Director of Global and Domestic Transportation

Williams-Sonoma

• $125K — $150K *
Transportation
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
  • 10+ years of progressive transportation leadership experience.
  • 5+ years of experience leading managers and cross-functional teams.
  • Proven experience in managing both domestic and international transportation networks.

Responsibilities

  • Develop and execute a comprehensive transportation strategy for both domestic and international operations.
  • Optimize transportation networks across various modes, enhancing cost efficiency and service quality.
  • Lead transportation procurement and contract negotiations with carriers.
  • Establish long-term network strategies to improve service and resiliency.
  • Monitor market conditions and adapt strategies proactively for optimal performance.
  • Manage the enterprise parcel strategy for diverse shipping needs.
  • Lead global transportation initiatives across ocean and air freight.

Benefits

  • Generous discount on all Williams-Sonoma, Inc. brand products.
  • 401(k) plan with investment opportunities.
  • Paid vacations and Employee Assistance Programs.
  • Health benefits, including dental and vision insurance, and coverage for same-sex domestic partners.
  • Community service programs such as Time Off to Volunteer and Matching Gifts.
Full Job Description
About the Job

Director of Global & Domestic Transportation

The Director of Global & Domestic Transportation position is located in Memphis, TN.

This role is responsible for leading all transportation modes, including Less-than-Truckload (LTL), Full Truckload (FTL), Intermodal, Parcel, Ocean, and Air Freight, while optimizing service, cost, network efficiency, and customer experience.

Partner closely with Distribution Operations, Supply Planning, Inventory Management, Merchandising, Customs Compliance, Finance, Customer Care, Procurement, and Technology to ensure our transportation network supports business growth while maintaining operational excellence.

This position requires an executive who combines strategic vision with operational discipline, excels in data-driven decision making, and is passionate about developing people and building high-performing teams.

You'll be excited about this opportunity because you will:

  • Develop and execute an enterprise transportation strategy supporting domestic and international operations.
  • Optimize transportation networks across LTL, Truckload, Intermodal, Parcel, Ocean, and Air.
  • Lead transportation procurement, carrier sourcing, contract negotiations, and annual bid events.
  • Develop long-term network strategies that improve service, resiliency, and cost efficiency.
  • Monitor transportation market conditions and proactively adjust network strategies.
  • Lead strategy and operations for:
    • Less-than-Truckload (LTL).
    • Full Truckload (FTL).
    • Intermodal.
    • Dedicated Fleet (where applicable).
    • Retail and Distribution Center transportation.
    • Final Mile operations (where applicable).


Responsibilities include capacity planning, routing optimization, carrier management, peak season readiness, transportation procurement, and performance management.

Parcel Operations & Optimization:

Own the enterprise parcel strategy supporting direct-to-consumer, eCommerce, retail replenishment, and B2B shipments.

  • Develop multi-carrier parcel strategies across multiple parcel carriers, and emerging last-mile providers.
  • Lead parcel carrier negotiations and optimize transportation spend while maintaining service commitments.
  • Drive parcel optimization initiatives including zone skipping, carrier diversification, consolidation, dimensional weight reduction, packaging optimization, and routing improvements.
  • Monitor parcel KPIs including cost per package, on-time delivery, transit performance, delivery exceptions, claims, and customer experience.
  • Partner with Distribution Centers to improve carton utilization, packaging efficiency, and shipping profiles.
  • Ensure peak season parcel capacity and network resiliency.


International Transportation:

Lead global transportation strategy across:

  • Ocean Freight.
  • Air Freight.
  • Freight Forwarders and NVOCCs.
  • Import transportation planning.
  • International carrier management.
  • Port and gateway strategy.


Partner closely with Customs Compliance and Global Sourcing teams to ensure efficient inbound transportation and regulatory compliance.

Carrier Management:

  • Build executive relationships with transportation providers.
  • Negotiate transportation contracts and service agreements.
  • Develop carrier scorecards measuring cost, service, capacity, claims, and performance.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives with transportation partners.


Financial & Operational Leadership:

  • Manage a multi-million-dollar transportation budget.
  • Lead freight forecasting, budgeting, and transportation productivity initiatives.
  • Identify opportunities to reduce freight costs while protecting service levels.
  • Utilize transportation analytics to support strategic decision making.


Analytics & Continuous Improvement:

  • Develop transportation dashboards and executive KPI reporting.
  • Analyze transportation performance, cost-to-serve, carrier utilization, and network efficiency.
  • Lead transportation optimization projects using data and analytics.
  • Champion continuous improvement and process simplification.


People Leadership:

Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing transportation organization by:

  • Building strong leadership talent.
  • Coaching and mentoring managers and individual contributors.
  • Creating clear accountability and performance expectations.
  • Supporting succession planning and employee development.
  • Fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement.


Technical Expertise:

Demonstrated expertise in:

  • LTL.
  • Full Truckload.
  • Intermodal.
  • Parcel Operations.
  • Ocean Freight.
  • Air Freight.
  • Carrier Procurement.
  • Transportation Management Systems (TMS).
  • Transportation Analytics.
  • Network Optimization.
  • Routing Guides.
  • Freight Audit and Payment.
  • Transportation Procurement.


Leadership Competencies:

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

  • Strategic thinking with the ability to translate vision into execution.
  • Strong executive presence and communication skills.
  • Exceptional financial and analytical acumen.
  • Customer-focused decision making.
  • A collaborative leadership style that builds trust across the organization.
  • Proven ability to influence without authority.
  • Calm, decisive leadership during periods of change and operational disruption.
  • A continuous improvement mindset with a passion for innovation.
  • High integrity, accountability, and ownership.
  • A commitment to coaching, mentoring, and developing future leaders.


Success Measures:

Success in this role will be measured by:

  • Improved on-time delivery performance.
  • Reduced transportation cost per shipment and cost per package.
  • Improved parcel, LTL, Truckload, Ocean, and Air carrier performance.
  • Increased transportation network resiliency during peak seasons.
  • Enhanced carrier scorecards and supplier relationships.
  • Improved transportation visibility and executive reporting.
  • Measurable productivity improvements and freight savings.
  • Strong employee engagement, leadership development, and succession planning.


We are looking for a leader who can think strategically, execute operationally, leverage analytics to drive decisions, and inspire teams to deliver world-class transportation performance across all modes. This individual should be equally comfortable presenting transportation strategy to executive leadership as they are partnering with operations teams to solve complex day-to-day transportation challenges.

Check out some of the required qualifications we are looking for in amazing candidates:

  • Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
  • At least 10+ years of progressive transportation leadership experience.
  • At least 5 years leading managers and cross-functional teams.
  • Experience managing domestic and international transportation networks.


Our company benefits are second to none in the industry:

  • Generous discount on all Williams-Sonoma, Inc. brand products.
  • 401(k) plan and other investment opportunities.
  • Paid vacations, Employee Assistance Programs, Time Off to Volunteer, Matching Gifts Community Service Program, and Holidays (in some locations).
  • Health benefits, dental and vision insurance, including same-sex domestic partner benefits, Legal and Identity Protection Plans and Pet Insurance.
  • For more information on our benefits offers, please visit MyWSIBenefits.com
  • To learn more about our Supply Chain culture and regional associate events, please visit: https://shorturl.at/R3OAX (Login credentials may be required).


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