Director, Transportation Operations

Kenvue • Summit, NJ

5d • $190,825 - $269,400 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Transportation Operations – Regional & International Transportation is responsible for leading the end-to-end transportation operating model across domestic regional transportation and international/inter-regional transportation flows. This role provides strategic and operational leadership across U.S. transportation, inbound and outbound international transportation, inter-regional freight, carrier and logistics service provider management, transportation process automation, budget ownership, network transformation, and continuous improvement. This role is based in Summit, NJ; however, for the right candidate, we are open to considering a remote work arrangement.
This leader will oversee transportation operations across truckload, LTL, intermodal, drayage, ocean, air, import/export, and cross-regional freight movements. The role is accountable for ensuring service reliability, product availability, cost performance, operational transparency, supplier quality, compliance, and an exceptional customer experience across a complex, highly matrixed supply chain network.
This combined role integrates domestic transportation leadership requirements, including transportation processes, digital maturity, policies, standards, carrier negotiations, cost and transit-time performance, routing, mode selection, and KPI management, with international/inter-regional responsibilities, including global freight process ownership, transportation reliability, control tower operations, import/export execution, cross-regional optimization, and sourcing implementation support.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum 14 years of experience across Supply Chain, including transportation and distribution experience.
• Minimum 5 years of inbound and outbound international transportation experience, including ocean freight operations, air freight operations, and transportation RFPs.
• Minimum 5 years of experience automating transportation processes.
• Minimum 7 years of experience managing transportation budgets, including current and future operational spend.
• Minimum 3 years of experience managing large infrastructure or network projects, including warehouse site changes and system changes.
• Experience working across at least two end-to-end Supply Chain functions such as Source, Plan, Make, and Deliver.
• Experience leading domestic transportation operations and/or managing domestic freight operations.
• Experience managing global or international transportation organizations, processes, or lanes.
• Knowledge of international transportation processes, systems, and import/export execution.
• Demonstrated ability to lead in a highly matrixed global organization.
• Demonstrated people leadership experience, including building and developing high-performing teams.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree preferred.
• APICS, Lean Six Sigma, or other relevant industry certification preferred.
• Experience transforming transportation teams, processes, systems, and supplier performance.
• Experience with Transportation Management Systems, Control Tower operations, shipment visibility platforms, automation, transportation analytics, and digital performance management.
• Experience managing carrier, freight forwarder, 3PL, and logistics service provider relationships across domestic and international transportation.
• Experience in consumer health, healthcare, pharmaceutical, medical device, or similarly regulated supply chain environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead domestic, regional, and international transportation operations
• Oversee domestic transportation operations across truckload, LTL, intermodal, and related U.S. transportation modes.
• Oversee inbound and outbound international transportation operations, including ocean freight, air freight, drayage, import/export execution, and freight forwarding.
• Lead operational management of inter-region transportation lanes and drive improvements in transportation reliability and reporting.
• Manage transportation exceptions, service disruptions, supplier quality issues, and operational escalations.
• Partner with Distribution, Planning, Manufacturing, Customer Service, Quality, Procurement and Control Tower teams to improve total end-to-end flow.
• Build and standardize best-in-class transportation processes
• Define and implement standard transportation operating processes across domestic, regional, and international flows.
• Develop process standards for transportation execution, event management, exception management, freight planning, and issue resolution.
• Harmonize processes across Distribution, Planning, and Procurement.
• Identify process gaps and implement corrective actions that improve reliability, quality, cost, and customer experience.
• Drive consistent adoption of transportation business process standards across regions and functions.
• Lead transportation process automation and digital transformation
• Lead transportation automation initiatives that reduce manual work, improve visibility, strengthen control, and increase execution consistency.
• Partner with technology, Control Tower, logistics service providers, and to improve digital transportation capabilities.
• Drive digital maturity in performance management, shipment visibility, analytics, exception tracking, and reporting.
• Support transportation system changes connected to warehouse site changes, network projects, and operating model improvements.
• Use data and automation to improve decision-making, reduce process variation, and strengthen transportation reliability.
• Own transportation performance, KPIs, reliability, and analytics
• Define and govern transportation KPIs across domestic and international operations.
• Monitor transportation reliability, supplier quality, transit time, cost performance, and service execution.
• Use analytics to identify trends, root causes, service risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Partner with Control Tower teams to strengthen visibility, exception management, reliability reporting, and proactive issue resolution.
• Translate transportation data into clear operational and executive-level insights.
• Manage transportation budgets and financial performance
• Manage transportation budgets across domestic, regional, and international transportation operations.
• Govern current operational transportation spend and future operational spend requirements.
• Identify cost improvement opportunities while balancing service, quality, compliance, and risk.
• Partner with Finance, Procurement, Distribution, Planning, and Supply Chain leadership on budget planning, forecasting, and cost performance.
• Ensure transportation decisions consider total landed cost, service requirements, capacity constraints, network impacts, and customer expectations.
• Lead carrier, freight forwarder, and logistics service provider management
• Manage relationships with domestic carriers, freight forwarders, drayage providers, ocean freight providers, air freight providers, intermodal providers, brokers, and 3PLs.
• Partner with Procurement on transportation RFPs, sourcing strategy, supplier selection, negotiations, and implementation.
• Ensure supplier quality, transit time, reliability, cost, and service performance goals are met.
• Lead corrective action plans for underperforming transportation providers.
• Support vendor onboarding, lane transitions, new carrier implementation, and logistics service provider governance.
• Optimize routing, mode, network design, and end-to-end flow
• Optimize transportation modes across truckload, LTL, intermodal, ocean, air, drayage, and freight forwarding.
• Improve lane-level performance across cost, service, transit time, quality, and reliability.
• Partner with Distribution and Planning to improve end-to-end lead times on strategic lanes.
• Evaluate transportation issues and determine effective remediation actions with stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to improve routing, mode mix, supplier utilization, and network resilience.
• Lead large infrastructure, network, warehouse site, and system-change projects
• Represent transportation in large network, infrastructure, warehouse site, and system-change projects.
• Lead transportation readiness for new sites, site transitions, new transportation lanes, new distribution flows, and system-enabled process changes.
• Ensure transportation requirements are included in project design, testing, implementation, and stabilization.
• Partner with Distribution, Planning, IT, Procurement, Quality, and external logistics partners to ensure operational readiness.
• Ensure network and system changes are scalable, compliant, financially sound, and operationally executable.
• Lead transportation transformation and continuous improvement
• Lead continuous improvement programs focused on reliability, quality, cost, service, and productivity.
• Drive transformation across people, process, systems, automation, and supplier management.
• Identify operational improvement opportunities and translate them into executable plans.
• Improve transportation execution discipline through clear governance, metrics, and accountability.
• Build sustainable processes that improve scalability, transparency, and operational resilience.
• Lead and develop a high-performing transportation organization
• Lead, coach, and develop direct and indirect transportation team members.
• Build capabilities across domestic transportation, international transportation, analytics, automation, supplier management, and operational execution.
• Foster collaboration, accountability, inclusion, psychological safety, and strong engagement.
• Set clear priorities, goals, expectations, and development plans.
• Lead effectively across a highly matrixed global organization.

Benefits

• Annual base salary for new hires in this position ranges: $190,825.00 - $269,400.00
• Competitive Benefit Package
• Paid Company Holidays, Paid Vacation, Volunteer Time & More!
• Learning & Development Opportunities
• Kenvuer Impact Networks

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director