Sr Manager Operational Excellence

GEODIS; Brentwood, Northern (TN, KY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Career development

Mentorship programs

Employee perks like discounts

Job summary

GEODIS in Brentwood, TN seeks a Senior Manager of Operational Excellence to lead high-priority improvement projects across Transportation Management and Final Mile. You will diagnose sites, run kaizen events, and coach leadership to sustain gains while partnering with Finance to capture EBIT benefits.

This role is field-heavy with cross-functional collaboration. You will deploy standard work, build scorecards, and drive cost controls, ensuring improvements align with divisional objectives and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field.
• 7+ years in transportation/logistics operations or continuous improvement, incl 3+ years leading projects in a 3PL or large shipper.
• Knowledge of managed transportation, brokerage, LTL/TL, and last-mile operations.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt required; Black Belt preferred, with Finance-validated savings.
• Solid financial acumen: cost-to-serve, business case construction, presenting results to senior leadership.
• Strong analytics: advanced Excel; Power BI preferred; SQL a plus.
• Willingness to travel up to 40%, mainly to transformation sites.
• Experience in final mile/home delivery and contractor delivery models.
• Familiarity with TMS platforms (Blue Yonder, Oracle TM, MercuryGate) and last-mile systems.
• Certification requirements: APICS CSCP, CLTD, or TIA CTB.

Responsibilities

• Lead priority improvement projects end-to-end: charter, baseline, root-cause, design, implement, and validate savings.
• Run margin diagnostics at sites with 90-day action plans and weekly follow-up.
• Facilitate kaizen events and structured problem-solving with cross-dock, final mile, and TM teams.
• Target cost drivers: transportation procurement, route density, labor productivity, and billing accuracy.
• Build divisional pipeline and present opportunities of EBIT impact to leadership.
• Deploy standard work and daily management with site scorecards and action tracking.

Skills

Analytics

Excel

Power BI

SQL

Cost-to-serve

Finance acumen

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain/Industrial Engineering/Business

APICS CSCP/CLTD/TIA CTB certification

Tools

Blue Yonder TMS

Oracle TM

MercuryGate

Job description

GEODIS specializes in unlocking business value in a complex world, ensuring seamless movement of goods worldwide. As a global third-party logistics provider (3PL), we power A Better Way to Deliver for the world's top brands and manufacturers. Fuel your career with GEODIS and discover endless growth opportunities. Our hybrid work schedule requires team members to be in the office four days per week, with the flexibility to work remotely one day each week.

Position Summary:

The Senior Manager, Operational Excellence leads continuous improvement execution across Transportation Management and Final Mile operations. Working directly with the Central Management team and site leadership, this role runs the division's highest-priority improvement projects, deploys standard work and performance management routines at transportation and final mile sites, and builds a validated pipeline of cost-out and productivity initiatives tied to divisional EBIT improvement. The role is field-heavy by design: diagnosing underperforming sites in person, running kaizen events on the dock, and coaching site leaders until improvements stick.

Your role on the team:

Improvement Project Execution

• Lead the division's priority improvement projects end-to-end: chartering, baseline, root-cause analysis, solution design, implementation, and Finance-validated benefits capture
• Run margin diagnostics at underperforming sites and accounts, on-site deep dives producing 90-day corrective action plans with named owners and weekly follow-up cadence
• Facilitate kaizen events and structured problem-solving (A3/DMAIC) with site teams across cross-docks, final mile stations, and TM operations centers
• Target the division's largest cost drivers: purchased transportation and carrier procurement discipline, final mile route density and stops-per-hour, dock and cross-dock labor productivity, claims and OS&D reduction, and billing/POD accuracy leakage

Pipeline & Benefits Management

• Build and maintain the divisional improvement pipeline: identify, size, and prioritize opportunities by EBIT impact; present the pipeline monthly to divisional leadership
• Own benefits tracking with Finance; every completed initiative validated against the P&L, with a clear line between activity and realized savings
• Support Commercial and Solutions teams by supplying standardized cost models and operational assumptions for pricing new business

Standard Work & Performance Management

• Deploy standard work, tiered daily management, and visual management at priority sites; adapt the deployment to the realities of each operation (24/7 cross-dock vs. TM planning office vs. contractor-based final mile station)
• Build and maintain site scorecards covering safety, service, cost, and cash; support the division's monthly operating review with data, trend analysis, and corrective-action tracking
• Drive service metrics that protect revenue; on-time delivery, first-attempt completion, claims ratio; at sites serving strategic and at-risk accounts

Technology & Standardization

• Partner with IT and Engineering to embed process improvements into the division's systems, TMS workflows, last-mile execution platforms, labor management, and telematics, so gains are hard-wired rather than dependent on individual effort
• Document standardized processes (order-to-delivery, carrier onboarding and compliance, exception management, POD-to-invoice) and drive site-by-site conformance

Capability Building

• Train and coach site leaders and supervisors in structured problem-solving and daily management; build frontline improvement capability so sites sustain gains independently
• Champion a culture consistent with GEODIS' Golden Rules and Leadership Principles, safety first, results with integrity, and respect for the frontline teams who move the freight

What you need:

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field
• 7+ years of transportation/logistics operations or continuous improvement experience, including 3+ years leading improvement projects in a 3PL, carrier, or large shipper environment
• Working knowledge of non-asset transportation models: managed transportation, brokerage, LTL/TL procurement, and/or last-mile delivery operations
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt required; Black Belt strongly preferred, with a documented record of delivered, Finance-validated savings (candidates should expect to walk through specific projects, baselines, and realized impact)
• Solid financial acumen: cost-to-serve fundamentals, business case construction, and comfort presenting results to senior leadership
• Strong analytics capability, advanced Excel required; Power BI strongly preferred; SQL a plus
• Willingness to travel up to 40%, concentrated at transformation-priority sites
• Experience in final mile / big-and-bulky home delivery operations, including agent/contractor delivery models
• Familiarity with TMS platforms (Blue Yonder, Oracle TM, MercuryGate, or equivalent) and last-mile execution systems
• Experience harmonizing processes across acquired or legacy operations
• APICS CSCP, CLTD, or TIA CTB certification

What you gain from joining our team:

• Access wages early with the Rain financial wellness app.
• Free telemedical access to doctors and therapists through FirstStop Health available first day of employment!
• Health, dental, and vision insurance after 30 days of employment
• Paid maternity and paternity leave
• Access to career development, employee resource groups, and mentorship programs
• Access to employee perks like fitness class discounts and free access to a relaxation and meditation app
• Free financial wellness programs
• Opportunities to volunteer and give back to your community
• + more!

Qualifications

Skills

Behaviors

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Motivations

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Education

Experience

Licenses & Certifications

Equal Opportunity Employer
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