Role Overview
The Vice President of Operations leads a large-scale ecommerce fulfillment, distribution, and light manufacturing operation across multiple US sites, reporting to the Chief Supply Chain & Manufacturing Officer.
This is both a strategic and hands-on role. The VP sets multi-year direction, manages P&L impact, drives continuous improvement, optimizes network performance, partners with vendors and develops a strong leadership bench while staying close to daily execution, ensuring critical peak period performance, improving cost-to-serve and delivering reliable customer service.
The ideal candidate brings experience in high-volume e-commerce and small-parcel fulfillment with the technical, analytical, and people-leadership capabilities needed to scale operations, strengthen process discipline, reduce costs, improve quality, and deliver superior customer experience.
What You'll Do
Lead Regional Operations
- Own regional site performance across safety, quality, service, cost, productivity, inventory accuracy, and customer experience.
- Translate business growth objectives into scalable operating models, staffing plans, facility strategies, process standards, and performance systems.
- Build short-, mid-, and long-term operating plans that align capacity, labor, systems, automation, service levels, customer promise, and cost structure.
- Oversee and develop Site Operations, Engineering, Safety, and Operational Excellence leaders.
Drive E-commerce Fulfillment, and Small-Parcel Performance
- Lead high-volume ecommerce fulfillment including order flow, pick-pack-ship, sortation, returns, exception management, and on time ship and customer service performance
- Improve order cycle time, dock-to-stock performance, units per labor hour, cost per order, cost per shipment, inventory accuracy, damage rates, returns handling, and carrier performance.
- Partner with Transportation, Customer Experience, Merchandising, Planning, Finance, IT, and external providers to ensure fulfillment performance supports customer expectations and business growth.
- Own peak readiness: capacity planning, labor modeling, inventory positioning, contingency planning and disciplined execution.
- Manage parcel carrier, 3PL, packaging, automation and maintenance vendor relationships.
Scale Light Manufacturing and Technical Operations
- Lead light manufacturing and personalization across Softline and Hardlines merchandise, including packaging, quality control, production planning, and value-added services.
- Apply engineering, Lean, Six Sigma, and process design principles to improve flow, reduce variation, eliminate waste, and increase repeatability.
- Partner with Engineering and Facilities on layout, material flow, equipment reliability, ergonomics, automation readiness, and capital projects.
- Evaluate and implement new technologies, equipment, systems, and automation that improve speed, quality, labor efficiency, and scalability.
Build Operational Excellence
- Lead an operating system grounded in Lean, Six Sigma, standard work, visual management, root cause problem-solving, daily management, and disciplined KPI review.
- Establish scorecards across safety, quality, delivery, cost, people, inventory, and customer outcomes.
- Sponsor major transformation initiatives including facility redesign, WMOS/ERP implementation, automation deployment, systems integration, process standardization, and network optimization.
- Create a culture of operational discipline where leaders use data, facts, and root cause analysis to solve problems, improve performance, and sustain results.
Own Financial and Strategic Performance
- Own operating budgets, labor plans, productivity commitments and cost improvement plans.
- Manage P&L-impacting decisions across labor, supplies, freight, parcel, packaging, maintenance, inventory accuracy, quality defects, and vendor spend.
- Build business cases for capital investments, automation, facility changes, technology upgrades, outsourcing, insourcing, and network changes.
- Partner with Finance on cost-to-serve models, productivity targets, and operating reviews
Develop People and Culture
- Build a high-performing leadership bench across directors, senior managers, operations managers, engineers, safety leaders, and analysts.
- Create a culture grounded in safety, accountability, respect, communication, recognition, development, and measurable performance.
- Partner with Human Resources on workforce planning, succession planning, leadership capability, engagement, retention, change management, training, and organizational design.
- Lead through complexity, ambiguity, growth, turnaround, peak periods, systems change, and operational transformation.
What We're Looking For
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations, Manufacturing, Business, or related field.
- 12+ years of progressive operations leadership in ecommerce direct-to-consumer fulfillment, distribution, logistics, small-parcel operations, light manufacturing, supply chain, or related environments.
- 5+ years leading Directors, Senior Managers, General Managers across multi-site/multi-function operations.
- Demonstrated results improving safety, service, quality, productivity, cost, and inventory accuracy in high-volume environments.
- Strong financial acumen: budgeting, labor planning, cost reduction, and P&L impact.
- Experience with WMS, ERP, LMS, labor planning, inventory and parcel shipping, and operational dashboards.
- Track record leading capital projects, technology implementations, equipment/technology deployment or large-scale operational transformation.
- Builds cross-functional partnerships: Supply Chain, Transportation, Finance, HR, IT, and Customer Experience.
Preferred Qualifications
- Engineering or technical degree; MBA or advanced degree a plus.
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Master Black Belt, PMP and/or APICS/ASCM certification.
- Experience with e-commerce, omnichannel retail, high-SKU operations, parcel shipping, light manufacturing, assembly, customization, packaging, kitting, or personalization.
- Experience with automation, robotics, conveyor/sortation systems, warehouse control systems, or advanced analytics.
- Experience managing 3PLs, parcel carriers, automation vendors and outsourced labor providers.
- Proficiency in SQL, Power BI, Tableau, advanced Excel, data visualization, or similar analytics tools.
- Background in startups, turnaround, rapid scaling, or facility launch environments.
How We Lead
We hire and develop leaders who role model our WSI Leadership Behaviors. The VP is expected to be:
- Strategic and hands-on: able to set regional direction while understanding what is happening on the floor.
- Data-driven: uses KPIs, root cause analysis, and financial modeling to make decisions.
- Customer-focused: understands that operational performance directly affects delivery promise, brand trust, and repeat purchase behavior.
- Technically credible: able to work effectively with engineering, systems and process design teams.
- People-centered: develop leaders, create an engaging culture, and build accountability.
- Change-capable: experienced in leading transformation, process standardization, systems implementation, and performance turnarounds.
- Commercially sharp: understands cost-to-serve, P&L impact, capital ROI, labor leverage, and service tradeoffs.
What Success Looks Like
In this role, success means:
- Measurable improvement in service, quality, cost, inventory accuracy and customer delivery.
- Stronger peak readiness and labor planning discipline with operational consistency.
- Clear operating scorecards in place and reviewed consistently across all sites.
- A leadership bench that runs the day-to-day and is ready for the next level of growth.
- At least one major transformation project: automation, facility redesign, or systems; executed on time and on budget.
- Stronger cross-functional relationships and a reputation as a collaborative, execution-oriented leader.
Why Join Us
This is a high-visibility executive role with real P&L accountability and room to shape the regional fulfillment operating model. You''ll work at the intersection of ecommerce growth, operational excellence, and people development, in a strategic and hands on role central to the operations of Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Benefits Just for You
Depending on your position and your location, here are a few highlights of what you might be eligible for:
- A generous discount on all Williams-Sonoma, Inc. brands
- A 401(k) plan and other investment opportunities
- Paid vacations, holidays, and time off to volunteer
- Health benefits, dental and vision insurance, including same-sex domestic partner benefits
- Tax-free commuter benefits
- A wellness program that supports your physical, financial and emotional health
Your Journey in Continued Learning
- In-person and online learning opportunities through WSI University
- Cross-brand and cross-function career opportunities
- Resources for self-development
- Advisor (Mentor) program
- Career development workshops and learning programs
- Speaker series
WSI will not now or in the future commence an immigration case or "sponsor" an individual for this position (for example, H-1B or other employment-based immigration).
This role is not eligible for relocation assistance.
Williams-Sonoma, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, or other applicable state or local laws and ordinances.