About the Opportunity

The Sr. Manager, Inventory Management oversees current and future inventory practices and policies across a $4 Billion annual revenue business (Driscoll’s of the Americas, or DOTA). DOTA inventory operations and transactional activities span across 50+ distribution centers and thousands of customer orders each week. The velocity of inventory activities is extremely high, given the hyper-perishable nature of fresh berries and the daily “heart-beat” of production and commercial operations. Accurate inventory (quantity, location, age) is vital to the successful execution of the DOTA business in meeting customer requirements. Inventory turns are in the range of 100-200, depending on time of year and type of berry. The Sr. Manager, Inventory Management will play an integral role in the growth and expansion of the company as a key business partner to the operations, commercial and financial teams. The role is responsible for the development and execution of processes and digital systems to effectively manage inventory. The Sr. Manager will be the cross-functional leader that owns and maintains the accuracy of DOTA’s planning inventory, by managing inventory corrections, SOP updates, root cause analysis, system and process enhancements to support DOTA’s inventory accuracy for fruit and packaging . The Sr. Manager will lead the development of key metrics and drive continuous improvement across several functional stakeholders, including logistics, S&OP, finance, accounting, sales, and information services (IS). This highly visible DOTA role serves as the main liaison between the various functional stakeholders to ensure alignment and achievement of business goals related to inventory. Key business goals address areas such as inventory accuracy in the warehouse, inventory accuracy and reconciliation across multiple digital platforms, inventory obsolescence, inventory visibility, and inventory age. The Sr. Manager will leverage a range of existing digital technologies and participate as the inventory lead in the design and implementation of an Oracle-based ERP platform in the coming years. The Sr. Manager will report directly to the VP Logistics for DOTA.

Responsibilities

Develop and implement strategies, policies, and processes to ensure inventory integrity through inventory variance reduction, and improve inventory management to ensure that Driscoll’s has the right product in the right locations and to improve service levels while reducing inventory investments and operational costs

• Delight Berry Customers by minimizing inventory misalignment shortages caused by inventory data variances.
• Proactively identify inventory management opportunities and risks
• Define, set, and execute to financial targets and KPIs. Identifies and builds key dashboards and metrics to monitor the various aspects of inventory
• Collaborate closely with operational, commercial, planning, financial, accounting, audit, and IS functions to develop inventory tools and solutions to support the direction of the business
• Identify significant inventory data variances, perform root cause analysis, lead and drive resolution of inventory variances using a proactive data driven / cross-functional collaborative approach to mitigate further recurrences. This position will be empowered to make the final decision on inventory allocation and variance resolution.
• Develop automated system resolution processes to accelerate the identification and resolution of inventory data variances. Implement and monitor tools that measure / track lost inventory transactions between systems
• Own the inventory related business process requirements for an Oracle ERP implementation; fulfill the role of the inventory “business process owner” for the business during the Oracle ERP implementation
• Report to senior leadership on a regular basis on the state of inventory as well as future direction
• Drive the design and continuous improvement of inventory control system; results oriented problem solver
• Coordinate and assist in ensuring that excess/obsolete inventory are properly managed
• Prepare written analyses, documentation, reports, and other data
• Follow Company policies and practices while representing Driscoll’s in an ethical and business-like manner in all interactions with employees, governmental agencies, growers, customers, etc.
• Ensure the security of Driscoll’s confidential and proprietary information and materials.
• Travel required (30-50%) including outside the US.

Candidate Profile

Sr. Manager, Inventory Management

Watsonville, CA (or remote in California)

The Sr. Manager, Inventory Management oversees current and future inventory practices and policies across a $4 Billion annual revenue business (Driscoll’s of the Americas, or DOTA). DOTA inventory operations and transactional activities span across 50+ distribution centers and thousands of customer orders each week. The velocity of inventory activities is extremely high, given the hyper-perishable nature of fresh berries and the daily “heart-beat” of production and commercial operations. Accurate inventory (quantity, location, age) is vital to the successful execution of the DOTA business in meeting customer requirements. Inventory turns are in the range of 100-200, depending on time of year and type of berry. The Sr. Manager, Inventory Management will play an integral role in the growth and expansion of the company as a key business partner to the operations, commercial and financial teams. The role is responsible for the development and execution of processes and digital systems to effectively manage inventory.

The Sr. Manager will be the cross-functional leader that owns and maintains the accuracy of DOTA’s planning inventory, by managing  inventory corrections, SOP updates, root cause analysis, system and process enhancements to support DOTA’s inventory accuracy for fruit and packaging .

The Sr. Manager will lead the development of key metrics and drive continuous improvement across several functional stakeholders, including logistics, S&OP, finance, accounting, sales, and information services (IS). This highly visible DOTA role serves as the main liaison between the various functional stakeholders to ensure alignment and achievement of business goals related to inventory. Key business goals address areas such as inventory accuracy in the warehouse, inventory accuracy and reconciliation across multiple digital platforms, inventory obsolescence, inventory visibility, and inventory age. The Sr. Manager will leverage a range of existing digital technologies and participate as the inventory lead in the design and implementation of an Oracle-based ERP platform in the coming years.

The Sr. Manager will report directly to the VP Logistics for DOTA.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Supply Chain Management, Engineering, or other related business discipline. Master’s Degree is a plus.
• At least 10 years of experience in an inventory control/management leadership role within a consumer goods, pharmaceutical, food, manufacturing, or distribution environment
• Demonstrated experience in the operation and improvement of an effective global inventory management organization
• Experience with perishable goods is strongly preferred
• Six Sigma Black Belt (or similar) with strong and demonstrated understanding of foundational supply chain practices, tools, and analytics
• Skilled at interfacing with a variety of key stakeholders such as customers, colleagues (sales, warehousing, manufacturing, IS, finance etc.), and suppliers.
• Certifications are a key advantage in supply chain or inventory management (e.g., CSCP, APICS CPIM)
• Knowledge of Oracle (or similar) inventory management and operational modules strongly preferred.  Technology-savvy and experienced with other software, e.g. Tableau or other BI tools.
• Demonstrated analytical, organizational, decision making, facilitation, persuasion, and presentation skills
• Exceptionally strong interpersonal skills essential to effectively interact cross-functional, areas and levels of business affecting the demand planning process
• Well versed in financial inventory metrics
• Ability to operate both strategically and tactically in a high-energy, fast paced environment
• Excellent business judgment, strong written and oral communication skills, and a practical, common-sense approach to getting things done
• High degree of organization and ability to manage multiple, competing priorities simultaneously
• Communicates effectively with all levels of the organization; ability to effectively work with others in a highly collaborative manner and inspire camaraderie in the teams.
• Excellent communicator at all levels from frontline individual contributor up to VP/CEO levels. Outstanding oral and written skills, including presentation skills, are required.
• The ideal candidate will be able to thrive in ambiguity, own and execute multiple deliverables
• Bilingual (English/Spanish) fluency a plus.

This job description is intended to describe the general nature of the work performed by employees in this job. It is not an exhaustive list of all the job's responsibilities. At Driscoll’s, all of our jobs include broad responsibilities for continually improving the processes we use to develop our products.

Compensation & Benefits

The following information is provided in good faith as a general description of the salary range and benefits for the position posted.  The actual compensation offered to the successful candidate is dependent upon experience, skills, education, work location, internal pay equity, and other objective job-related factors. 

Salary Range estimated for Sr. Manager, Inventory Management: $115,000 to $162,000 USD.

Driscoll’s is committed to a culture of care and offers an attractive benefits package that includes comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, life insurance, and disability coverage for positions working more than 30 hours per week. Other benefits include:  401(k) with employer match, profit-sharing participation, paid sick time, paid vacation, paid personal and family care leave, and a free Employee Assistance Program (EAP).  More detailed information regarding the benefits package, will be shared during the application process.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

Driscoll’s is the global market leader for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage and hundreds of independent growers around the world, Driscoll’s is passionate about growing fresh, beautiful, and delicious berries. Our values of humility, passion and trustworthiness have guided our mission to delight consumers around the world.

                  

Driscoll’s exclusive patented berry varieties are developed through years of research using only natural breeding methods – meaning, no GMOs. From farm-to-table, we focus on delivering a high quality, premium berry experience with our many supply chain partners.

Driscoll’s is the trusted brand for Only the Finest Berries™.

About Driscolls

Driscoll's is the global market leader for fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. With more than 100 years of farming heritage and hundreds of independent growers around the world, Driscoll's is passionate about growing fresh, beautiful and delicious berries. Our values of humility, passion and trustworthiness have guided our mission to delight consumers around the world.

Driscoll's exclusive patented berry varieties are developed through years of research using only natural breeding methods – meaning, no GMOs. From farm-to-table, we focus on delivering a high quality, premium berry experience with our many supply chain partners.

Driscoll's is the trusted brand for Only the Finest Berries™.

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Driscoll's es el proveedor líder en la comercialización de Fresas, Frambuesas, Zarzamoras y Arándanos Azules en el mundo. Con más de 100 años de herencia en agricultura y cientos de productores independiente alrededor del mundo, Driscoll's es una compañía apasionada por cultivar Berries frescas, hermosas y deliciosas. Nuestros valores de humildad, pasión y confianza han guiado nuestra misión de deleitar a los consumidores en el mundo.

Las variedades exclusivas de Driscoll's han sido desarrolladas a través de años de investigación usando sólo métodos de mejoramiento natural. De la granja a la mesa, nos enfocamos en ofrecer una experiencia de alta calidad con apoyo de nuestros socios de la cadena de suministro.

Driscoll's es la marca de confianza de sólo las mejores Berries.