Manager, Distribution Excellence Jobs

Description & Requirements
Who we are:
At lululemon Yoga is our first love, however we also make technical products for running, training and pretty much every other way you like to sweat. You can find our stores all around the world, from Vancouver to Dubai, and places in between. Our vision is to create transformational experiences for people to live happy, healthy, fun lives.
About This Team
The Distribution Excellence team (DX) supports the ongoing growth of our business by leading various optimization efforts across our fulfillment network. Partnering not only cross-functionally, but also cross-facility, each member of the team impacts multiple sites and facets of work across our DCs. We tackle a variety of challenges from leading the execution phase of capital projects, to supporting site-specific improvement projects and acting as a liaison and thought partner between our DCs and lululemon's broader business. We support the DCs by breaking-down barriers, finding synergies, documenting and standardizing tribal knowledge, and driving more disciplined operations. Each team member's scope is comprise of 3 pillars: supporting the ad hoc needs of the team, supporting the specific needs of the site they are based at, and supporting a specific set of initiatives.
A Day In The Life

• Build a high performaning team that is sustained by a motivational and supportive environment in which employees are challenged, coached, trained and provided with growth opportunities.
• Assist in creating and deploying the DC skill capability model
• For large strategic intiatives, work with initiative team to develop the operations solution and manage the solution cutover, including operations readiness and stabilization
• Evaluate DC operations and determine improvement opportunities to enhance service and reduce costs. Translate opportunities into initiatives and obtain approval to proceed.
• As part of initiatives and other changes, evaluate process changes and develop/deploy people learning plans.
• As part of initiatives and general improvements, develop and document process Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Partnering with Engineering, benchmark processes and identify improvement opportunities
• Support creation and maintenance of an effective training operating model with key partners, including Learning team, DC Operations, P&C and Health and Safety.
• Partner with Engineering and DC Operations team to establish, evaluate and maintain performance standards for all areas of operations. Help ensure performance targets are achieved
• Champion lululemon’s culture and core values.
• Improve process and capability performance; help drive process consistency across the distribution network
• Mentor, coach and develop talent on your team and throughout the DC. Ensure your team has effective skills to be successful.
• Provide training to operations team to ensure operational readiness for change.
• Support the creation and maintenance of an effective, sustainable training program; assist in improving Warehouse Associate and DC leadership experience and skills
• Evaluate DC processes and determine improvement opportunities; build business case and obtain approval to proceed.
• With the Process Excellence team, drive process and SOP consistency across the DC network
• Develop and deploy operation solutions for lululemon operated DCs and 3PLs to support business requirements (e.g. new products) as well as to drive continuous improvement efforts.
• Ensure the local Distribution Excellence Team works closely with peers at all NA DCs, ensuring alignment and consistency across the DC network.
• Update processes with required operational changes, including adjustments to job description and resource needs
• Working with cross-functional teams, develop and deploy initiatives to scale distribution operations and deliver targeted performance improvements for their respective distribution center campus.
• Partnering with Learning team, help to build, deploy and evolve the DC functional learning program in their respective DC campus.
• Build and deploy effective DC change management program to ensure operational readiness. Manage teams through significant operational changes, ensuring operational readiness.

Qualifications

• Strong leadership skills with the proven ability to manage change, develop, mentor and coach personnel, including experience with cross-functional teams
• 4-year college degree, masters preferred.
• Ability to work in a lean, matrixed, highly collaborative team environment with multi-cultural members. Must be comfortable with and embrace consensus decision-making.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and Manhattan WMS. Labor Management System experience preferred.
• Creative thinking and excellent problem solving skills – have to be able to solve problems in a new way, seeing past what is established and create a new way of doing things
• Ability to work and deliver in changing environments, under limited guidance while adhering to specified deadlines and budgets
• Experience with automation and robotics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills – working with people across the distribution network, they have to be able to manage people well and communicate new ideas effectively
• Attention to detail and project management skills – in management of a multidisciplinary team, they must be able to focus on many tasks at once while still maintaining a close attention to the details of each
• Critical/logical thinking – have to locate problems, and then think of those problems from a variety of perspectives to assess the best solution
• 5+ years of leadership experience leading multiple teams with proven track record in project management, delivering continuous improvements in a complex distribution environment
• Undisputed integrity, personal, and business ethics; ability to build trust and respect with different stakeholder groups

#LI- SM1