On-Site Distribution Center Manager

The On-Site Distribution Center Manager serves as Company’s dedicated operational representative within an assigned 3rd party distribution center. This position acts as the primary connection between the Company, the 3rd party, transportation operations, and Company stores. The role is responsible for ensuring 3rd party consistently delivers against Company’s expectations for on-time delivery, order accuracy, product availability, transportation performance, cost control, inventory integrity, and store service. This is a highly visible, hands-on operational position. The Manager will spend significant time on the DC floor, in transportation operations, reviewing routes and loads, analyzing performance data, and identifying issues before they impact Company stores. The Manager does not directly manage 3rd party associates. Instead, the position drives performance through data, operational visibility, relationships, accountability, escalation, and structured follow-up. The successful candidate must be comfortable challenging performance constructively while maintaining a strong working partnership with 3rd party leadership.

Requirements:

• Serve as Company's on-site representative within the 3rd party DC and maintain daily visibility into operations supporting the Company.
• Monitor receiving, inventory, picking, loading, dispatch, transportation, and delivery performance.
• Review daily Company volume, route plans, staffing levels, driver coverage, equipment availability, and operational constraints.
• Identify potential service failures before they impact stores and work with 3rd party leadership to develop immediate recovery plans.
• Maintain regular floor presence rather than managing solely through reports and meetings.
• Own the daily review of Company delivery performance from the customer perspective.
• Track on-time delivery percentage, late deliveries, dispatch delays, route duration, driver dwell, DC departure performance, store arrival performance, routes exceeding planned hours, and repeated problem routes.
• Conduct root-cause analysis on service failures and distinguish between issues caused by DC operations, transportation, driver staffing, route design, store conditions, weather, or other factors.
• Ensure corrective actions have clear owners and completion dates.
• Maintain visibility into permanent driver staffing levels supporting the Company.
• Monitor driver vacancies, recruiting pipeline, new driver starts, training completion, driver turnover, 30/60/90-day retention, overtime, travel-driver utilization, routes covered by travel drivers, and excessive driver hours.
• Challenge recurring dependence on travel drivers and ensure 3rd party maintain a documented plan for transitioning to a sustainable permanent-driver workforce.
• Review transportation expenses associated with supporting Company, with particular attention to premium and non-standard costs.
• Monitor travel-driver expenses including hotels, airfare, rental vehicles, mileage, per diem, overtime, travel time, and other premium driver expenses.
• Compare travel-driver cost per route against permanently assigned driver cost.
• Identify opportunities to reduce transportation cost without negatively affecting store service.
• Escalate recurring expenses that appear to result from structural staffing, routing, or operational issues.
• Partner with 3rd party transportation and Company leadership to evaluate route design and delivery schedules.
• Analyze miles per route, stops per route, planned versus actual route hours, store delivery windows, driver utilization, route consistency, equipment utilization, cost per delivery, and cost per route.
• Identify routes that are operationally unrealistic or consistently create service failures.
• Recommend changes to improve service, driver quality of life, productivity, and cost-to-serve.
• Maintain direct visibility into how DC and transportation performance impacts Company stores.
• Periodically visit stores and speak directly with store leadership regarding delivery reliability, delivery timing, mis-ships, shorts, damages, driver consistency, order accuracy, product availability, and delivery execution.
• Use store feedback alongside 3rd party performance data to identify systemic issues.
• Represent the voice of the Company store inside the distribution center.
• Monitor inventory accuracy and service issues impacting Company.
• Track shorts, mi