Vice President of Operations, E-commerce Fulfillment & Light ManufacturingThe
Vice President of Operations position is located in
Olive Branch, MS.The Vice President of Operations leads a large-scale ecommerce fulfillment, distribution, and light manufacturing operation across multiple US sites, reporting to the Chief Supply Chain & Manufacturing Officer.
This is both a strategic and hands-on role. The VP sets multi-year direction, manages P&L impact, drives continuous improvement, optimizes network performance, partners with vendors, and develops a strong leadership bench while staying close to daily execution, ensuring critical peak period performance, improving cost-to-serve, and delivering reliable customer service.
The ideal candidate brings experience in high-volume e-commerce and small-parcel fulfillment with the technical, analytical, and people-leadership capabilities needed to scale operations, strengthen process discipline, reduce costs, improve quality, and deliver superior customer experience.
You'll be excited about this opportunity because you will...Lead Regional Operations- Own regional site performance across safety, quality, service, cost, productivity, inventory accuracy, and customer experience.
- Translate business growth objectives into scalable operating models, staffing plans, facility strategies, process standards, and performance systems.
- Build short-, mid-, and long-term operating plans that align capacity, labor, systems, automation, service levels, customer promise, and cost structure.
- Oversee and develop Site Operations, Engineering, Safety, and Operational Excellence leaders.
Drive E-commerce Fulfillment and Small-Parcel Performance- Lead high-volume ecommerce fulfillment, including order flow, pick-pack-ship, sortation, returns, exception management, and on-time ship and customer service performance
- Improve order cycle time, dock-to-stock performance, units per labor hour, cost per order, cost per shipment, inventory accuracy, damage rates, returns handling, and carrier performance.
- Partner with Transportation, Customer Experience, Merchandising, Planning, Finance, IT, and external providers to ensure fulfillment performance supports customer expectations and business growth.
- Own peak readiness: capacity planning, labor modeling, inventory positioning, contingency planning, and disciplined execution.
- Manage parcel carrier, 3PL, packaging, automation, and maintenance vendor relationships.
Scale Light Manufacturing and Technical Operations- Lead light manufacturing and personalization across Softline and Hardlines merchandise, including packaging, quality control, production planning, and value-added services.
- Apply engineering, Lean, Six Sigma, and process design principles to improve flow, reduce variation, eliminate waste, and increase repeatability.
- Partner with Engineering and Facilities on layout, material flow, equipment reliability, ergonomics, automation readiness, and capital projects.
- Evaluate and implement new technologies, equipment, systems, and automation that improve speed, quality, labor efficiency, and scalability.
Build Operational Excellence- Lead an operating system grounded in Lean, Six Sigma, standard work, visual management, root cause problem-solving, daily management, and disciplined KPI review.
- Establish scorecards across safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, inventory, and customer outcomes.
- Sponsor major transformation initiatives, including facility redesign, WMOS/ERP implementation, automation deployment, systems integration, process standardization, and network optimization.
- Create a culture of operational discipline where leaders use data, facts, and root cause analysis to solve problems, improve performance, and sustain results.
Own Financial and Strategic Performance- Own operating budgets, labor plans, productivity commitments, and cost improvement plans.
- Manage P&L-impacting decisions across labor, supplies, freight, parcel, packaging, maintenance, inventory accuracy, quality defects, and vendor spend.
- Build business cases for capital investments, automation, facility changes, technology upgrades, outsourcing, insourcing, and network changes.
- Partner with Finance on cost-to-serve models, productivity targets, and operating reviews
Develop People and Culture- Build a high-performing leadership bench across directors, senior managers, operations managers, engineers, safety leaders, and analysts.
- Create a culture grounded in safety, accountability, respect, communication, recognition, development, and measurable performance.
- Partner with Human Resources on workforce planning, succession planning, leadership capability, engagement, retention, change management, training, and organizational design.
- Lead through complexity, ambiguity, growth, turnaround, peak periods, systems change, and operational transformation
Check out some of the required qualifications we are looking for in amazing candidates...- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Manufacturing, Business, or related field.
- 12+ years of progressive operations leadership in ecommerce direct-to-consumer fulfillment, distribution, logistics, small-parcel operations, light manufacturing, supply chain, or related environments.
- 5+ years leading Directors, Senior Managers, General Managers across multi-site/multi-function operations.
- Demonstrated results improving safety, service, quality, productivity, cost, and inventory accuracy in high-volume environments.
- Strong financial acumen: budgeting, labor planning, cost reduction, and P&L impact.
- Experience with WMS, ERP, LMS, labor planning, inventory, parcel shipping, and operational dashboards.
- Track record leading capital projects, technology implementations, equipment/technology deployment, or large-scale operational transformation.
- Builds cross-functional partnerships: Supply Chain, Transportation, Finance, HR, IT, and Customer Experience.
We prefer some of these qualities as well...- Engineering or technical degree; MBA or advanced degree a plus.
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Master Black Belt, PMP, and/or APICS/ASCM certification.
- Experience with e-commerce, omnichannel retail, high-SKU operations, parcel shipping, light manufacturing, assembly, customization, packaging, kitting, or personalization.
- Experience with automation, robotics, conveyor/sortation systems, warehouse control systems, or advanced analytics.
- Experience managing 3PLs, parcel carriers, automation vendors, and outsourced labor providers.
- Proficiency in SQL, Power BI, Tableau, advanced Excel, data visualization, or similar analytics tools.
- Background in startups, turnaround, rapid scaling, or facility launch environments.
How We LeadWe hire and develop leaders who role model our WSI Leadership Behaviors. The VP is expected to be:- Strategic and hands-on: able to set regional direction while understanding what is happening on the floor.
- Data-driven: uses KPIs, root cause analysis, and financial modeling to make decisions.
- Customer-focused: understands that operational performance directly affects delivery promise, brand trust, and repeat purchase behavior.
- Technically credible: able to work effectively with engineering, systems, and process design teams.
- People-centered: develop leaders, create an engaging culture, and build accountability.
- Change-capable: experienced in leading transformation, process standardization, systems implementation, and performance turnarounds.
- Commercially sharp: understands cost-to-serve, P&L impact, capital ROI, labor leverage, and service tradeoffs.
What Success Looks LikeIn this role, success means:- Measurable improvement in service, quality, cost, inventory accuracy, and customer delivery.
- Stronger peak readiness and labor planning discipline with operational consistency.
- Clear operating scorecards in place and reviewed consistently across all sites.
- A leadership bench that runs day to day and is ready for the next level of growth.
- At least one major transformation project: automation, facility redesign, or systems; executed on time and on budget.
- Stronger cross-functional relationships and a reputation as a collaborative, execution-oriented leader.
Why Join UsThis is a high-visibility executive role with real P&L accountability and room to shape the regional fulfillment operating model. You'll work at the intersection of ecommerce growth, operational excellence, and people development, in a strategic and hands-on role central to the operations of Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
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)
At this time, we are not accepting referrals from third party recruiting agencies for this position.
