Director, North America Distribution

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Gates has an exciting opening for a Director, North America Distribution to be located in Denver (CO), Hebron (KY), or Dallas (TX).

This is a great opportunity for an experienced multi-site distribution leader to take their career to the next level with a global market leader known for innovation in materials science. The select candidate will be responsible for the successful management of 12 distribution centers in the US, Canada, and Mexico, with 9 direct reports and a total team of ~550, working closely with cross-functional leaders to provide a superior distribution capability to support our ambitious growth objectives.   

Key responsibilities:

• Achieving the Companies' safety goals, production, profitability, and cost reduction programs, while exceeding customer expectations at the site.
• Ensure Gates remains a leader in the industry in terms of having world-class distribution and transportation operations by establishing/maintaining a culture of high performance and associate engagement.
• Oversee all aspects of planning, organizing, and directing the operational activities of the North American Distribution function. 
• Work closely with national and regional counterparts on planning, global idea sharing, strategic planning, and technological advancement.
• Driving performance accountability within all levels of the division and site, while ensuring effective feedback is provided to employees to drive professional growth.
• Translating strategic vision into tactical action plans that result in delivered business results.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• 9 Direct Reports.
• Provides leadership and direction through Managers.
• Leads a sub-function, typically through subordinate managers of managers.
• Has full leadership, performance management, and people development responsibility for managers or high-level individual contributors to build a strong sub-function

Requirements and Preferred Skills

Required Skills:

• 15+ years of professional experience.
• Bachelor’s Degree is required.
• Extensive distribution experience, most of which was acquired in a senior managerial capacity, DC automation, and ideally within a lean manufacturing environment.
• At least ten years of specific managerial experience, preferably in an economic environment.
• Large-scale project management, network analytics, and WMS implementation experience.
• Must be an excellent proven leader, able to motivate a large diverse group of people and build a team that functions and excels together.
• Must be able to travel domestically and internationally approximately 50% of the time.
• Demonstrated experience with distribution operations management and implementing distribution network strategies.
• Experience with Kitting and Postponement finishing activities/techniques and associated interfaces to ERP planning tools in a global, multi-cultural setting.
• Must be analytical and a good problem solver under high-pressure situations.
• Demonstrates excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Possesses a leadership maturity that sets the expectation of communicating in a clear, concise, open, and transparent manner inside and outside the facility.
• Strong financial discipline, business acumen, and organizational abilities.
• Ability to maintain a flexible work schedule to manage the demands of a 24/7 distribution network and unexpected customer needs.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without company sponsorship.

Preferred Skills:

• Bachelor's Degree in Operations Management or Logistics, highly preferred.
• Master's Degree or MBA, preferred.
• Fluency in multi-languages.