Job Overview:The
Distribution Center Director is responsible for leading the overall performance, operational effectiveness, and strategic direction of the distribution center, including warehouse operations, transportation, customer service, administrative support, safety, and team member development. This role plans, organizes, staffs, directs, and controls all distribution center activities to ensure service, productivity, cost, safety, and quality objectives are consistently achieved. The Distribution Center Director partners with senior leadership to establish performance goals, drive continuous improvement, develop talent, and ensure the distribution center operates in alignment with company objectives and customer expectations.
Responsibilities:- Communication and Leadership: Partner with senior leadership, corporate partners, field leadership, vendors, and customers to support business objectives. Lead regular management and team meetings to align priorities, communicate expectations, and support execution across the distribution center. Represent the company professionally in business, community, and industry settings as needed.
- Operations: Lead the development and execution of systems, processes, and procedures that support efficient warehouse, transportation, inventory, and administrative operations. Plan, direct, and monitor daily operations to meet productivity, service, safety, quality, and cost objectives while ensuring compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
- Team Member Leadership: Lead, coach, and develop the warehouse and transportation management teams to achieve operational goals. Build a high-performing team through effective hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, succession planning, and professional development. Partner with Human Resources on staffing, performance evaluations, compensation recommendations, corrective action, and separations as appropriate.
- Customer Service: Establish, communicate, and maintain service standards that support retail locations, internal partners, and external customers. Ensure distribution center teams provide timely, accurate, and responsive operational and administrative support. Address customer and business partner needs with urgency, professionalism, and accountability.
- Budgeting and Financial Stewardship: Develop, recommend, and manage the annual operating budget. Monitor labor, transportation, equipment, supply, and facility expenses to ensure operational performance goals are achieved within established cost parameters. Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and strengthen financial performance.
- Equipment, Facilities, Safety, and Security: Oversee equipment, facilities, sanitation, maintenance, housekeeping, security, and safety programs to support efficient and compliant operations. Ensure material handling equipment, systems, and facilities are maintained appropriately and recommend improvements, repairs, replacements, or technology upgrades when needed.
- Reporting and Performance Management: Ensure records, reports, metrics, and operational documentation are accurate, timely, organized, and effectively maintained. Review operational goals, service levels, productivity standards, safety performance, and cost metrics on a regular basis; identify trends, remove barriers, and implement corrective actions as needed.
- Systems and Continuous Improvement: Ensure warehouse management systems, reporting tools, and related technology operate effectively to support daily execution and business visibility. Stay informed of relevant logistics, automation, material handling, and systems advancements and recommend improvements that enhance productivity, accuracy, safety, and service.
- Operational Visibility: Maintain regular presence throughout the distribution center to observe operations, answer questions, reinforce expectations, identify issues, and support real-time problem solving. When appropriate, participate in store visits or private fleet ride-alongs to better understand service levels and operational impact.
Essential Competencies:- Communication: Demonstrates strong verbal and written communication skills and effectively engages with all levels of the organization, as well as vendors, customers, and cross-functional partners. Creates clear, accurate, and professional correspondence, documentation, and reporting.
- Presentation and Facilitation Skills: Effectively facilitates meetings, training sessions, and presentations. Able to communicate complex information clearly, establish credibility, and influence diverse audiences.
- Interpersonal Skills: Builds productive working relationships, listens actively, and establishes trust with team members, leaders, vendors, and business partners. Provides effective coaching, feedback, and support in one-on-one and group settings.
- Attention to Detail: Ensures information, documentation, training, and operational execution are accurate, complete, and aligned with company policies and procedures. Maintains high standards without taking shortcuts that could compromise safety, customer service, compliance, or operational excellence.
- Customer Focus: Creates a service-oriented culture that supports internal and external customers. Responds professionally and effectively to operational needs, business partner requests, and customer expectations while balancing quality, productivity, and cost.
- Sound Judgment: Exercises sound business judgment when making operational, staffing, and leadership decisions. Balances company priorities, team member needs, customer expectations, safety, compliance, and financial performance when recommending or taking action.
Qualifications:- Bachelor's degree in Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field preferred; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
- Five to seven years of progressive experience in warehousing, logistics, distribution, transportation, or supply chain operations preferred.
- One to three years of experience in a comparable distribution center leadership role preferred.
- Demonstrated experience leading teams, developing talent, managing performance, and driving accountability in a fast-paced operational environment.
- Strong knowledge of warehouse operations, transportation, inventory management, material handling equipment, safety practices, and regulatory compliance.
- Experience with budgeting, labor planning, cost control, productivity management, and operational reporting.
- Proficiency with computers, Microsoft Office applications, warehouse management systems, and related operational technology preferred.
- Strong planning, organizational, analytical, problem-solving, communication, and decision-making skills.
- Ability to build effective relationships, lead through influence, and align diverse teams and business partners around common objectives.
We offer our employees competitive compensation, extensive paid training, comprehensive and flexible suite of benefits package, 401K with company match, team member discounts, rewards for top performers, and most importantly career advancement opportunities.
Leslie's recognizes a critical component to our continued success is our people. Leslie's is proud to have a culture of inclusion that seeks to celebrate and embrace the different backgrounds and perspectives that help drive our success and support team members in developing and growing with us. We aim to create a workplace where all team members feel welcomed and valued and inspire each other every day.
