Transportation Director

Williams-Sonoma • Memphis, TN

4d • Onsite

About The Position

The Transportation Director position is located in Memphis, TN. We are seeking a highly accomplished transportation leader to oversee the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of our end-to-end transportation network. This role is responsible for leading all transportation modes, including Less-than-Truckload (LTL), Full Truckload (FTL), Intermodal, Parcel, Ocean, and Air Freight, while optimizing service, cost, network efficiency, and customer experience. Partner closely with Distribution Operations, Supply Planning, Inventory Management, Merchandising, Customs Compliance, Finance, Customer Care, Procurement, and Technology to ensure our transportation network supports business growth while maintaining operational excellence. This position requires an executive who combines strategic vision with operational discipline, excels in data-driven decision making, and is passionate about developing people and building high-performing teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
• At least 10+ years of progressive transportation leadership experience.
• At least 5 years leading managers and cross-functional teams.
• Experience managing domestic and international transportation networks.
• Demonstrated expertise in LTL, Full Truckload, Intermodal, Parcel Operations, Ocean Freight, Air Freight, Carrier Procurement, Transportation Management Systems (TMS), Transportation Analytics, Network Optimization, Routing Guides, Freight Audit and Payment, Transportation Procurement.
• Strategic thinking with the ability to translate vision into execution.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills.
• Exceptional financial and analytical acumen.
• Customer-focused decision making.
• A collaborative leadership style that builds trust across the organization.
• Proven ability to influence without authority.
• Calm, decisive leadership during periods of change and operational disruption.
• A continuous improvement mindset with a passion for innovation.
• High integrity, accountability, and ownership.
• A commitment to coaching, mentoring, and developing future leaders.

Nice To Haves

• Preferred experience with Infor, Power BI, SQL, SAP, Oracle, Manhattan, Blue Yonder, or similar transportation and analytics platforms.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise transportation strategy supporting domestic and international operations.
• Optimize transportation networks across LTL, Truckload, Intermodal, Parcel, Ocean, and Air.
• Lead transportation procurement, carrier sourcing, contract negotiations, and annual bid events.
• Develop long-term network strategies that improve service, resiliency, and cost efficiency.
• Monitor transportation market conditions and proactively adjust network strategies.
• Responsibilities include capacity planning, routing optimization, carrier management, peak season readiness, transportation procurement, and performance management.
• Own the enterprise parcel strategy supporting direct-to-consumer, eCommerce, retail replenishment, and B2B shipments.
• Develop multi-carrier parcel strategies across multiple parcel carriers, and emerging last-mile providers.
• Lead parcel carrier negotiations and optimize transportation spend while maintaining service commitments.
• Drive parcel optimization initiatives including zone skipping, carrier diversification, consolidation, dimensional weight reduction, packaging optimization, and routing improvements.
• Monitor parcel KPIs including cost per package, on-time delivery, transit performance, delivery exceptions, claims, and customer experience.
• Partner with Distribution Centers to improve carton utilization, packaging efficiency, and shipping profiles.
• Ensure peak season parcel capacity and network resiliency.
• Partner closely with Customs Compliance and Global Sourcing teams to ensure efficient inbound transportation and regulatory compliance.
• Build executive relationships with transportation providers.
• Negotiate transportation contracts and service agreements.
• Develop carrier scorecards measuring cost, service, capacity, claims, and performance.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives with transportation partners.
• Manage a multi-million-dollar transportation budget.
• Lead freight forecasting, budgeting, and transportation productivity initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to reduce freight costs while protecting service levels.
• Utilize transportation analytics to support strategic decision making.
• Develop transportation dashboards and executive KPI reporting.
• Analyze transportation performance, cost-to-serve, carrier utilization, and network efficiency.
• Lead transportation optimization projects using data and analytics.
• Champion continuous improvement and process simplification.
• Collaborate with Distribution Operations, Inventory Planning, Supply Planning, Customer Care, Merchandising, Finance, Customs Compliance, Procurement, and Information Technology.
• Build strong partnerships across the organization and influence strategic decisions through collaboration and data.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing transportation organization by building strong leadership talent, coaching and mentoring managers and individual contributors, creating clear accountability and performance expectations, and supporting succession planning and employee development.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement.

Benefits

• Generous discount on all Williams-Sonoma, Inc. brand products.
• 401(k) plan and other investment opportunities.
• Paid vacations, Employee Assistance Programs, Time Off to Volunteer, Matching Gifts Community Service Program, and Holidays (in some locations).
• Health benefits, dental and vision insurance, including same-sex domestic partner benefits, Legal and Identity Protection Plans and Pet Insurance.

What This Job Offers

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