Director Distribution Operations (Burlington, NC)
Job Summary
ADUSA Distribution is the distribution company of Ahold Delhaize USA providing distribution services to one of the largest grocery retail supply chains in the nation. ADUSA Distribution fosters a culture that inspires and empowers our associates to always deliver exceptional service and value. Our team is supporting the supply chain network evolution to an integrated self-distribution model of the future serving leading omnichannel grocery brands Food Lion Giant Food The GIANT Company Hannaford and Stop & Shop. To learn more about our company and the other supply chain companies of Ahold Delhaize USA visit .
Were looking for an inspiring strategically minded leader to oversee all operations across a highly automated distribution and transportation campus supporting grocery fresh frozen and break pack product movement. As the Director Campus Leader you will shape the future of an essential supply chain node driving performance across service productivity efficiency financial outcomes and people development in a technology-forward environment.
This role is ideal for a seasoned supply chain executive who thrives in fastmoving automation-enabled operations builds strong partnerships and elevates operational excellence at scale.
What Youll Lead
You will directly manage and provide vision for teams across:
- Inventory
- Audit & Slotting
- Security
- Transportation
- Maintenance & Facilities (including automated systems maintenance)
- WMS WCS & Technology
- Retail Customer Support
- CI / Industrial Engineering
- Yard & Reclaim
Your leadership will set the pace and direction for a complex high-throughput and automated distribution ecosystem incorporating robotics material handling systems and integrated technology platforms.
What Youll Do
Strategic Leadership & Vision
- Build and communicate a clear forward-looking strategic vision for a Distribution Reclamation/GM and Transportation campus operating within a highly automated environment.
- Align campus operations with broader regional and network objectives to strengthen supply chain capability scalability and automation ROI.
- Serve as the senior site leader for automation adoption stability and evolution ensuring readiness for future technology investments.
Operational Excellence
- Oversee all day-to-day campus operations ensuring excellence in safety quality shrink management transportation service delivery and automation system performance.
- Ensure deliveries are on time and at cost meeting internal customer (supply chain retail) service expectations.
- Optimize distribution operations by balancing labor automation throughput system uptime and cost discipline.
- Partner closely with maintenance engineering and technology teams to ensure high availability and reliability of automated material handling and robotics systems.
Partnership & Stakeholder Management
- Maintain strong results-focused relationships with third-party labor and automation vendors ensuring operational alignment uptime and performance.
- Act as the campus leader partnering with Retail leadership ensuring service levels and customer expectations are consistently met.
- Collaborate with IT Engineering and external integrators on system enhancements upgrades and issue resolution.
Financial & Resource Leadership
- Develop long-term strategies that improve product flow maximize automation utilization and drive facility efficiency.
- Own the campus operating and capital budgets including automation-related capital investment and lifecycle planning.
- Meet or exceed key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure campus network and automation performance outcomes (throughput utilization downtime cost per unit).
Continuous Improvement & Innovation
- Drive continuous improvement across financial technical and cultural systems leveraging automation data system analytics and engineering insights.
- Lead and contribute to network-wide CI projects supply chain planning initiatives and automation optimization efforts.
- Champion organizational change building high-performing teams that effectively operate alongside advanced technology.
- Foster a culture of safety accountability and technology-enabled problem solving.
What You Bring
- 810 years of supply chain operations leadership experience.
- Demonstrated experience leading operations within highly automated or semi-automated distribution facilities (e.g. AS/RS goods-to-person robotics conveyor systems automated storage and sortation).
- Experience supervising 100 associates across multi-functional teams in complex operational environments.
- BA in a related field or 10 years of progressive supply chain experience.
- Proven history of driving operational performance in high-volume technology-driven distribution centers.
Skills & Strengths
- Strong understanding of automated warehouse operations system dependencies and labor/technology integration.
- Exceptional customer focus and ability to partner with retail leadership.
- Strong collaboration influencing and communication skills across operations engineering and IT teams.
- Skilled negotiator and analytical thinker with the ability to translate system data into operational action.
- Strategic mindset with the ability to execute through people processes and technology.
- Effective problem solver with the ability to navigate unplanned downtime system constraints and third-party dependencies.
- Strong human relations skills to lead and engage internal teams vendors automation partners and brand stakeholders.
- Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change and inspire teams through automation-driven transformation.
Other Requirements
- Ability to travel 1525%.
- Willingness to support on-call needs 7 days per week.
- Comfort acting as the senior site leader during automation outages or critical system events.
Why This Role Matters
As a Director Campus Leader you will influence:
- Regional and network service performance
- Financial results for a highly automated supply chain hub
- Successful utilization and evolution of automation investments
- Cross-functional partnerships with retail engineering and distribution leadership
- The culture development and success of your operational teams
Your leadership will directly impact how millions of customers across the region receive the products they rely on every day enabled by automation innovation and strong operational discipline.
We are an organization that values diversity and encourages all qualified individuals to apply without regard to sex race color ancestry national origin citizenship status religion age marital status (including civil unions) military service veteran status pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions) genetic information sexual orientation gender identity legally recognized disability domestic violence victim status or any other characteristic protected by law.
Our organization is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities including you have a disability and require assistance in the application process please email
Required Experience:
Director