We're looking for a senior operational leader to oversee vendor compliance, import operations, inbound logistics, inventory governance, operational systems, and distribution center processes within our primary distribution center. This role is responsible for driving execution across inbound and outbound operations, ensuring accurate inventory and costing data, maintaining strong operational controls, and supporting efficient product flow from vendor to customer. The ideal candidate brings a blend of distribution center leadership, supply chain expertise, systems acumen, and a hands-on approach to problem solving.
As the Sr. Director of DC Operations & Vendor Compliance, you will lead cross-functional execution across vendor compliance, import operations, inventory governance, distribution center operations, and operational systems. This role serves as a key operational leader within our primary distribution center, driving process excellence, inventory accuracy, costing integrity, and efficient product flow from vendor to customer.
Vendor Compliance & Import Management- Own the company's vendor compliance strategy, standards, routing guides, and onboarding requirements to create consistent expectations across the supplier base.
- Assess the current vendor compliance and import-control environment, identify material gaps, and prioritize the highest-risk issues requiring immediate attention.
- Establish governance for HTS classification, import entry accuracy, and compliance controls, including audit cadence, escalation paths, and accountability measures.
- Lead broker and external partner oversight to ensure compliant, efficient clearance, strong documentation discipline, and rapid issue resolution.
- Reduce enterprise exposure to duty, tariff, penalty, delay, and rework risk by implementing durable policies, controls, and decision frameworks.
Freight Optimization & Forwarder Management - Set freight and forwarding strategy across service, cost, visibility, and resilience, including assessment of current partners and alternative models.
- Evaluate current forwarder, broker, and vendor performance to establish a fact-based baseline for cost, service, and accountability.
- Identify and capture structural savings across routing, modes, consolidation, and vendor ship points while maintaining service-level and OTIF expectations
- Build a forwarder and vendor performance-management framework that supports negotiation, executive decision-making, escalation, and continuous improvement.
NetSuite & Data Integrity - Own the roadmap for inbound master data and transaction integrity across vendors, items, purchase orders, shipments, and receipts.
- Establish governance and accountability for standard costing accuracy and cost maintenance within NetSuite.
- Partner with Finance, Sourcing, and Merchandising to ensure timely and accurate updates to product costs, freight allocations, duty assumptions, and landed-cost calculations.
- Lead recurring audits and reviews of standard costs, landed costs, and inventory transactions to ensure accurate inventory valuation and reporting.
- Improve executive visibility into purchase orders, in-transit inventory, receipts, exceptions, and landed costs through stronger systems discipline and reporting.
Distribution Center Operations & Process Improvement - Lead the design and continuous improvement of distribution center processes spanning receiving, inventory control, put-away, replenishment, exception handling, fulfillment, and warehouse coordination.
- Partner with warehouse leadership to improve throughput, inventory accuracy, labor productivity, service levels, and operational scalability.
- Sponsor practical process improvements that increase throughput, accuracy, and scalability across inbound and outbound operations.
- Align teams across operations, merchandising, finance, and external partners to remove bottlenecks and improve end-to-end execution.
Dashboards & Operational Visibility - Establish KPI dashboards and scorecards for inbound and outbound operations, inventory accuracy, freight spend, landed costs, compliance risk, vendor performance and distribution center productivity.
- Stand up review cadences, ownership models, and escalation paths, and accountability frameworks for critical issues to support disciplined operating decisions. Create executive-ready reporting that enables faster issue resolution, stronger accountability, and clearer decision-making.
What Success Looks Like - A measurable reduction in compliance, duty, tariff, and operational-risk exposure across the supply chain and distribution center.
- Stronger control and forecasting of freight spend, inbound cost drivers, and landed cost performance.
- Consistent executive visibility into inbound and outbound operations, exceptions, vendor performance, and key operational metrics through reliable metrics and reporting.
- Greater leverage in forwarder negotiations through data, scorecards, and structured partner management.
- Improved inventory accuracy, operational efficiency, and process discipline across receiving, warehouse operations, and fulfillment.
- Scalable processes, clear ownership, and stronger internal capability that reduce dependency on reactive problem-solving.
Qualifications - 10+ years of progressive leadership experience across distribution center operations, vendor compliance, imports, global logistics, and/or supply chain operations, including ownership of complex cross-functional initiatives.
- Strong understanding of customs compliance, international freight, vendor compliance, inventory controls, HTS classification, and the operational processes required to support a high-volume distribution environment.
- Proven track record improving operational performance across warehouse operations, inventory management, transportation, inventory accuracy, and supply chain execution.
- Travel to corporate and LA Distribution Center as needed.
- Strong systems and analytics mindset with ERP fluency (NetSuite preferred) including experience maintaining inventory accuracy, standard costing, landed costs, and operational data integrity.
- Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, align senior stakeholders, develop teams, and drive sustainable change across functions.
- Experience building dashboards, performance metrics, and reporting frameworks that support operational decision-making and executive visibility.
- Lean, continuous improvement, or process optimization experience preferred.
Additional InformationThis job description is not all inclusive. In addition, Kayne LLC dba Jenni Kayne reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. The annual base salary range for this position is $100,000 - $110,000. The base salary is determined by experience, education, skills, and location.
