Director - First Mile Supply Chain Operations

Grocery Outlet Career•Emeryville, CA

2d•$165,000 - $185,000

About The Position

The Director of First Mile Operations is a critical leadership role responsible for driving supplier accountability and orchestrating the end-to-end flow of inbound inventory from purchase order creation through DC delivery. This role will stand up a supplier performance program, partnering with our technology partners to build a first mile visibility platform, and lead the operational processes that enable our supply chain to achieve industry-leading on-time delivery performance. This role reports to the SVP Supply Chain Officer.

Requirements

8–12 years of supply chain experience with direct responsibility for inbound operations, supplier management, or transportation.
Demonstrated success building or transforming supplier compliance and performance programs at scale.
Experience with supply chain visibility platforms (FourKites, project44, or equivalent).
Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate data into operational decisions and executive-level narratives.
Proven track record leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing without direct authority.
Excellent communication skills - comfortable presenting to senior leadership and engaging directly with external vendor partners.
A builder mentality: energized by creating structure where little exists, comfortable with ambiguity, and capable of driving results through both direct execution and team leadership.

Nice To Haves

Experience in grocery, food distribution, or high-velocity retail supply chains preferred.
Familiarity with WMS and TMS systems and how they interface with visibility platforms.

Responsibilities

Supplier Performance Management Design and launch a formal supplier performance program including scorecards, compliance standards, and escalation protocols.
Segment vendors by volume, risk, and OTD performance; directly engage top suppliers to drive corrective action plans.
Partner with Merchandising and Inventory Planning to integrate supplier performance metrics into sourcing and PO management decisions.
Build reporting cadences to track supplier KPIs and communicate progress to senior leadership.
First Mile Orchestration Lead the RFP and operational deployment of a new technology solution as the company’s inbound visibility and orchestration platform.
Define workflows for PO-level tracking, pickup scheduling, exception flagging, and prioritization logic.
Drive 100% platform adoption across internal teams (Transportation, Warehouse, Inventory Planning) and with carrier and supplier partners.
Establish a continuous improvement loop using data to reduce cycle times and exception rates.
Process Design, Systems & Cross-Functional Coordination Map and document the full first mile process, identifying gaps, handoff failures, and systemic bottlenecks from PO creation through putaway.
Build root cause analysis capabilities to diagnose OTD failures by supplier, lane, carrier, and product category.
Implement a tiered escalation process for at-risk or late shipments to minimize downstream service impact.
Standardize operating procedures across the PO-to-pickup workflow, including appointment scheduling and ASN compliance.
Serve as the primary operational interface between Suppliers, Transportation, Warehouse Operations, and Inventory Planning for all inbound flow issues.
Facilitate daily/weekly cross-functional standups focused on at-risk inbound inventory and capacity alignment.
Partner with IT to evaluate and implement technology enhancements that support orchestration and visibility goals.