Director Customer Supply Chain Optimization

Ventura Foods; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 143,056 - 228,920; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Profit sharing & 401(k)

Paid time off

Employee programs

Annual bonus

Job summary

Ventura Foods seeks a Director of Customer Supply Chain Optimization to partner with strategic customers and improve forecasting, ordering, inventory, logistics, and service execution. This role drives data-driven collaboration and continuous improvement across Sales, Operations, Finance, and SCM leadership.

You will lead cross-functional initiatives, build business cases, pilot new solutions, and ensure measurable financial and operational impact while traveling up to 25% as needed.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required and 10+ years in Supply Chain.
• Experience leading cross-functional, enterprise-wide projects.
• Proven ability to drive Lean/Kaizen initiatives and cost improvements.
• Ability to travel up to 25% and work with diverse teams.

Responsibilities

• Partner with customer supply chain teams to align strategies and co-create value.
• Analyze end-to-end supply chain processes to identify inefficiencies and improvements.
• Lead data analytics, dashboards, and predictive insights to monitor performance.
• Drive cross-functional initiatives and governance for sustainable value realization.

Skills

Leadership

Lean & Kaizen

Cross-functional collaboration

Data-driven decision making

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Lean Practitioner Certification

CSCP

MBA

Job description

Location: Irvine, CA, US, 92618

Position Summary:

The Director of Customer Supply Chain Optimization partners with strategic customers to improve end-to-end supply chain performance across forecasting, ordering, inventory, logistics, and service execution. This role identifies joint efficiency opportunities that reduce cost, improve service levels, and unlock incremental growth for both VF and its customers. The role operates at the intersection of Sales, Operations, Finance, and Customer Supply Chain leadership to drive data-driven collaboration and continuous improvement.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Customer Supply Chain Partnership & Value Creation
  • Build strong partnerships with customer supply chain teams to align strategies, improve service levels, and co-create mutual value. Lead joint planning, identify pain points, and drive collaborative initiatives that enhance performance, reduce costs, and optimize network efficiency.
• Supply Chain Performance & Continuous Improvement
  • Analyze end-to-end supply chain processes across VF and customer networks to identify inefficiencies and improvement opportunities. Drive service enhancements, policy changes, and operational standardization to improve delivery, reduce costs, and eliminate friction points such as lead times and order variability.
• Data Analytics & Insights Leadership
  • Leverage data, analytics, and digital tools to assess trade-offs across cost, service, inventory, and working capital. Develop dashboards, scorecards, and predictive insights to monitor performance, quantify opportunities, and proactively identify risks.
• Strategic Initiatives & Transformation
  • Lead cross-functional and cross-company supply chain initiatives, including customer network optimization, demand collaboration, and service model innovation. Build business cases, pilot new solutions, and guide implementation to deliver measurable financial and operational impact.
• Change Management & Governance
  • Act as a change leader aligning Customer teams, Finance, Operations, and Commercial teams around shared goals and performance outcomes. Establish governance structures, track value realization, and ensure sustainable adoption of new processes and service models.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelors degree is required
• 10+ years experience in Supply Chain, including direct people leadership in cross-functional plant operations supporting planning, logistics, production and fulfillment is required
• Experience leading projects that include cross-functional teams enterprise wide is required
• Ability to travel up to 25%
• Lean Practitioner Certification, Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), MBA preferred
• Food products industry highly desirable
• Experience working in a manufacturing environment is a nice to have
• Prior customer interaction experience is greatly appreciated
• CI mindset is wonderful to have
• 3PL is good experience to have

Knowledge and Skills:

• Thorough understanding of end to end Supply Chain solutions and process improvement methodologies (Lean Management, Distribution Center Layout, Network Optimization, etc.)
• Proven track record leading Lean projects and Kaizen events using industry standard tools and methods to deliver results
• Demonstrated ability to gain customer commitment on shared process improvements
• Demonstrated strengths in project management processes and methodologies including phase gate review, planning and review methods
• Excellent training and presentation skills with solid communication capabilities and practices both oral and written
• Experience going from front line to senior management levels facilitating change in culture of employees, business leaders, departments and functional organizations to embrace Lean philosophies to significantly improve business execution
• Ability to facilitate cross functional ideation sessions to generate cost savings, continuous improvement, and innovation pipeline of projects
• Demonstrates a results-based leadership style with strong impact and influencing skills

Why Join Us:

Ventura Foods innovates and manufactures food solutions for foodservice and retail businesses. We make exclusive products for the world's most iconic restaurants and retailers, we provideready-to-goproduct solutions for professional kitchens, and we make consumer brands everyone knows and loves. When you work for Ventura Foods, you get a strong foundation of training, a manager who cares about you and celebrates your success, a safe environment, and challenging work. As part of our team, your future is limited only by how much you’re willing to push yourself to get there. We invest in your growth because you invest in ours.

Ventura Foods offers career growth opportunities as well as competitive compensation and benefits:

• Medical, Prescription, Dental, & Vision - coverage beginning on your 1st day for eligible employees
• Profit Sharing and 401(k) matching (after eligible criteria is met)
• Paid Vacation, Sick Time, and Holidays
• Employee Appreciation Events and Employee Assistance Programs
• Salary Base Range of$143,056.70-$228,920.27*
• Annual bonus (based on the incentive program terms and conditions)

*The "base salary range" provided above is a good faith estimate of what we expect to pay for this position in the specified markets. Ventura Foods reserves the right to pay outside of the given range based on a variety of factors including but not limited to: candidate skills and experience, complexity of the job, budgetary factors, and location/geography. Ventura Foods conducts regular reviews of compensation ranges and therefore reserves the right to alter this range at any given time.

Diversity & Inclusion: Our commitment to a diverse and inclusive environment in which all employees are treated with respect is evident in our company culture and values. We believe that fostering an environment of inclusion and a focus on diversity across our organization is vital to attracting top talent, driving innovation, and meeting the high expectations of our customers in a rapidly evolving global marketplace.

Ventura Foods is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Ventura Foods may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted tools at certain stages of our hiring process, including identifying & sourcing candidates, reviewing applications and matched candidates on job boards and websites, and generating screening questions to help us work more efficiently and consistently. We regularly review our tools to promote fairness and reduce the risk of bias. However, while these tools support our process, every hiring decision is made by a real person on our team. Applicants in the State of New York may request an alternative process by contacting us at [e-mail].

Nearest Major Market: Irvine California
Nearest Secondary Market: Los Angeles