transportation and logistics requirements and implement improvements that strengthen service, cost control, visibility, and reliability.
• Performance Management & Continuous Improvement
  • Define, track, and report key performance indicators for safety, production, labor, capacity, scheduling, inventory, supplier performance, cost, quality, and customer service.
  • Establish accountability and corrective action plans when expectations are not met.
  • Lead continuous-improvement initiatives that produce measurable gains in productivity, service, capacity, inventory, cost, and quality.
  • Use operational data, analytics, and trend analysis to support fact-based decisions and prioritize improvement opportunities.
• Strategy & Financial Impact
  • Develop and communicate a long-term supply chain and operations strategy aligned with company growth, customer needs, manufacturing capabilities, service expectations, and margin goals.
  • Translate business objectives into operating plans, capacity plans, budgets, and improvement priorities.
  • Partner with Finance on budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, working-capital management, and cost-of-goods-sold improvement initiatives.
  • Evaluate make-versus-buy decisions, outsourcing, capacity expansion, equipment, facilities, and manufacturing capabilities.
  • Provide executive leadership with clear analysis of operational trade-offs, risks, recommendations, and anticipated business impact.
• Systems, Data & Technology
  • Lead the effective adoption and optimization of ERP, MRP, inventory, production-planning, scheduling, warehouse, and transportation-management systems.
  • Improve data accuracy, reporting, visibility, and decision-making across all assigned functions.
• Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Serve as the primary operational link among Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Sales, Quality, R&D, Finance, Customer Service, and executive leadership.
  • Align sales forecasts and customer requirements with supply availability, production capacity, inventory, labor, and service expectations.
  • Support new-product introductions by ensuring material, supplier, capacity, scheduling, production, and operational readiness.
  • Lead change management related to new systems, processes, suppliers, equipment, capabilities, and organizational changes.
• Leadership & Supervisory Responsibilities
  • Supervise assigned operations, supply chain, procurement, planning, warehouse, and logistics leaders and team members.
  • Recruit, hire, onboard, coach, and develop employees; build succession plans and strengthen leadership capability.
  • Set goals, manage performance, and provide timely feedback, recognition, coaching, and corrective action.
  • Develop staffing and coverage plans that support safety, service, efficiency, and growth.
  • Approve time, schedules, and PTO for assigned employees in accordance with company policy.
  • Address employee-relations matters in partnership with Human Resources and promote a culture of safety, ownership, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Experience
  • At least 10 years of progressive experience in manufacturing operations, supply chain, procurement, planning, or a related field.
  • At least five years of leadership experience managing operational teams, managers, supervisors, or cross-functional functions.
  • Demonstrated success leading manufacturing and supply chain functions in a production environment.
  • Experience with production and capacity planning, inventory, sourcing, supplier management, cost reduction, and process improvement.
  • Experience using ERP, MRP, production-planning, inventory, warehouse, and related operational systems.
  • Experience in food, ingredient, seasoning, or a comparable regulated manufacturing environment preferred.
  • Transportation-management system implementation and import/export experience preferred.
• Education & Knowledge
  • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Operations Management, Business, Manufacturing, Engineering, or a related field preferred.
  • Strong knowledge of manufacturing operations, supply chain planning, procurement, inventory management, production planning, warehousing, logistics, and continuous-improvement principles.
  • Knowledge of food manufacturing, food safety, quality systems, and applicable regulatory requirements preferred.

Schedule

Typical office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, with additional hours as business needs require. The position requires regular presence in warehouse and production environments, which may include noise, temperature variation, industrial equipment, and uneven surfaces. Required safety, food-safety, and PPE standards must be followed. Approximately 10% travel may be required for company locations, supplier visits, industry events, or customer-related activities.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to sit, stand, and walk throughout the workday; use standard office equipment; review operational data; and communicate effectively.
• Ability to observe warehouse and production operations, wear required PPE, and travel occasionally.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.