Managing Director, Transportation

Smithfield Foods•Suffolk, VA

19h

About The Position

The Managing Director, Transportation serves as the enterprise leader responsible for shaping and executing Smithfield Foods’ end‑to‑end transportation strategy across North America and reports directly to the Vice President of Supply Chain. This role is accountable for ensuring transportation capabilities enable growth, protect product integrity, optimize cost, and support Smithfield’s commitment to operational excellence and customer service. In this highly visible role, you will set the long‑term vision for transportation and logistics, balancing service, efficiency, risk, and scalability in a complex, refrigerated, short‑shelf‑life supply chain. You will partner closely with Supply Chain, Operations, Procurement, Sales, and Finance to ensure transportation strategy is fully integrated with business priorities. As a senior leader, you will build and lead a high‑performing organization, drive transformation through data and technology, and serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on network strategy, capacity risk, and investment decisions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited four-year college or university in Supply Chain or related field and 15+ years’ relevant experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience, required.
7+ years’ experience in a position of leadership to include team development and management, required.
Proven senior leadership experience leading large, geographically dispersed teams.
Deep expertise across private fleet, dedicated fleet, and common carrier transportation models.
Strong financial acumen with demonstrated success managing large budgets and delivering measurable cost savings.
Demonstrated ability to lead transformational initiatives spanning technology, process, and organizational change.
Executive presence with the ability to influence senior leadership and align cross‑functional stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience operating in temperature‑controlled, food or consumer products supply chains preferred.
An MBA, Master’s in Supply Chain Management, or other relevant advanced degree that enhances strategic and operational insight.
Capability to drive operational excellence through methodologies such as Lean Six Sigma, including process mapping, continuous improvement, and waste reduction.
Prior knowledge of operating a freight brokerage leveraging internal assets and external carrier partners.

Responsibilities

Own and execute the enterprise transportation vision aligned to Smithfield’s growth, network strategy, and business priorities; proactively anticipate market shifts in capacity, labor, fuel, and regulation.
Provide oversight of transportation operations to ensure safe, compliant, reliable, and cost‑effective execution across private fleet, dedicated fleet, and common carrier models.
Establish enterprise KPIs, governance, and operating rhythms to improve asset utilization, service levels, fuel efficiency, driver optimization, and cost per mile.
Lead transportation technology strategy, including TMS, routing optimization, visibility tools, and emerging innovations; drive adoption and enterprise change management.
Champion large‑scale transformation initiatives spanning process redesign, technology enablement, organizational capability, and ways of working.
Own the enterprise transportation budget, including forecasting, cost control, productivity initiatives, and clear articulation of financial trade‑offs to executive leadership.
Identify and mitigate transportation‑related risks, including capacity constraints, regulatory exposure, safety, and supply chain disruptions.
Partner with Procurement to define carrier strategy and negotiate long‑term contracts; ensure strong carrier performance, SLA compliance, and alignment to Smithfield standards.
Oversee brokerage and external capacity strategies to effectively leverage both internal assets and external partners.
Build, lead, and develop a high‑performing transportation leadership team capable of operating at enterprise scale.
Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the transportation organization.
Ensure transportation capabilities consistently support customer expectations for on‑time, in‑full delivery; lead cross‑functional resolution of systemic service issues.
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders across Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, and Commercial teams on transportation strategy and performance.