Lead, Supply Chain & Logistics Operations

Bridgestone Americas•Nashville, TN

About The Position

Firestone Airide is seeking a supply chain and logistics operations lead to manage freight and warehousing activities for its global business. The role oversees freight management, distribution planning, inventory control, outsourcing, vendor selection, and coordination of integrated processes among internal functions and external suppliers. It manages freight spending of up to $10 million annually, including contracted third-party freight, directly managed freight, and all premium freight for FSA locations. The position serves as a key point of contact for freight vendors, customers, plants, finance, and the SAP and IT teams. It supports cost control, freight payment coding and accruals, compliance, vendor contracts, customer onboarding and quoting, and continuous improvement across freight and warehouse operations. The role also helps ensure effective use of SAP in warehousing and shipping processes and requires 10%–15% domestic and international travel.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and at least 6 years of relevant experience, or a master's degree and at least 4 years of relevant experience.
Leadership experience, direct or indirect, and a passion for continuous improvement.
Ability to work independently and learn with limited instruction.
Ability to collaborate with customers, internal Customer Service, Planning, Finance, and manufacturing plants.
SAP exposure or expertise, particularly in warehouse operations, freight, and standard reporting.
Ability to serve as the main point of contact with SAP and IT teams for freight and warehouse operations practices and upgrades.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to RF gun usage, inventory management, cycle counts, and SAP-related best practices.

Responsibilities

Manage freight for a global business with annual spend of up to $10 million, maintaining routing guides and maps for North American customers and suppliers.
Target the lowest possible freight cost for FSA in the Americas and explore industry best practices for freight management.
Manage contracted third-party truckload and LTL freight, including data transfers, contract resolution, freight claims, final carrier selection, and freight tracking.
Manage directly handled freight, including ocean freight and customs brokerage, container fees and storage, and UPS and FedEx parcel contracts; serve as the main contact for disputes, insurance claims, and tracking.
Manage all premium freight for all locations, arrange freight at total FSA cost, and prepare monthly premium-freight reports for cost control and IATF compliance.
Link freight payments to sales channels, working with the FSA finance team to ensure monthly coding is accurate and on time.
Help prevent carrier billing errors and inappropriate payments, assist finance with monthly freight accruals, and audit routing-guide and mode-usage compliance.
Own new freight vendor selection and setup in SAP and with external providers; create vendor contracts and negotiate costs in partnership with legal.
Assist as needed with forklift standards, leases, outside warehouse contacts, and safety systems.
Support sales, customer service, and global plants as a resource on inbound and outbound freight Incoterms.
Support onboarding of new customers and provide freight cost estimates for new programs during project quoting and business-case preparation.
Inform short- and long-term freight and warehouse cost-management strategies and contribute to the annual operating budget.
Champion continuous improvement in freight and warehousing, identifying and implementing best practices.
Serve as the interface to OEM customers on outbound freight processes and related SAP matters; use SAP Handling Units to support delivery disputes and lost-freight resolution with customer service.
Help ensure warehouses use SAP efficiently; run SAP reports and provide data for internal auditors.
Promote best practices in order picking, labeling, shipping, ASN usage, and inbound returnable-container processing.
Work with the SAP and IT teams on best practices and upgrades in freight and warehouse operations.
Travel domestically and internationally 10%–15%.
Perform other duties as assigned.