Transportation Manager

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Leads the strategic direction for transportation functions, managing external partnerships, negotiating and administering freight contracts, overseeing carrier payables, and managing customer billable rates
• Develops a comprehensive business plan that includes analysis of the current network and provides recommendations to support future growth
• Plans, develops, and implements goals, objectives, policies, and priorities related to transportation operations
• Serves as the primary liaison and resource for transportation across Supply Chain, Operations, Customer Service, IT, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and other cross-functional teams
• Promotes effective shipment strategies with Customer Service and Warehouse teams
• Communicates transportation performance, challenges, and improvement opportunities to stakeholders at all levels of the organization
• Oversees carrier relationships, including contract management and service performance expectations
• Serves as the functional subject matter expert on Transportation Management System (TMS) processes
• Manages freight claims through final resolution
• Fosters a collaborative, high-performance culture across departments
• Prepares and maintains operational reports, metrics, and budget-related analysis to support performance tracking and decision-making
• Owns staffing and personnel management activities, providing guidance, leadership, and development opportunities within the Transportation team
• Counsels on root cause analysis on issues related to order fulfillment, transportation, logistics systems, imports/exports, and customer concerns, and recommends effective solutions
• Ensures on-time and in-full delivery performance, including special order fulfillment, new product launches, back-order fulfillment, donations, and product disposition
• Manages order expediting, product returns, and shipments requiring specialized handling or transportation
• Leads continuous improvement initiatives and promotes a Lean culture, including 5S practices
• Participates in or leads cross-functional initiatives to drive improvements in customer satisfaction, processes, productivity, and quality
• Ensures compliance with all company Safety, HACCP, and GMP policies

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, or other related field required
• 3-5 years of relevant experience in this role required
• Experience with all modes of transportation, including but not limited to parcel, LTL, full/partial truckload, intermodal, and international freight required
• Experience in a food manufacturing environment, preferred
• Experience with JDE and TMS (MercuryGate / Infios) systems, preferred