Position Summary
The Operations Manager, Distribution Center Outbound Operations is accountable for the safe, timely, accurate, and cost-effective execution of the complete outbound product flow at the West Memphis National Distribution Center—from load planning and order prioritization through order release, picking, packing, staging, loading, and truck departure. The role ensures customer orders, labor, equipment, documentation, staging space, dock capacity, and loading sequences are ready before scheduled customer or customer-carrier pickup.
The Operations Manager leads daily execution across multiple shifts to achieve at least 98% customer on-time, in-full (OTIF) performance while building the operating capacity and management discipline required to support significant planned product-flow growth. The role leads a large, diverse workforce and is responsible for productivity, quality, safety, order accuracy, labor utilization, and operating cost. The role works closely with the Operations Excellence leader to establish standard work, improve process flow, maintain KPI visibility, conduct process confirmation and audits, solve recurring problems, and sustain continuous improvement. The Operations Manager owns daily operational execution and results; the Operations Excellence leader supports process design, management systems, capability building, and improvement governance.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Leadership and Customer Execution
• Own end-to-end outbound execution from load planning and order release through picking, packing, staging, loading, and truck departure across multiple shifts.
• Translate expected ship dates, customer pickup appointments, carrier schedules and changes, inventory availability, and warehouse capacity into an executable daily load plan, working backward from the required pickup time.
• Prioritize and release customer orders with sufficient time to meet required picking, staging, pickup, and delivery commitments.
• Ensure picking operations are properly staffed, prioritized, and executed to required cutoff times, with effective management of productivity, accuracy, exceptions, equipment availability, and work-in-process.
Ensure each planned load has the labor, equipment, documentation, staging space, dock assignment, trailer availability, and loading sequence needed before scheduled truck arrival.
• Establish load-readiness checkpoints and maintain real-time visibility to plan attainment, shipment risks, and recovery requirements.
• Direct recovery actions when labor constraints, inventory shortages, system issues, equipment downtime, carrier changes, or processing delays place customer commitments at risk.
• Coordinate dock assignments, trailer availability, loading sequences, and transportation handoffs to support efficient truck turnaround and on-time departure.
• Ensure orders are picked, packed, staged, loaded, documented, and shipped accurately and completely to achieve at least 98% customer OTIF.
• Maintain close coordination with receiving, replenishment, inventory control, transportation, customer service, and other partners while respecting separate functional ownership.
Growth Readiness and Capacity
• Translate projected order and shipment growth into requirements for outbound labor, leadership capacity, shifts, picking capacity, staging space, dock doors, trailers, material-handling equipment, automation, and systems.
• Develop and execute operating plans that support growth from approximately $600 million to $1.2 billion in product flow by 2030.
• Develop peak-volume and contingency plans that protect customer OTIF during promotions, seasonal demand, labor constraints, system interruptions, and carrier disruptions.
• Partner with Operations Excellence, engineering, IT, transportation, and other functions to evaluate and implement process, system, equipment, and technology changes.
• Ensure capital investments and operational changes improve shipment readiness, load completion, dock flow, on-time departure, and cost performance.
Performance Management and Operating Discipline
• Establish daily, weekly, and monthly performance routines with clear targets, visual controls, ownership, and escalation of missed results.
• Monitor customer OTIF, load-plan attainment, order-release timing, picking and staging completion, load readiness, on-time truck departure, truck turn time, backlog, labor productivity, order accuracy, damage, safety, and cost per unit.
• Use operational data to identify trends, prioritize actions, determine root causes, and verify corrective-action effectiveness.
• Maintain standard work and consistent execution across shifts, departments, and leadership teams.
• Communicate performance, risks, recovery plans, resource requirements, and business impacts to the Director of Warehouse Operations and other site and functional leaders.
People Leadership and Workforce Capability
• Lead, develop, and evaluate five to seven exempt leaders, two to three clerical associates, and approximately 150–200 hourly associates across outbound planning, picking, packing, staging, loading, and shipping operations across multiple shifts.
• Set clear goals and expectations; conduct performance reviews; and manage succession, development, staffing, attendance, and corrective-action processes in partnership with Human Resources.
• Develop supervisors, team leaders, and associates in operational leadership, problem solving, standard work, safety, quality, and customer focus.
• Establish effective shift handoffs that communicate load status, shipment risks, resource gaps, recovery actions, and next-shift priorities.
• Maintain a consistent, hands-on presence on the warehouse floor with leaders and associates to observe work firsthand, verify execution, reinforce standards, remove barriers, coach the team, and accelerate decisions.
• Ensure training, qualification, and cross-training plans create the workforce flexibility needed to protect critical loads, peak requirements, and future growth.
• Create an inclusive, accountable work environment that supports engagement, retention, collaboration, and timely issue resolution.
Operations Excellence and Technology Partnership
• Work closely with the Operations Excellence leader to improve the flow of information and product between load planning, order release, picking, staging, dock assignment, and loading.
• Provide operational ownership, subject-matter expertise, and resources for Lean deployment, standard work, process confirmation, visual management, 6S, PDCA, and root-cause problem solving.
• Use visual management and system alerts to show load status, readiness gaps, required completion times, and shipments at risk.
• Eliminate delays caused by poor prioritization, staging congestion, missing documentation, dock conflicts, equipment constraints, and inefficient loading sequences.
• Sustain approved improvements through leader standard work, procedures, training, process adherence, audits, and corrective actions.
• Support the design, testing, implementation, and stabilization of warehouse-management-system enhancements, automation, reporting, and other technology solutions.
Safety, Quality, Compliance, and Financial Stewardship
• Ensure compliance with company policies, site procedures, safety requirements, quality systems, customer requirements, and applicable legal and regulatory standards.
• Ensure trailers, docks, loading equipment, and load-securement practices meet safety, quality, and customer requirements.
• Maintain accurate shipping documentation, labels, seals, export documentation, and system transactions required for complete and compliant shipment execution.
• Prevent product damage, loading errors, short shipments, and documentation defects that could affect customer OTIF or result in claims and rework.
• Maintain readiness for ISO, internal corporate, customer, safety, and compliance audits and ensure timely closure and sustainment of corrective actions.
• Manage departmental headcount, overtime, temporary labor, operating expense, and budget commitments in alignment with service and productivity requirements.
Required Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in business, management, logistics, supply chain, engineering, operations management, or a related field.
• A defined combination of relevant distribution-center leadership experience may be considered in place of the degree requirement, consistent with company policy.
• Significant leadership experience in a high-volume, multi-shift distribution, warehouse, fulfillment, or logistics operation.
• Demonstrated experience leading end-to-end outbound operations, including load planning, order release, picking, packing, staging, loading, and shipping.
• Experience coordinating warehouse execution with carrier schedules, dock capacity, customer priorities, and delivery commitments.
• Demonstrated success improving customer OTIF, load-plan attainment, on-time shipment, productivity, quality, safety, or operating cost.
• Demonstrated responsibility for large hourly workforces, multiple levels of operational leadership, labor plans, headcount, overtime, temporary labor, and operating budgets.
• Working knowledge of warehouse-management systems such as SAP EWM, JDA/Blue Yonder, or comparable platforms.
• Experience using operational data, KPIs, structured problem solving, and corrective-action methods to manage results.
• Strong written, verbal, interpersonal, and executive-presentation skills, with proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and related reporting or analytical tools.
Preferred Qualifications
• Advanced degree in business, management, logistics, supply chain, engineering, or operations management.
• Experience with transportation-management systems, dock-scheduling tools, yard-management systems, or shipment-visibility platforms.
• Experience integrating warehouse-management and transportation-management processes.
• Lean, Six Sigma, or comparable operational-excellence training or certification.
• Knowledge of ISO-based management systems, retailer or customer compliance requirements, routing guides, and domestic and international shipping documentation.
Success Measures
Success in the role should be evaluated through a balanced set of measures, including:
• Customer OTIF performance of at least 98%
• Load-plan attainment and order-release timing
• Picking and staging completion against required cutoff times
• Shipment readiness before scheduled customer or customer-carrier pickup
• On-time truck departure and truck turn time
• Backlog, past-due order, short-shipment, and load-cancellation control
• Order accuracy, product damage, rework, and shipping-document quality
• Labor productivity, overtime, temporary-labor performance, and cost per unit
• Safe execution and reduction of operational risk
• Standard-work adherence, audit readiness, and corrective-action closure
• Leadership capability, staffing stability, retention, and readiness for planned 2030 product-flow growth