Key ResponsibilitiesThe Vice President of Operations reports to the SVP, Operations and will have responsibility for the strategic direction and management of the operations team, consisting of the company's distribution centers, as well as its transportation function. This position requires the strategic agility to move through all levels of the organization - up, down, and across all portions of the business to drive operational excellence and support Global Industrial's focus on improving customer experience. He/she will likewise display a high level of emotional intelligence, emphasize development of talent throughout the operations organization and act as a servant leader pushing the team forward. Finally, the Vice President of Operations will bring a strong knowledge of the P&L implications supporting the company's distribution center network and drive consistent quality through on-the-ground leadership.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES- The Vice President of Operations will be responsible for the following, but not limited to:
- Assess, refine and execute the operational and distribution network strategy necessary to support the current and future commercial strategy of the Global Industrial Company.
- Create and lead a culture that continually looks for operational improvements, optimizes work processes to gain efficiency, sets goals and achieves cost cutting measures, and regularly conducts root cause analysis and process improvement for key quality and systemic operational issues.
- Implement and fine-tune a robust set of KPIs that measure all meaningful aspects of Global Industrial's distribution and transportation network. Use these KPIs to lead a world class distribution and transportation team.
- Develop and manage a customer experience strategy for the operations team, consistent with broader Global Industrial policy, by balancing the needs of the external customers with the working capital requirements for a leveraged distribution business.
- Continually raise the bar regarding expectations and performance to ensure continued success and growth by making difficult personnel decisions when improvement is not demonstrated.
- Foster greater coordination between the operations team and other functions, such as marketing, product management, sales, and finance to maximize any communication that could improve fulfillment, order forecasting, profitability, and customer experience.
- Lead the operations team's capital investment planning by using analytical modeling to make facility, equipment, and expansion recommendations.
- Develop a culture that places high importance on safe operations and timely safety incident reporting.
- Inspire and energize the operations and transportation organization, contributing to the development of a high performing team.
Competencies and skillsThe ideal candidate will have a proven track record leading operation in a fast-growing distribution business, including experience in complex, dynamic organizations where growth (organic and inorganic) and customer experience are dependent upon operational efficiencies and improvement.
- Minimum 10 years of experience with Multi-SKU, pick/pack distribution and fulfillment centers.
- Experience with footprint optimization, operational excellence, and process improvement will be emphasized.
- Minimum 10 years of experience with international/domestic transportation and logistics.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- High level of proficiency in MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
- Savvy business leadership skills with proven track record of success in leading operations organizations toward higher levels of achievement.
- High level of discretion and confidentiality.
- A results-oriented, highly collaborative executive leader, with a demonstrated record of meeting or exceeding business performance objectives.
- He/she should have deep experience creating a cost-effective operating entity that has aligned its infrastructure and management systems to best leverage the company's core competencies for success.
- Expertise leveraging ecommerce and digital marketplace platforms to drive a commercial and operational strategy for aggressive enterprise growth.
- Strong strategic leadership skills with the ability to establish a vision for the operations function.
- Transformational leader who can communicate effectively and create a collaborative culture to drive change, specifically in an organization with a distributed workforce.
- A person of the highest integrity aligned to and upholding the company's core values, including a commitment to a strong safety culture.
- Leads with emotional intelligence, understanding the value of active listening, strong communication and creating an open and collaborative work environment for employees.
- The ability to attract, inspire, develop, and retain a team of exceptional leaders will be crucial to the success of this person. This includes ensuring the right talent in new areas of involvement and development and acceleration of the highest-potential current leaders as well as the empowerment of people at all levels.
EDUCATION- An undergraduate degree is required; an advanced degree or an MBA is highly preferred.
