Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces
VP, Logistics and Customer Operations
Kinder's Premium Quality Seasonings & Sauces, Walnut Creek, California, United States, 94598
Overview
About Us: Kinder’s is a high-growth company focused on flavor and quality. We operate in a privately held, founder-led culture with ambitious global expansion and a mission to add flavor to millions of meals and lives. Why Join Kinder’s: We value excellence, innovation, and teamwork. We are seeking a transformational leader to elevate our logistics and customer operations while preserving our values-driven, entrepreneurial culture. If you’re passionate about delivering outstanding service and scaling operations to fuel growth, we want to meet you. How You\'ll Have An Impact At Kinder’s
The Vice President of Logistics and Customer Operations is a key executive leader responsible for optimizing Kinder’s end-to-end logistics and customer order fulfillment processes, ensuring operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and a best-in-class customer experience. This role leads domestic and international logistics operations, including temperature-controlled and global freight, as well as the Customer Operations function, which manages the complete order-to-cash process, customer order entry, inventory deployment, and inventory control. The ideal candidate is a strategic, collaborative leader with a proven track record in building scalable, customer-focused supply chain and operations organizations within a high-growth CPG environment. They must bring strong expertise in logistics execution, international trade compliance, cold chain management, and customer service performance. Key Responsibilities
Logistics Strategy & Execution Develop and execute a comprehensive logistics strategy aligned with Kinder’s growth plans, customer expectations, and product portfolio complexity. Oversee transportation, distribution, 3PL partnerships, and warehouse operations, including cold chain logistics for temperature-sensitive products. Manage international freight, customs clearance, and global trade compliance, including import/export documentation, tariff strategies, and regulatory alignment with FDA, USDA, FSMA, and CBP standards. Lead initiatives to improve cost-efficiency, on-time delivery, and logistics visibility across the network. Customer Operations & Service Excellence Lead the Customer Operations team, including responsibility for order-to-cash processes, customer order entry, order fulfillment, inventory deployment, and inventory accuracy. Ensure seamless, accurate order processing with a focus on speed, service, and communication. Optimize inventory deployment strategies to ensure the right product is in the right place at the right time to support customer demand. Drive alignment across Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations to support accurate pricing, order confirmation, invoicing, credit resolution, and cash collection. Define and track customer service KPIs, including order accuracy, fill rates, case cuts, lead times, and complaint resolution. Champion a customer-first culture that strengthens partnerships with both internal stakeholders and external customers. Lead the development and execution of a proactive customer deductions strategy related to logistics and fulfillment issues (e.g., shortages, late deliveries, damages), in close coordination with Customer Service, Sales, and Finance. Analyze deduction trends and root causes to identify operational improvements, recovery opportunities, and customer-specific resolution strategies, while ensuring alignment with Kinder’s customer service standards and financial controls. Compliance, Risk & Cold Chain Oversight Ensure full compliance with relevant domestic and international logistics, trade, food safety, and temperature-control regulations. Manage risk mitigation strategies related to cold chain integrity, carrier reliability, customs delays, and geopolitical shifts. Drive improvements in real-time temperature monitoring, traceability, and incident response for temperature-sensitive SKUs. Technology, Data, and Process Improvement Leverage supply chain and ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Anaplan, WMS/TMS) to enhance visibility, reporting, and customer service responsiveness. Implement and improve automation, self-service tools, and data analytics to reduce errors and improve decision-making. Promote continuous improvement initiatives across both logistics and customer operations teams. People & Culture Leadership Build, lead, and develop high-performing teams in both logistics and customer operations, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation. Coach and mentor leadership within each function, ensuring team alignment with Kinder’s values and universal competencies. Lead through change by modeling agility, communication, and solution-orientation in a rapidly evolving environment. Required Qualifications
What You Bring to the Table: 15+ years of leadership experience in logistics, customer service, or supply chain operations, including in a CPG, food & beverage, or consumer goods company. Demonstrated success in order-to-cash process ownership, customer service excellence, and inventory deployment strategy. Experience with international logistics, import/export, customs compliance, and temperature-controlled distribution. Strong background in managing 3PLs, global freight forwarders, and cold chain partners. Expertise in supply chain systems, including ERP (SAP or equivalent), transportation management systems (TMS), and customer order platforms. Deep understanding of trade regulations, food safety standards, and customer delivery requirements. Proven ability to lead in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, high-growth environment, balancing execution with strategy. Excellent people leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills. Preferred Qualifications
Experience implementing digital transformation initiatives across logistics or customer service functions. Background in data-driven service level reporting and automation for customer operations. Familiarity with retail and foodservice customer requirements, including EDI, ASN, and retailer scorecard management. Location & Travel
The position will be based out of our Walnut Creek, CA office. We strongly believe in the power of culture and community and have a hybrid work structure with 4 days in the office on a weekly basis to encourage collaboration and personal connections that will allow us to better serve our customers and consumer and to have more fun. Travel to Kinder’s Logistics network location will be required but should be no more than 20% of work schedule. The expected starting salary range for this role is $230,000- $255,000 per year. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on location, education, qualifications, performance and business needs.
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About Us: Kinder’s is a high-growth company focused on flavor and quality. We operate in a privately held, founder-led culture with ambitious global expansion and a mission to add flavor to millions of meals and lives. Why Join Kinder’s: We value excellence, innovation, and teamwork. We are seeking a transformational leader to elevate our logistics and customer operations while preserving our values-driven, entrepreneurial culture. If you’re passionate about delivering outstanding service and scaling operations to fuel growth, we want to meet you. How You\'ll Have An Impact At Kinder’s
The Vice President of Logistics and Customer Operations is a key executive leader responsible for optimizing Kinder’s end-to-end logistics and customer order fulfillment processes, ensuring operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and a best-in-class customer experience. This role leads domestic and international logistics operations, including temperature-controlled and global freight, as well as the Customer Operations function, which manages the complete order-to-cash process, customer order entry, inventory deployment, and inventory control. The ideal candidate is a strategic, collaborative leader with a proven track record in building scalable, customer-focused supply chain and operations organizations within a high-growth CPG environment. They must bring strong expertise in logistics execution, international trade compliance, cold chain management, and customer service performance. Key Responsibilities
Logistics Strategy & Execution Develop and execute a comprehensive logistics strategy aligned with Kinder’s growth plans, customer expectations, and product portfolio complexity. Oversee transportation, distribution, 3PL partnerships, and warehouse operations, including cold chain logistics for temperature-sensitive products. Manage international freight, customs clearance, and global trade compliance, including import/export documentation, tariff strategies, and regulatory alignment with FDA, USDA, FSMA, and CBP standards. Lead initiatives to improve cost-efficiency, on-time delivery, and logistics visibility across the network. Customer Operations & Service Excellence Lead the Customer Operations team, including responsibility for order-to-cash processes, customer order entry, order fulfillment, inventory deployment, and inventory accuracy. Ensure seamless, accurate order processing with a focus on speed, service, and communication. Optimize inventory deployment strategies to ensure the right product is in the right place at the right time to support customer demand. Drive alignment across Sales, Finance, Supply Chain, and Operations to support accurate pricing, order confirmation, invoicing, credit resolution, and cash collection. Define and track customer service KPIs, including order accuracy, fill rates, case cuts, lead times, and complaint resolution. Champion a customer-first culture that strengthens partnerships with both internal stakeholders and external customers. Lead the development and execution of a proactive customer deductions strategy related to logistics and fulfillment issues (e.g., shortages, late deliveries, damages), in close coordination with Customer Service, Sales, and Finance. Analyze deduction trends and root causes to identify operational improvements, recovery opportunities, and customer-specific resolution strategies, while ensuring alignment with Kinder’s customer service standards and financial controls. Compliance, Risk & Cold Chain Oversight Ensure full compliance with relevant domestic and international logistics, trade, food safety, and temperature-control regulations. Manage risk mitigation strategies related to cold chain integrity, carrier reliability, customs delays, and geopolitical shifts. Drive improvements in real-time temperature monitoring, traceability, and incident response for temperature-sensitive SKUs. Technology, Data, and Process Improvement Leverage supply chain and ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Anaplan, WMS/TMS) to enhance visibility, reporting, and customer service responsiveness. Implement and improve automation, self-service tools, and data analytics to reduce errors and improve decision-making. Promote continuous improvement initiatives across both logistics and customer operations teams. People & Culture Leadership Build, lead, and develop high-performing teams in both logistics and customer operations, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation. Coach and mentor leadership within each function, ensuring team alignment with Kinder’s values and universal competencies. Lead through change by modeling agility, communication, and solution-orientation in a rapidly evolving environment. Required Qualifications
What You Bring to the Table: 15+ years of leadership experience in logistics, customer service, or supply chain operations, including in a CPG, food & beverage, or consumer goods company. Demonstrated success in order-to-cash process ownership, customer service excellence, and inventory deployment strategy. Experience with international logistics, import/export, customs compliance, and temperature-controlled distribution. Strong background in managing 3PLs, global freight forwarders, and cold chain partners. Expertise in supply chain systems, including ERP (SAP or equivalent), transportation management systems (TMS), and customer order platforms. Deep understanding of trade regulations, food safety standards, and customer delivery requirements. Proven ability to lead in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, high-growth environment, balancing execution with strategy. Excellent people leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills. Preferred Qualifications
Experience implementing digital transformation initiatives across logistics or customer service functions. Background in data-driven service level reporting and automation for customer operations. Familiarity with retail and foodservice customer requirements, including EDI, ASN, and retailer scorecard management. Location & Travel
The position will be based out of our Walnut Creek, CA office. We strongly believe in the power of culture and community and have a hybrid work structure with 4 days in the office on a weekly basis to encourage collaboration and personal connections that will allow us to better serve our customers and consumer and to have more fun. Travel to Kinder’s Logistics network location will be required but should be no more than 20% of work schedule. The expected starting salary range for this role is $230,000- $255,000 per year. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range based on location, education, qualifications, performance and business needs.
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