Strategic Lead, First & Middle Mile Transportation

Cardinal Health; Richmond (VA); Remote; USD 107,000 - 191,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental and vision coverage

Paid time off

Health savings account (HSA)

401k savings plan

MyFlexPay access

FSAs

Disability coverage

Work-Life resources

Paid parental leave

Healthy lifestyle programs

Job summary

Cardinal Health seeks a Director of Transportation – First/Middle Mile to lead U.S. first and middle mile operations across manufacturing sites, cross docks and replenishment centers.

You will guide a ~20-person team, manage roughly $200M in transportation spend, and drive efficiency, service, and on-time delivery while coordinating with internal and carrier partners. Expect ~15% travel to support the network.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred in supply chain or related field.
• 12+ years in transportation/logistics with leadership in multi-site environments.
• Proven track record managing large budgets ($100M+).
• Experience in carrier management, contract negotiations and vendor relations.
• Strong analytical skills to analyze metrics and drive improvements.
• Familiarity with route optimization and TMS.
• Outstanding leadership and communication across organizational levels.
• Ability to implement transportation policies compliant with regulations.
• Strategic thinker capable of long-term network design.
• Willingness to travel ~15% domestically.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for U.S. first and middle mile transportation operations.
• Lead and mentor a team of ~20 transportation professionals.
• Own and manage a transportation budget of ~ $200M.
• Drive network optimization initiatives for routing and capacity planning.
• Ensure excellence across the national distribution and manufacturing network.
• Lead transportation procurement, carrier sourcing, RFPs, and negotiations.
• Manage relationships with 100+ carrier partners.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to optimize network flow.
• Establish and enforce transportation policies and governance.
• Oversee onboarding, transitions, and carrier integrations.
• Leverage TMS and analytics to improve performance.

Skills

Team leadership

Strategic thinking

Budget management

Carrier management

TMS experience

Data analytics

Relationship building

Policy development

Communication

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain/Logistics/Business

Tools

TMS (Transportation Management Systems)

Route optimization technologies

Job description

Cardinal Health seeks a Director of Transportation – First/Middle Mile to lead U.S. first and middle mile operations across manufacturing sites, cross docks and replenishment centers.

You will guide a ~20-person team, manage roughly $200M in transportation spend, and drive efficiency, service, and on-time delivery while coordinating with internal and carrier partners. Expect ~15% travel to support the network.