INVENTORY OPERATIONS SPECIALIST

Sally Beauty Holdings•Plano, TX

11d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Inventory Operations Specialist owns enterprise visibility, governance, and decision support for inventory execution and logistics-related operational risk across the store fleet. This role serves as the business lead for identifying systemic receiving, shipment flow, and inventory accuracy issues; determining root cause; setting operating expectations; and driving cross-functional corrective action. The position requires independent judgment, operational authority, and the ability to make recommendations and decisions that materially affect field execution, in-stock readiness, shrink exposure, and business continuity. This is a lead-level role accountable for interpreting business impact, prioritizing enterprise risks, influencing partner functions, and guiding field-facing standards without requiring direct supervision for day-to-day decisions. The role is expected to evaluate multiple courses of action, determine when issues require escalation or policy clarification, and represent Store Operations in decisions involving inventory process stability and logistics execution.

Requirements

Progressive experience in retail operations, inventory management, supply chain, logistics, or store execution with demonstrated ownership of business-critical product flow, exception management, or operational improvement work.
Proven ability to independently diagnose recurring operational issues, evaluate multiple resolution paths, and make recommendations that influence field execution, cross-functional priorities, or operating standards.
Experience leading cross-functional work with distribution, transportation, accounting, systems, field leadership, or related support functions; ability to influence outcomes without direct reporting authority.
Strong operational judgment and business acumen, with the ability to connect inventory and logistics issues to customer experience, sales readiness, shrink exposure, labor prioritization, and enterprise risk.
Executive-ready communication skills with the ability to present findings, defend recommendations, align stakeholders, and communicate decisions to field and support-center audiences.
Demonstrated ability to lead through ambiguity, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and escalate only when decisions require broader business approval or policy direction.
Ability to develop and implement operating routines, issue governance, reporting interpretation, and decision criteria that affect a large store fleet and multiple business partners.
Bachelor’s degree in business, supply chain, operations, logistics, retail management, or related field preferred; equivalent experience in enterprise retail operations or supply chain execution may be considered.

Nice To Haves

Inventory & Logistics Expertise – Deep understanding of inventory management, receiving processes, shipment execution, and supply chain operations.
Analytical Thinking – Uses data and trends to identify root causes, evaluate risks, and determine effective solutions.
Problem Solving – Resolves complex operational issues by balancing field execution, process improvement, and business needs.
Business Acumen – Understands the financial and operational impact of inventory decisions on sales, shrink, labor, and customer experience.
Strategic Decision Making – Makes sound recommendations regarding priorities, escalations, corrective actions, and resource allocation.
Cross-Functional Collaboration – Partners effectively with logistics, transportation, distribution, accounting, technology, and field leadership teams.
Influence & Stakeholder Management – Builds alignment, drives accountability, and influences decisions across multiple functions without direct authority.
Continuous Improvement – Identifies recurring issues and implements process, policy, and operational enhancements to drive sustainable results.
Project & Change Management – Leads stabilization efforts, establishes governance, and drives adoption of new standards and operating practices.
Communication – Translates complex inventory and logistics information into clear business recommendations and actionable guidance for leaders.

Responsibilities

Lead enterprise monitoring and risk assessment for ASN receiving failures, shipment exceptions, delivery delays, inventory discrepancies, and related execution breakdowns across stores, districts, and regions.
Own the development, interpretation, and reinforcement of store-facing standards for receiving, shipment handling, inventory execution, and exception resolution within the store environment.
Independently analyze recurring inventory and logistics issues, compare potential causes and remedies, and determine whether resolution requires field action, process change, partner escalation, system correction, or leadership decision.
Represent Store Operations in cross-functional discussions with logistics, transportation, distribution centers, accounting, technology, and field leadership to influence priorities, resolve systemic barriers, and align ownership for corrective action.
Provide expert operational consultation to leaders by translating inventory and logistics data into business recommendations that affect in-stock performance, shrink mitigation, labor prioritization, customer readiness, and sales protection.
Determine the appropriate business response to recurring issue patterns, including when to update field guidance, recommend standard changes, escalate partner accountability, or sponsor targeted stabilization efforts.
Lead stabilization of high-risk inventory processes by establishing issue governance, defining success criteria, tracking accountability, and reporting progress to leadership.
Make independent recommendations on prioritization, escalation path, and field communication approach for inventory and logistics issues that carry operational, financial, or customer impact.
Design and maintain field-facing decision frameworks, exception routines, and operating cadences that enable consistent inventory execution across a large, geographically dispersed store fleet.

Benefits

medical
dental
vision
life Insurance
paid vacation and sick days
paid holidays
tuition reimbursement
401(k) with company match
in-house salon with complementary services
varied selection of food options at our corporate campus
Sally Beauty and CosmoProf Professional onsite store, where associates enjoy a great merchandise discount