VP Distribution Operations Recruitment
Warehouse and fulfilment leadership that ships the right product, on time, at a cost you can live with
The Business Lives or Dies in the Warehouse
For a distributor or wholesaler, the warehouse is the business. Customers do not see your purchasing savvy or your systems; they see whether the right product arrived complete, on time, and undamaged. When distribution operations slip, customers leave quietly, and labour and freight costs climb loudly.
A strong VP of Distribution Operations owns that promise. They run receiving, putaway, picking, and shipping as a disciplined operation with real metrics, manage a large hourly workforce through supervisors who actually supervise, and know when technology such as WMS, automation, or conveyance genuinely pays and when it is an expensive distraction.
We recruit distribution executives for Canadian wholesalers, distributors, and retailers, from single-DC operations to multi-site networks. We know what separates a warehouse manager with a bigger title from an executive who can design and run a network.
What a Strong VP Distribution Owns
Service Performance
Fill rates, order accuracy, and on-time shipping, measured honestly and defended daily, because customers keep score even when you don't.
Labour Productivity
Managing one of the company's largest cost lines: staffing models, engineered standards, and supervision that gets a fair day's work fairly.
The Facility Network
Layout, capacity, and location decisions across one DC or several, so the network matches where customers and volumes actually are.
Inventory Integrity
Cycle counting, shrink control, and location accuracy that make the inventory on the system the inventory on the shelf.
Technology & Automation
WMS implementations and automation investments chosen for payback, executed without shutting the operation down.
Safety & Compliance
A safe operation across forklifts, racking, and dock doors, with the standards discipline that prevents the incident everyone regrets.
Signs It's Time to Hire a VP Distribution Operations
Order errors and short shipments are showing up in customer complaints and credit notes.
Warehouse labour costs are rising faster than volume and nobody can explain exactly why.
The company has outgrown its facility or is adding locations and no one senior has run a network.
Inventory accuracy is poor enough that sales sells what the warehouse cannot find.
A WMS or automation investment is planned and there is no executive who has delivered one.
Peak seasons descend into chaos that heroic effort barely covers, year after year.
Why Distribution Searches Need a Specialist
Manager vs. Executive
Running one building well is not the same as designing a network, a labour strategy, and a technology roadmap. Many candidates have only done the first.
Volume Profile Match
Full-pallet, case-pick, and each-pick operations are different disciplines. E-commerce fulfilment is different again. Experience must match your profile.
Hourly Workforce Leadership
Success depends on leading hundreds of hourly employees, often unionized, through front-line supervisors. That skill is proven, not claimed.
The Metrics Test
Real distribution leaders quote their fill rates, cost per line, and turns from memory. Vague candidates are telling you something.
Systems Scars
A WMS go-live that failed can cripple a distributor. You want the executive who has lived through implementations, including a rough one.
Cost vs. Service Judgment
Anyone can cut warehouse cost by wrecking service, or buy service with overtime. The rare skill is knowing where the balance sits for your customers.
One-Year, No-Fault, Full Replacement Guarantee
We are so confident in our process that we offer a one-year, no-fault, full replacement guarantee on every executive we place. If it doesn't work out for any reason, we'll conduct a replacement search at no additional fee.
Ready to Find Your Next Distribution Leader?
If the warehouse is where your customer promises go to die, the right operations executive turns it back into your competitive edge. Contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation.
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