Director, Operations

Role Scope & Expectations

• Serve as a key member of the leadership team, helping shape operational strategy, support growth, and drive the future direction of the NY DSD operation.

• Partner closely with Sales, Customer Service, Finance, IT, Human Resources, and other cross-functional teams.

• Directly manage the Senior Route Sales Manager and Warehouse Manager.

• Provides indirect leadership for approximately 15 frontline employees across warehouse and delivery operations.

• This is an on-site leadership role based in the Hunt's Point area of the Bronx, NY. The Director is expected to maintain a consistent in-person presence and work from the facility five days per week.

• This position typically works an eight-hour schedule Monday through Friday during standard business hours (8:00am-4:00pm or 9:00am-5:00pm); however, flexibility is required to support business needs given the operation’s weekday hours from 4:00am to 7:00pm.

• Evening and weekend work is infrequent but may be required during peak periods, staffing shortages, weather events, or other business disruptions.

Operational Leadership

• Provide strategic and day-to-day leadership for warehouse, routing, and delivery operations.

• Establish clear operating standards, performance expectations, and accountability.

• Ensure warehouse and delivery operations meet customer service, safety, quality, and financial objectives.

• Translate company strategy into actionable operating plans, staffing models, performance goals, and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Evaluate facility, fleet, labor, and network capacity requirements to support current operations and future growth.

• Serve as the senior operational leader during service disruptions, capacity constraints, weather events, and other business continuity challenges.

• Partner with Human Resources on recruitment, retention, employee relations, performance management, training, and workforce planning.

Warehouse Operations

• Oversee receiving, put-away, replenishment, picking, loading, returns, inventory control, sanitation and facility operations.

• Partner with Warehouse manager to improve warehouse productivity, order accuracy, inventory accuracy, load quality, and on-time dispatch performance.

• Establish labor planning and scheduling practices based on volume, seasonality, and customer requirements.

• Reduce shortages, damages, write-offs, out-of-stocks, and product rotation issues.

• Ensure warehouse layouts, equipment, and workflows support safe and efficient operations.

• Maintain controls for product handling, lot tracking, expiration management, and FIFO/FEFO inventory practices.

Routing Management and Optimization

• Monitor route adherence, delivery productivity, vehicle utilization, stop efficiency, and on-time performance.

• Support the design and maintenance of efficient delivery territories, route structures, service frequencies, and customer delivery windows.

• Partner with Sales and Customer Service to evaluate new accounts, service changes, delivery requirements, and customer-specific exceptions.

• Partner in ensuring route plans appropriately balance customer service requirements, driver workload, vehicle capacity, geography, and regulatory constraints.

• Maintain fleet equipment in good working order, keeping up with routine maintenance and regulations.

Personnel Safety

• Build and maintain a strong culture of safety throughout warehouse and delivery operations.

• Monitor vehicle incidents, workplace injuries, safety observations, and compliance trends.

• Lead corrective-action plans and preventive programs designed to reduce incidents and operational risk.

• Ensure employees receive appropriate safety, equipment, vehicle, and process training.

Food Safety & Quality

• Lead and maintain food safety, quality, and regulatory compliance programs across DSD operations, including ownership of the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Program.

• Drive compliance with food safety standards, operational controls, employee training requirements, and audit readiness.

• Lead investigations, corrective actions, and resolution of food safety and SQF non-conformances.

• Coordinate internal, customer, regulatory, and third-party audits, including successful completion of the annual SQF certification audit.