Director of Transportation

Job Description

Job Description

About Williams-Sonoma DC - Olive Branch, MS

Since it was founded in 1956, Williams - Sonoma has grown from Chuck Williams’ single store in Sonoma, CA into one of the largest retailers in the country, with some best known and most beloved brands in home furnishings, including Williams – Sonoma, Pottery Barn and West Elm.

Our Distribution Centers serve as vital connections between factories and our retail, online and mail-order customers around the world. The Supply Chain environment is dynamic and fast-paced, and the network is expanding rapidly. If you have a background in distribution, manufacturing, engineering, transportation, finance, human resources, or home delivery – and are looking for a job with a strong opportunity for gaining new skills and for advancement – our Supply Chain Organization could be just the place for you.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc Supply Chain Overview

By managing resources responsibly, caring for our people, and uniting around our values, we lead our industry and are proud to be recognized for our continuous action and progress in the following areas: Barron's 100 Most Sustainable Companies; Forbes Best Employers for Women and Diversity; Newsweek America's Most Responsible Companies; and USA Today Customer Service Champions. These honors reflect that we are truly a people-first organization.

• Over 4,000 Full-Time Associates across the Supply Chain.

• 14.5M square feet of small parcel, personalization, furniture, and manufacturing space in the domestic US, Williams-Sonoma has developed an agile and capable distribution network consisting of the following:

  • Large package / furniture distribution centers located in Southern California, Northern California, Texas, Georgia, and New Jersey totaling 9.2M square feet plus another 1.2M square feet of standalone final-mile furniture hubs.

• Small package eCommerce distribution centers located in Mississippi and Arizona totaling 3.2M square feet, consisting of over 1,000 full-time associates and 1,500 seasonal/temporary associates in Mississippi.

  • Sutter Street Manufacturing upholstery factories located in North Carolina and Mississippi totaling with over 1,400 full-time employees producing approximately $900 million to $1 billion in sales of upholstered furniture.
• Transportation Department for Ocean, Air, Trucking, and Rail consisting of over 30 transportation professionals located in Memphis, TN.
• 700 associates in our Sourcing offices in 10 countries in Asia and Europe including China, Vietnam, Singapore, India, Italy, and Turkey.

The Director of Transportation position is located in Memphis, TN.

We are seeking a highly accomplished transportation leader to oversee the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of our end-to-end transportation network. This role is responsible for leading all transportation modes, including Less-than-Truckload (LTL), Full Truckload (FTL), Intermodal, Parcel, Ocean, and Air Freight , while optimizing service, cost, network efficiency, and customer experience.

Partner closely with Distribution Operations, Supply Planning, Inventory Management, Merchandising, Customs Compliance, Finance, Customer Care, Procurement, and Technology to ensure our transportation network supports business growth while maintaining operational excellence.

This position requires an executive who combines strategic vision with operational discipline, excels in data-driven decision making, and is passionate about developing people and building high-performing teams.

You'll be excited about this opportunity because you will:

Transportation Strategy:

• Develop and execute an enterprise transportation strategy supporting domestic and international operations.
• Optimize transportation networks across LTL, Truckload, Intermodal, Parcel, Ocean, and Air.
• Lead transportation procurement, carrier sourcing, contract negotiations, and annual bid events.
• Develop long-term network strategies that improve service, resiliency, and cost efficiency.
• Monitor transportation market conditions and proactively adjust network strategies.

Domestic Transportation:
Lead strategy and operations for:

• Less-than-Truckload (LTL).
• Full Truckload (FTL).
• Intermodal.
• Dedicated Fleet (where applicable).
• Retail and Distribution Center transportation.
• Final Mile operations (where applicable).

Responsibilities include capacity planning, routing optimization, carrier management, peak season readiness, transportation procurement, and performance management.

Parcel Operations & Optimization:
Own the enterprise parcel strategy supporting direct-to-consumer, eCommerce, retail replenishment, and B2B shipments.

• Develop multi-carrier parcel strategies across multiple parcel carriers, and emerging last-mile providers.
• Lead parcel carrier negotiations and optimize transportation spend while maintaining service commitments.
• Drive parcel optimization initiatives including zone skipping, carrier diversification, consolidation, dimensional weight reduction, packaging optimization, and routing improvements.
• Monitor parcel KPIs including cost per package, on-time delivery, transit performance, delivery exceptions, claims, and customer experience.
• Partner with Distribution Centers to improve carton utilization, packaging efficiency, and shipping profiles.
• Ensure peak season parcel capacity and network resiliency.

International Transportation:
Lead global transportation strategy across:

• Ocean Freight.
• Air Freight.
• Freight Forwarders and NVOCCs.
• Import transportation planning.
• International carrier management.
• Port and gateway strategy.

Partner closely with Customs Compliance and Global Sourcing teams to ensure efficient inbound transportation and regulatory compliance.

Carrier Management:

• Build executive relationships with transportation providers.
• Negotiate transportation contracts and service agreements.
• Develop carrier scorecards measuring cost, service, capacity, claims, and performance.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives with transportation partners.

Financial & Operational Leadership:

• Manage a multi-million-dollar transportation budget.
• Lead freight forecasting, budgeting, and transportation productivity initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to reduce freight costs while protecting service levels.
• Utilize transportation analytics to support strategic decision making.

Analytics & Continuous Improvement:

• Develop transportation dashboards and executive KPI reporting.
• Analyze transportation performance, cost-to-serve, carrier utilization, and network efficiency.
• Lead transportation optimization projects using data and analytics.
• Champion continuous improvement and process simplification.

Cross-Functional Leadership:
Collaborate with:

• Distribution Operations.
• Inventory Planning.
• Supply Planning.
• Customer Care.
• Merchandising.
• Finance.
• Customs Compliance.
• Procurement.
• Information Technology.

Build strong partnerships across the organization and influence strategic decisions through collaboration and data.

People Leadership:

Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing transportation organization by:

• Building strong leadership talent.
• Coaching and mentoring managers and individual contributors.
• Creating clear accountability and performance expectations.
• Supporting succession planning and employee development.
• Fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

Check out some of the required qualifications we are looking for in amazing candidates:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 10+ years of progressive transportation leadership experience.
• At least 5 years leading managers and cross-functional teams.
• Experience managing domestic and international transportation networks.

Technical Expertise:

Demonstrated expertise in:

• LTL.
• Full Truckload.
• Intermodal.
• Parcel Operations.
• Ocean Freight.
• Air Freight.
• Carrier Procurement.
• Transportation Management Systems (TMS).
• Transportation Analytics.
• Network Optimization.
• Routing Guides.
• Freight Audit and Payment.
• Transportation Procurement.

Preferred experience with Infor, Power BI, SQL, SAP, Oracle, Manhattan, Blue Yonder, or similar transportation and analytics platforms.

Leadership Competencies:

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking with the ability to translate vision into execution.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills.
• Exceptional financial and analytical acumen.
• Customer-focused decision making.
• A collaborative leadership style that builds trust across the organization.
• Proven ability to influence without authority.
• Calm, decisive leadership during periods of change and operational disruption.
• A continuous improvement mindset with a passion for innovation.
• High integrity, accountability, and ownership.
• A commitment to coaching, mentoring, and developing future leaders.

Success Measures:

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Improved on-time delivery performance.
• Reduced transportation cost per shipment and cost per package.
• Improved parcel, LTL, Truckload, Ocean, and Air carrier performance.
• Increased transportation network resiliency during peak seasons.
• Enhanced carrier scorecards and supplier relationships.
• Improved transportation visibility and executive reporting.
• Measurable productivity improvements and freight savings.
• Strong employee engagement, leadership development, and succession planning.

We are looking for a leader who can think strategically, execute operationally, leverage analytics to drive decisions, and inspire teams to deliver world-class transportation performance across all modes. This individual should be equally comfortable presenting transportation strategy to executive leadership as they are partnering with operations teams to solve complex day-to-day transportation challenges.

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: (Login credentials may be required).

EOE