Director, Distribution

The Director of Distribution and Logistics is responsible for leading the enterprise distribution network that moves products from approved suppliers through distributor partners and into Zaxbys restaurants. This role owns the performance, cost, scalability, and readiness of the network between supplier ship point and restaurant delivery, ensuring restaurants receive the right product, at the right time, in the right condition, and at the right cost.

Zaxbys relies on distributor partners to execute warehousing, inventory management, final mile distribution, and delivery. This leader serves as the company owner for those distributor relationships and operating rhythms, translating restaurant growth, product launches, supplier capacity, promotional activity, and geographic expansion into practical distribution strategies and measurable execution plans.

This position balances strategic network design with hands-on operating discipline. The Director oversees core inventory positions at distribution centers, middle mile freight considerations from manufacturers to distribution centers, master distribution agreements, service-level performance, promotional readiness and sunset, obsolescence mitigation, and distributor readiness for new markets. The role requires a strong, established, hungry leader who can bring structure, analytics, commercial judgment, and cross-functional leadership to a fast-growing franchise system.

As we continue to grow, our strategies have set us up for success to be the top offering in Chicken Fingerz, Boneless Wings, and Zalads. We’d love to have you as part of our team!

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Company-Paid Disability, Critical Illness, and Basic Life Insurance
• 401K with Company Match
• 50% Off Meal Discount at Company-Owned Locations
• Parental Leave
• Child Care Assistance
• Education Assistance Program
• PTO and 9 Company Holidays + 2 Floating Holidays

Essential duties may include but are not limited to the following:

• Develop and execute the enterprise distribution and logistics strategy for food, packaging, supplies, and promotional items across the Zaxbys restaurant network.
• Own end-to-end distribution performance from supplier ship point through distributor warehousing, outbound routing, restaurant delivery, and restaurant acceptance of product.
• Lead strategic relationships with distributor partners, including operating cadence, executive business reviews, service level expectations, issue escalation, network capacity, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee distributor inventory positions at distribution centers, including core item days-on-hand targets, safety stock, replenishment discipline, forecast accuracy, inventory turns, shortage prevention, and excess/obsolete inventory mitigation.
• Partner with Planning, Procurement, Culinary, Marketing, Operations, Finance, Food Safety & Quality, suppliers, and distributors to ensure launch readiness for new products, limited-time offers, packaging changes, menu transitions, and market tests.
• Ensure promotional readiness and sunset execution by aligning forecasts, production timelines, distributor inventory builds, allocation rules, depletion strategies, substitution plans, and obsolescence controls.
• Lead the company approach to final mile distribution economics, including case fee structures, market-level rate negotiations, delivery frequency, minimums, accessorial charges, fuel, service requirements, and cost-to-serve transparency.
• Manage middle mile freight considerations from manufacturer to distribution center, including freight ownership, 3PL strategy, lane optimization, freight cost visibility, consolidation opportunities, and carrier performance.
• Support new market and restaurant growth by partnering with distributor partners to scale into new geographies, validate DC capacity, establish routing and delivery models, and ensure operational readiness ahead of openings.
• Monitor and improve key distribution KPIs including on-time delivery, fill rate, order accuracy, inventory availability, case fee economics, inbound freight performance, claims, damages, temperature compliance, and restaurant service issues.
• Lead resolution of distribution disruptions, product shortages, service failures, delivery issues, weather events, distributor capacity constraints, inbound freight delays, and other supply chain risks.
• Build and maintain governance for distributor agreements, service level agreements, scorecards, fee changes, savings…