Senior Manager, Transportation

Whirlpool • Benton Harbor, MI

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Transportation is part of Whirlpool Corporation’s Transportation and Trade Compliance team and manages the company’s inbound and outbound logistics network. The role balances service, cost, and efficiency while collaborating with internal customers, plants, planning teams, trade partners, third-party logistics providers, and transportation partners. The position leads internal team members and external partners responsible for carrier management and load planning, and drives strategic projects across the North American Region (NAR). It reports to the Director of Transportation and Trade Compliance.

The role has operational accountability for an approximately $750 million transportation budget and a multimodal carrier network serving manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and vendor-managed warehouses. It oversees network performance and improvement initiatives, manages carrier relationships and spend, and supports transportation systems integration and reporting. The position may require travel to support operations, relationships, and strategic projects.

The successful candidate is motivated to deliver financial and performance improvements in a large, complex environment, builds strong relationships, supports a customer-focused experience, and helps employees and partners achieve higher levels of performance.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, or Business.
• At least 7 years of experience in supply chain and logistics, or equivalent experience demonstrating ability in external partner relationships, customer experience, or operations management with a manufacturer, retailer, or third-party logistics company.
• Proven ability to build teams and coalitions to accomplish cross-functional goals.
• Strong leadership and values aligned with Whirlpool’s values.
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to communicate with all levels of the organization.
• Demonstrated track record of identifying and implementing best-in-class logistics solutions.
• Proven financial skills, including trade-off analysis, decision-making across alternative courses of action, financial outlook, and spend analysis.
• Strong problem-resolution skills and ability to deliver what is best for the entire business.
• Ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts with service providers, customers, and internal partners or stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success driving cross-functional alignment and handling multiple competing priorities.
• Ability to attract, develop, coach, and inspire people to deliver results.

Nice To Haves

• MBA preferred.
• Bilingual English and Spanish proficiency, verbal and written, strongly preferred.
• Previous transportation or carrier management experience.
• Previous supply chain and/or logistics experience.
• Ability to lead direct and indirect teams.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Decisiveness and ability to make sound decisions in ambiguous situations.
• Ability to understand supply chain capacities and capabilities and maintain a system that stays ahead of customer demand.
• Knowledge of MS Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, and Access, and Google collaboration tools.
• Working knowledge of SAP.

Responsibilities

• Optimize transportation cost, service, and efficiency through leadership of a Whirlpool team and Lead Logistics Provider.
• Hold operational accountability for an approximately $750 million transportation budget and manage a multimodal carrier network covering inbound and outbound freight.
• Manage the Lead Logistics Provider’s operational performance, improvement activities, and strategic initiatives.
• Support cross-border operations with Mexico and Canada.
• Collaborate with third-party logistics providers, transportation partners, internal customers, plant materials teams, and other process partners to deliver transportation results.
• Oversee the materials expedite process, monthly and quarterly business reviews, freight claims process, and other inbound freight initiatives.
• Manage relationships, spend, and performance across all transportation modes.
• Guide internal and external team members responsible for carrier management and load planning.
• Support transportation system integration with internal and external systems, warehouse management systems, network engineering, and Tableau data reporting.
• Assist with freight bids, define operational requirements, and approve final carrier awards.
• Lead and hold the team accountable for projects that optimize transportation lanes, reduce costs, and improve network and trade-customer performance.
• Collaborate across Whirlpool and with external partners to strengthen relationships, clarify roles and responsibilities, and continuously improve the value stream and One Whirlpool culture.
• Travel as needed to support operations, relationships, and strategic project goals.
• Lead and/or support initiatives within the group and participate in cross-functional initiatives.

Benefits

• Always On Flexibility to manage personal, family, and outside-of-work commitments.
• Two weeks of work from anywhere per year, in minimum one-week increments.
• Four weeks of paid sabbatical after every five years of service.

What This Job Offers

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