Operations Director

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Operations Director to lead operations across four food-grade third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse facilities on the east side of Indianapolis. This role is accountable for safety, food-grade compliance, customer service, labor productivity, inventory accuracy, cost control, and operational consistency across all locations.

Key Responsibilities

Multi-Site Operations Leadership

• Direct warehouse operations across four locations, including receiving, put-away, storage, inventory control, order fulfillment, shipping, and value-added services.
• Standardize operating procedures, performance expectations, and accountability across sites.
• Conduct regular site visits, operational reviews, safety observations, and leadership meetings.
• Balance labor, equipment, space, and workloads to meet customer requirements.
• Coach and develop site managers, supervisors, and team leads.
• Support customer implementations, operational transitions, and business growth.

Food Safety, Quality, and Compliance

• Maintain clean, safe, secure, and audit-ready food-grade facilities.
• Ensure compliance with FDA, OSHA, FSMA, GMP, sanitation, pest-control, allergen-management, and customer-specific requirements.
• Partner with quality and safety teams on records, corrective actions, training, and inspection readiness.
• Lead or support customer, regulatory, and third-party audits.
• Investigate safety, quality, inventory, and service incidents and ensure corrective actions are completed.

Customer Service and 3PL Performance

• Serve as a senior operational contact for assigned customers.
• Ensure performance against service-level agreements (SLAs), contractual requirements, shipping schedules, and inventory standards.
• Lead customer business reviews and communicate performance, risks, and corrective actions.
• Coordinate with transportation providers, customer teams, vendors, and internal departments.
• Support pricing, labor modeling, capacity planning, and scope reviews for customer programs.

Financial and Performance Management

• Manage operating budgets, labor costs, overtime, supplies, equipment, and facility expenses.
• Monitor and improve key performance indicators (KPIs) related to safety, order accuracy, inventory accuracy, on-time shipping, labor productivity, overtime, cost per unit, space utilization, damages, customer service, and audit corrective actions.
• Analyze operational data to identify trends, constraints, and improvement opportunities.
• Implement lean practices, process improvements, and cost-saving initiatives.
• Provide forecasts, reports, and performance updates to senior leadership.

People Leadership

• Build a culture of accountability, teamwork, safety, and customer focus.
• Partner with HR on recruiting, onboarding, retention, attendance, employee relations, and workforce planning.
• Ensure employees receive appropriate safety, food-handling, equipment, and job-specific training.
• Establish succession plans and develop leadership capability across all locations.
• Manage performance issues in accordance with company policies.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, logistics, operations management, business, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.
• At least 5 years of progressive warehouse, distribution, or logistics operations experience.
• At least 3 years of management experience overseeing supervisors and hourly warehouse employees.
• Experience managing multiple facilities, large operations, or several customer accounts.
• Experience in 3PL, food-grade, food and beverage, consumer products, or regulated warehousing.
• Knowledge of food-grade warehousing standards, GMPs, sanitation programs, and audit requirements.
• Strong knowledge of warehouse management systems, inventory control, labor planning, and operational KPIs.
• Demonstrated budget management, productivity improvement, and continuous-improvement leadership.
• Strong communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and customer-management skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, reporting tools, and warehouse management technology.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel regularly among four Indianapolis-area facilities.

Compensation

• Bonus eligible.