Director Distribution Operations (Burlington, NC)

What You’ll Lead Will directly manage and provide vision for teams across: Inventory Audit & Slotting Security Transportation Maintenance & Facilities (including automated systems maintenance) WMS, WCS & Technology Retail Customer Support CI / Industrial Engineering Yard & Reclaim What You’ll Do Strategic Leadership & Vision Build and communicate a clear, forward‑looking strategic vision for a Distribution, Reclamation/GM, and Transportation campus operating within a highly automated environment. Align campus operations with broader regional and network objectives to strengthen supply chain capability, scalability, and automation ROI. Serve as the senior site leader for automation adoption, stability, and evolution, ensuring readiness for future technology investments. Operational Excellence Oversee all day‑to‑day campus operations, ensuring excellence in safety, quality, shrink management, transportation, service delivery, and automation system performance. Ensure deliveries are on time and at cost, meeting internal customer (supply chain + retail) service expectations. Optimize distribution operations by balancing labor, automation throughput, system uptime, and cost discipline. Partner closely with maintenance, engineering, and technology teams to ensure high availability and reliability of automated material handling and robotics systems. Partnership & Stakeholder Management Maintain strong, results‑focused relationships with third‑party labor and automation vendors, ensuring operational alignment, uptime, and performance. Act as the campus leader partnering with Retail leadership, ensuring service levels and customer expectations are consistently met. Collaborate with IT, Engineering, and external integrators on system enhancements, upgrades, and issue resolution. Financial & Resource Leadership Develop long‑term strategies that improve product flow, maximize automation utilization, and drive facility efficiency. Own the campus operating and capital budgets, including automation‑related capital investment and lifecycle planning. Meet or exceed key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure campus, network, and automation performance outcomes (throughput, utilization, downtime, cost per unit). Continuous Improvement & Innovation Drive continuous improvement across financial, technical, and cultural systems, leveraging automation data, system analytics, and engineering insights. Lead and contribute to network‑wide CI projects, supply chain planning initiatives, and automation optimization efforts. Champion organizational change, building high‑performing teams that effectively operate alongside advanced technology. Foster a culture of safety, accountability, and technology‑enabled problem solving. What You Bring 8-10 years of supply chain operations leadership experience. Demonstrated experience leading operations within highly automated or semi‑automated distribution facilities (e.g., AS/RS, goods‑to‑person, robotics, conveyor systems, automated storage and sortation). Experience supervising 100+ associates across multi‑functional teams in complex operational environments. BA in a related field or 10+ years of progressive supply chain experience. Proven history of driving operational performance in high‑volume, technology‑driven distribution centers. Skills & Strengths Strong understanding of automated warehouse operations, system dependencies, and labor/technology integration. Exceptional customer focus and ability to partner with retail leadership. Strong collaboration, influencing, and communication skills across operations, engineering, and IT teams. Skilled negotiator and analytical thinker with the ability to translate system data into operational action. Strategic mindset with the ability to execute through people, processes, and technology. Effective problem solver with the ability to navigate unplanned downtime, system constraints, and third‑party dependencies. Strong human relations skills to lead and engage internal teams, vendors, automation partners, and brand stakeholders. Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and inspire teams through automation‑driven transformation. Other Requirements Ability to travel 15-25%. Willingness to support on‑call needs 7 days per week. Comfort acting as the senior site leader during automation outages or critical system events. Why This Role Matters Regional and network service performance. Financial results for a highly automated supply chain hub. Successful utilization and evolution of automation investments. Cross‑functional partnerships with retail, engineering, and distribution leadership. The culture, development, and success of your operational teams. As a Director, Campus Leader, you will influence how millions of customers across the region receive the products they rely on every day, enabled by automation, innovation, and strong operational discipline. Equal Employment Opportunity Statement We are an organization that values diversity and encourages all qualified individuals to apply without regard to sex, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, marital status (including civil unions), military service, veteran status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, legally recognized disability, domestic violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by law. Our organization is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities, including applicants. 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