Branch Operations Manager

Air Liquide•Montreal, QC

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Branch Operations Manager (BOM) leads the Branch operations teams across its district providing a roadmap and strategy to increase market share, customer loyalty and operations efficiencies. The BOM assists the District Manager (DM) by supporting efforts to improve the safety, profitability, effectiveness, accuracy, and efficiency of the District Branch operations. The BOM is responsible for delivering performance at the branch level, while providing analytics, evaluation, and reporting of Branch metrics and pricing initiatives. The BOM further acts as a key strategic partner for the District Manager (DM) by supporting the assembly, analysis, and preparation of reports and presentations intended for leadership meetings.

Requirements

High School Diploma or GED Required.
Minimum of five (5) years of increasing responsibility in branch retail sales, branch operations, or branch/production operations within the distribution industry.
Perfectly bilingual in English and French (both written and verbal) to support diverse branch teams and regional communications.
Proficient working knowledge of Google Workspace tools (Docs, Sheets, Slides) and Workday for HR/performance management, as well as Oracle utilization and system capabilities.
Ability to read and comprehend manuals and documentation such as material safety data sheets and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Considerable independent judgment and initiative are required in resolving problems, managing customer effort scores (CES), and making operational recommendations.
Analytical skills and financial acumen for articulating metrics utilized by sales, logistics, and the Branches.
Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence others, create cross-functional alignment, and cultivate trust with support teams.
Frequent area travel by automobile (up to 50%) to Branch Offices/Satellite locations.
Minimal overnight travel.
Job requires visitation to various ALC/Airgas sites which have varying environments/conditions, layouts, and accessibility.

Nice To Haves

Associate’s degree or higher preferred.
Prior experience with sales, customer experience management, and/or operations in industrial distribution preferred.
Experience with SAP is considered a strong asset.

Responsibilities

Assists and supports the District Managers (DMs) and Branch associates comply with Safety Management Systems in conjunction with the Regional Safety Department.
Supports the Branches on the execution of the Accident and Injury Reduction Plans consistent with ALC Safety Council guidelines.
Develops with the District Manager the local growth, commercial vision, and operational strategies and roadmap.
Leads the performance, training, and coaching of teams in the district’s branches through satellite coordinators to enable them to reach qualitative and quantitative targets.
Leads employee performance and employee engagement of the sites under their responsibility, participating in creating development plans and managing the performance evaluation process.
Ensures a culture of performance and safety that employees thrive in, while overseeing point-of-sale retail operations, merchandising, order-taking, equipment rental, and repair functions.
Oversees hiring and resource allocation across branch networks.
Owns succession plan for their team and career path development.
Reviews processes and procedures, and ensures training and adoption of DPM (Delivery Process Management) to continually optimize the Customer Effort Score (CES) across all stores, implementing corrective plans to reduce customer effort.
Assists the AVP and DMs by compiling, analyzing, and reporting branch metrics (including goods in transit, unbilled items, negative inventory, CMS, and dead stock) on a monthly basis, taking appropriate action with internal sales staff.
Maintains an up-to-date knowledge and understanding of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) Manual, Safety Management System, Oracle processes and learning tools, Business Warehouse (BW) tools, and Google Workspace tools.
Provides support to the branch leaders in the Area to improve the understanding and effective use of these procedures and systems.
Provides training and conducts routine monthly mandatory audits on Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Shares results with DMs and the Branch associates as well as the Vice President of Finance and Regional Leadership.
Follows up by measuring progress at the branches and communicating with the DM.
Supports efforts to ensure that new employees at the branches receive the appropriate training on systems, procedures, and processes, ensuring that all review and audit processes are fully auditable.
Assists with making certain that Oracle/system enhancements, changes, corrections, reports, and other communication from various functional leaders is shared with the appropriate associates within the business Area.
Actively participates in the “cascade” of information to the branches that comes from regional or corporate leadership (policy changes, roll-outs, safety compliance, new cylinder/welding product lines, etc.).
Communicates routinely with the DM/AVP regarding progress, obstacles, issues, and process improvement suggestions at the branches.
Supports effective teamwork, communication, and collaboration between the branch associates, field sales teams, Sales Specialists, and logistics units (drivers, dispatchers, warehouse workers) to ensure autonomous operations and service execution.
Conducts routine visits to Branches to assist the DM/AVP and their direct reports by identifying and evaluating branch performance, safety compliance, inventory levels, SOP compliance, and training gaps.
Other projects/initiatives as assigned by leadership.