IT Director, Business Systems - WMS

Family Branding•Lyndhurst, NJ

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

This is currently an individual-contributor role with a clear path to building and leading a team of WMS analysts, and/or device support technicians as the program matures. The ideal candidate brings direct warehouse operations experience — they've used a WMS on the floor, not just configured one from behind a desk — along with the technical fluency to translate between IT and the business and advocate for business's needs within IT.

Requirements

7+ years of experience working directly with a Warehouse Management System, including meaningful time in warehouse/3PL operations (not solely IT/systems-side experience).
Demonstrated experience with at least one full WMS implementation or major platform migration, ideally in a multi-customer 3PL or multi-site distribution environment.
Working knowledge of the integration landscape around a WMS (TMS, EDI, ERP, order management, billing) and enough technical fluency to scope and validate integration work with engineers.
Experience managing warehouse hardware such as RF scanners, mobile printers, or conveyor/sortation controls.
Strong project management skills — able to run a multi-workstream implementation with hard deadlines and multiple customer stakeholders.
Excellent communication skills and the credibility to act as a trusted translator between operations/customers and IT/engineering.
Willingness and ability to travel to warehouse and customer sites as needed (est. 30–40%).

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with one or more major WMS platforms (e.g., Manhattan, Blue Yonder, Synapse, HighJump/Körber, SnapFulfil, or similar).
Prior experience in a 3PL specifically, including multi-tenant/multi-customer configuration considerations.
Experience standing up or scaling a team (analysts, engineers, or device support technicians).
Familiarity with EDI standards and common carrier/customer integration patterns in trucking and warehousing.

Responsibilities

Act as the primary liaison between IT and warehouse operations, customers, and executive stakeholders to define business and functional requirements for the new WMS.
Lead or co-lead vendor evaluation and selection, including demos, reference checks, fit/gap analysis, and total-cost-of-ownership comparisons.
Translate operational workflows (receiving, putaway, inventory management, wave/pick/pack, replenishment, cycle counting, shipping, yard management, billing) into system configuration and design decisions.
Own the implementation project plan, budget, and timeline; manage the implementation partner/systems integrator where one is engaged.
Design and execute the customer migration strategy — sequencing, cutover planning, data migration/validation, parallel-run testing, and rollback plans — in partnership with operations leadership.
Coordinate user acceptance testing, training, and documentation for warehouse and customer-facing teams.
Inventory and prioritize every existing integration between the legacy WMS and downstream/upstream systems (TMS, order management, EDI, customer portals, billing/invoicing, labor management, ERP, BI/reporting, etc.).
Define integration requirements and acceptance criteria; work with internal engineers and/or vendor professional services to rebuild each interface on the new platform.
Establish testing and monitoring standards so integration issues are caught before they affect customers.
Serve as the permanent product owner for the WMS post go-live: maintain the roadmap, prioritize enhancement requests, and manage the relationship with the software vendor.
Own production support escalations for the WMS, working with IT and the vendor to resolve issues and minimize warehouse downtime.
Continuously evaluate new WMS functionality against business needs and lead rollout of upgrades and new features.
Own the lifecycle of WMS-connected hardware across all warehouse sites: RF scan guns, mobile/label printers, conveyor and sortation system controls, and related peripherals.
Manage procurement, deployment, configuration, maintenance, and vendor/repair relationships for this device fleet.
Partner with warehouse operations to right-size device counts and standards as sites are migrated to the new WMS.
Operate as a hands-on individual contributor during selection and early implementation.
Build the business case for, and eventually hire and lead, a team that may include WMS analysts and device/hardware support technicians.
Support and promote the company values, culture, and HR processes
Establish and track KPIs, metrics, and reporting for team activities
Recruit, reward, and recognize employees
Provide the necessary training opportunities, tools, and resources to ensure team success
Provide clear direction in weekly team checkpoints
Manage frequent performance feedback
Establish a training & adoption plan for process changes across IT and business stakeholders.