Vice President, Warehouse Operations and Logistics

Job Summary

The Vice President, Warehouse Operations & Logistics owns the performance, scalability, and strategic direction of Trace3s national warehouse, shipping, logistics, and integration services business. This role is accountable not only for the daily operational execution across all national warehouse locations outbound shipping, warehouse operations, and integration services for customer orders but also for building the metrics, reporting infrastructure, and operating discipline needed to manage a warehouse network at scale.

The Vice President will lead the managers and employees within these departments, including staffing recommendations and operational integrity, and will maintain direct day-to-day contact with the Trace3 sales force, sales operations, and logistics partners. A core part of this role is determining the right mix of internal capability versus third-party / partner capacity as the business grows and building a repeatable mechanism to make and revisit that call. This leader will also be responsible for educating department staff on the systems, tools, and resources available to them, and for managing the logistics of warehouse relocations, expansions, and integrations arising from organic growth or M&A activity.

Summary of Essential Job Functions

Operational Leadership

• Manage the team of warehouse, logistics, and integration services personnel responsible for fulfilling the duties below.
• Create a consistent process across regional warehouses to enhance process flows and establish a systematic approach to service delivery.
• Manage physical Trace3- and customer-owned inventory and validate against systems through routine cycle counts.
• Maintain clean, safe, and efficient warehouses across the nation.
• Train warehouse staff on new processes and procedures, and train department managers on how to manage teams and process.
• Propose strategies and tactics to increase efficiency across warehouse staff and cross-functional processes.
• Review and prepare workflow, manning and space requirements, equipment layout, and action plans while ensuring productivity, quality, and customer service standards are met.
• Maintain the physical condition of warehouses by planning and implementing new design layouts, inspecting equipment, and issuing work orders for repair and requisitions for replacement.
• Schedule and oversee the warehouse team to meet fulfillment demands, managing the flow and quality of work to maximize efficiency and minimize overtime.
• Maintain a safe and healthy work environment by establishing, following, and enforcing standards and procedures.

Performance Metrics, Measurement & Reporting

• Build and own a standardized scorecard of warehouse and logistics KPIs across all regional locations including order accuracy, on-time shipment rate, dock-to-stock time, units/lines picked per labor hour, inventory accuracy (cycle count variance), space utilization, damage/loss rate, and cost per order shipped.
• Design and implement consistent reporting cadences (daily operational dashboards, weekly performance reviews, monthly and quarterly business reviews) so leadership has real-time visibility into throughput, labor productivity, and service-level performance across every site.
• Establish target thresholds and tolerance bands for each metric, with clear escalation paths when a site or shift falls outside acceptable performance ranges.
• Use metrics and reporting as the basis for continuous improvement identifying bottlenecks, justifying headcount or automation investments, and benchmarking individual warehouses against each other and against industry standards.
• Partner with Finance and Sales Operations to tie warehouse and logistics metrics to profitability, ensuring reporting supports both operational and financial decision-making.

Strategic Sourcing & Partner / 3PL Management

• Develop and own a formal build-vs-outsource decision framework that evaluates cost, capacity, geographic coverage, speed-to-market, and risk to determine which warehouse, logistics, and integration functions should be performed in-house versus through third-party logistics (3PL) providers and other partners.
• Establish a recurring mechanism (e.g., a quarterly capacity and sourcing review) to reassess the internal/partner mix as the business grows, allowing Trace3 to flex capacity up or down without long lead times.
• Source, evaluate, and manage relationships with 3PLs and logistics/integration partners, including contract negotiation, SLA development, and ongoing performance management against the same metrics framework used for internal operations.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for partner escalations, ensuring outsourced work meets the same quality, cost, and service standards as internally performed work.
• Coordinate relevant industry and/or partner certifications, and identify approved outside training, to enhance domestic and international logistics capability.

Relocations, Expansion & M&A Integration

• Plan and manage warehouse relocations, expansions, and consolidations as business needs dictate, including site selection input, move logistics, vendor coordination, and minimizing disruption to ongoing operations.
• Lead the warehouse and logistics integration workstream for mergers and acquisitions assessing acquired facilities, inventory, systems, and staff, and developing a plan to integrate or consolidate operations into Trace3s national network.
• Standardize processes, systems, and metrics across newly acquired or relocated sites so they report into the same KPI and reporting framework as the rest of the network.
• Manage budgets, timelines, and risk for relocation and M&A-related projects, partnering with Finance, IT, HR, and Sales Operations as needed.

Sales & Cross-Functional Support

• Assist department heads and Account Managers in providing staging, integration, and logistics solutions to customers, while educating them on logistics services and resources to help them become as self-sufficient as possible.
• Answer logistics questions for Account Managers, working closely with sales engineers, partners, and distribution.
• Work with cross-functional sales and operations teams to support client outcomes.
• Review logistics quotes and orders to maximize profitability, minimize RMAs, and identify potential add-on opportunities.
• Participate in conference calls, emails, and Slack channels with customers and/or sales and presales teams to meet integration and logistics objectives.
• Update the sales team as needed with relevant logistics information, pricing, process, and training.
• Validate sales orders that utilize staging, integration, and logistics services for accuracy.
• Maintain a profitable outbound freight revenue stream for coordinated logistics services.
• Provide Trace3 sales staff with support and resources to conduct freight and logistics services.
• Track revenue and profitability of all staging, logistics, and warehouse integration sales activities.

People Leadership

• Ensure team members across all departments are performing to the best of their ability by appropriately coaching them around growth of their skillset.
• Perform ongoing one-on-one meetings with team members and track successes.
• Work closely with peer managers to ensure alignment and direction of team members on current and upcoming opportunities.
• Provide regular updates to your manager along with recommendations and areas of concern.
• Ensure a positive work environment and minimize friction by addressing challenges professionally.

Required Skills and Experience

• Minimum 10+ years of experience in the shipping and logistics field, including prior leadership of multi-site warehouse operations.
• Bachelors degree or equivalent from a four-year college.
• Demonstrated experience building or owning operational metrics, KPI scorecards, and reporting structures for a warehouse or distribution network.
• Experience evaluating and managing 3PL or other outsourced logistics partnerships, including contract negotiation and SLA management.
• Experience and direction to staff on international shipping, VAT taxes, and international customs.
• Direct experience with remote logistics, preferably with data center moves.
• Experience managing facility relocations, expansions, or M&A-related operational integrations is strongly preferred.
• Ability to coach and mentor others and foster a teamwork environment.
• Must have a passion for aligning skills and strengths to match the needs of clients and organizational stakeholders.
• Must have a passion for continuous learning and improvement of morale, personal growth, and professional growth.