Distribution Operations Manager

Expeditors; Milpitas (CA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Expeditors is seeking a Distribution Operations Manager in Milpitas, CA to lead day-to-day distribution activities across warehouse and customer-facing functions. You will drive safety, accuracy, and efficiency while focusing on service quality and inventory integrity.

This hands-on leadership role balances daily execution with longer-term operational improvements and growth, coordinating with Customer Service, Inventory Control, and other departments to meet client requirements and SOPs.

Qualifications

• Leadership and people management experience within distribution/logistics.
• Strong ability to plan, prioritize, and optimize warehouse operations.
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide daily leadership and direction for Distribution operations.
• Oversee receiving, put-away, inventory management, picking, packing, staging, shipping, RMA, and other value-added services.
• Ensure customer requirements, service commitments, and operational cutoff times are consistently achieved.
• Establish daily priorities and ensure supervisors and leads have clear direction.
• Monitor workload, capacity, staffing, and operational constraints throughout the day.
• Identify potential service failures early and drive timely corrective action.
• Maintain strong communication between warehouse operations, Customer Service, Inventory Control, and leadership.
• Support implementation and execution of customer-specific SOPs and work instructions.
• Lead, coach, and develop Operations Supervisors, Warehouse Leads, and operational team members.
• Establish clear expectations for ownership, accountability, communication, and performance.
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings and employee development discussions.
• Identify training and cross-training requirements.
• Develop bench

Skills

Leadership

Operational planning

Communication

Job description

“We’re not in the shipping business; we’re in the information business” -Peter Rose, Expeditors Founder

We take care of our employees, and they take care of our customers!

Become a member of a global community! The international logistics industry is an integral piece of the global trade puzzle; we make the world go round. Global supply chain management is what we do, and at the heart of Expeditors you will find professionalism, leadership, and a friendly environment, all of which foster an innovative, customer service-based approach to logistics. Expeditors is a global logistics company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. As a Fortune 500 company, we employ over 19,000 trained professionals in a worldwide network of over 350+ locations across six continents. Expeditors satisfies the increasingly sophisticated needs of international trade through customized solutions and seamless, integrated information systems.

Our Mission

We recruit, train, and retain the very best logistics and technical experts the world over.We love to promote from within- more than 50 percent of our employees have been at Expeditors for five years or more. Our high retention rate is influenced by a unique compensation program for positions that are more than just jobs - they're chances to grow, do what you love and build a career with us!

The Distribution Operations Manager is responsible for leading the day-to-day execution and performance of Distribution operations, ensuring safe, efficient, accurate, and customer-focused service across warehouse and customer-facing activities.

This position provides leadership to operational supervisors, leads, warehouse personnel, and customer service functions while maintaining accountability for service performance, inventory accuracy, labor utilization, process compliance, employee development, and continuous improvement.

The Operations Manager serves as a key link between Distribution leadership, customers, Customer Service, Inventory Control, warehouse operations, and other Expeditors departments. The successful candidate will be a hands-on leader who can balance daily execution with longer-term operational improvement and business growth.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Provide daily leadership and direction for Distribution operations.
• Oversee receiving, put-away, inventory management, picking, packing, staging, shipping, RMA, and other value-added services.
• Ensure customer requirements, service commitments, and operational cutoff times are consistently achieved.
• Establish daily priorities and ensure supervisors and leads have clear direction.
• Monitor workload, capacity, staffing, and operational constraints throughout the day.
• Identify potential service failures early and drive timely corrective action.
• Maintain strong communication between warehouse operations, Customer Service, Inventory Control, and leadership.
• Support implementation and execution of customer-specific SOPs and work instructions.
• Lead, coach, and develop Operations Supervisors, Warehouse Leads, and operational team members.
• Establish clear expectations for ownership, accountability, communication, and performance.
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings and employee development discussions.
• Identify training and cross-training requirements.
• Develop bench