Distribution & Fulfillment Director

This is a confidential search for a Distribution & Fulfillment Director position within the manufacturing industry based in the suburbs near the O'Hare Airport area.

• Manages a cross-functional team in warehousing and distribution facilities including Maintenance, Order Pickers, Assembly Operators, Shipping, Receiving, and Logistics professionals.
• Responsible for identifying talent, coaching, developing, motivating, and managing the performance of assigned direct reports.
• Partners closely with Human Resources to design and implement workforce planning, succession planning, employee engagement, training, and development initiatives.
• Fosters a strong, collaborative, and high-performing team environment through clear communication, accountability, and engagement and modeling the Company’s values and leadership expectations.

• Champions a safety-first culture across all departments; ensure strict adherence to all EHS policies and OSHA regulations.
• Promotes sustainability and waste minimization efforts in line with corporate environmental goals.
• Maintains compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations (e.g. OSHA, EAP, Employment laws) and Company policies.

• Defines and executes site prioritization to achieve maximum performance impact (e.g. safety, quality, delivery, and cost) in support of corporate strategies.
• Accountable for coordinating daily operation activities of the team to achieve plant KPI targets (e.g. Safety incident rates, On-Time Delivery, OEE, Capacity utilization, Inventory accuracy, Labor productivity, and Employee Turnover, etc.) related to Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery, and Morale (SQCDM).
• Oversees the annual business planning and budgeting of the facilities and manages spending against budget and in relation to changes in production volume.
• Creates local site accountability, ownership, and execution of cost savings initiatives and active critical project completion to drive EBITDA performance to meet or exceed goals.
• Evaluate & optimize captive & third-party logistics (3PL) distribution models to improve network performance, service, & cost efficiency
• Lead analysis & execution of distribution network & facility consolidation opportunities to improve operational efficiency & customer service
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Supply Chain, Operations, Customer Service, & Finance teams to align distribution strategy with company growth objectives
• Drives a zero-defect mindset and ensure adherence quality procedures.
• Provides leadership for the formal standardization of policies, procedures, and work instructions.
• Partners with cross-functional teams to identify develop opportunities for waste reduction, process standardization, and productivity improvements and implement Lean manufacturing strategies that improve cycle time, reduce scrap, and improve labor efficiency.
• Utilizes lean manufacturing practices such as Kaizen events, Gemba walks, and 5S implementation and root cause methodologies (e.g., 5 Whys, Fishbone Diagrams) to proactively solve operational challenges.

• 7+ years of related work experience including progressive leadership experience with 2+ years of site or plant management experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g. Engineering, Operations Management, etc.) or equivalent related work experience in plastics manufacturing and site leadership.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and strong ability to collaborate effectively with all levels of the organization (e.g. entry level to executives).
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of ERP systems (Epicor experience is a plus) and proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint, etc.)
• Experience in lean manufacturing and operational excellence methodologies.
• Self-starter with excellent problem solving, decision making, attention to detail, and project management skills.
• Strong business acumen.

• Related work experience in plastics manufacturing and/or engineering (blow molding, injection…