Vice President of Operations

Harvest Hope Food Bank • Columbia, SC

4d • $100,000 - $135,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Harvest Hope Food Bank is seeking an exceptional Vice President of Operations to lead the complex network of people, processes, facilities, transportation systems, and technology that make their mission of feeding South Carolina possible. This is an opportunity to lead one of the state's most important humanitarian supply chains, ensuring that food reaches families, children, seniors, and individuals facing food insecurity across 20 counties. The ideal candidate is a strategic operations executive who thrives on building high-performing teams, optimizing complex logistics networks, driving continuous improvement, and creating measurable social impact.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in operations, distribution, logistics, manufacturing, supply chain, or related fields
• Proven success leading multi-site operations
• Strong leadership and team development experience
• Expertise in warehouse operations, logistics, inventory management, and process improvement
• Excellent analytical, communication, and organizational skills
• Experience with ERP systems
• Ability to travel regularly among South Carolina locations

Nice To Haves

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience
• Oracle NetSuite experience
• Food banking or nonprofit operations experience
• USDA food acquisition and compliance knowledge
• AIB experience
• DOT compliance experience
• Continuous improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, or related operational excellence training

Responsibilities

• Oversee daily operations across multiple branches, ensuring efficient movement of food and resources from acquisition through distribution.
• Develop and execute strategies that improve inventory optimization, warehouse efficiency, transportation effectiveness, distribution performance, service to agency partners, and overall supply chain resiliency.
• Lead and develop a talented team of directors and managers across operations functions, including coaching and mentoring leaders, building accountability and ownership, creating pathways for professional growth, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement, and ensuring team members understand their contribution to ending hunger.
• Partner with the CEO and Executive Team to develop long-term operational strategies, forecast human capital and capacity needs, evaluate facility and equipment investments, establish operational performance goals, and create scalable systems that support future growth.
• Serve as Harvest Hope's operational compliance leader by ensuring adherence to OSHA requirements, DOT regulations, USDA standards, AIB requirements, and organizational safety protocols.
• Leverage analytics, KPIs, forecasting, and operational metrics to improve performance, identify opportunities, increase efficiency, support executive decision-making, and demonstrate stewardship of donor resources.
• Regularly brief the CEO and leadership team on performance trends, opportunities, and operational risks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: Associate degree