Director Supply Chain

Serving the needs of all families with young children, Carter’s Inc. is the largest North American apparel retailer exclusively for babies and young children, encompassing Carter’s, OshKosh B’gosh, Skip*Hop and Little Planet brands. Meaningful work, constant learning, genuine people, and a community guided by core values that promote inclusion and innovation is in everything we do. There are many reasons to build your career at Carter's.

This position will manage a team of 3 direct reports and is responsible for 6 functional areas: 3PL Operations, Order Management, Imports, Operations (International Purchases), Quality Assurance and Local Manufacturing.

3PL Operations:

• Oversees 3PL operations: receiving, put away, picking, packing, value added services, receiving, outbound and quality audits, cycle counts, physical inventory, and reverse logistics.

• E-commerce fulfillment control through our 3rd party providers.

• Billing and transportation to customers functions (not delegated to the 3PLs).

• Works with the Wholesale and Retail teams on setting priorities, understanding the business needs and communicating them to the 3PLs management and operational teams.

• Prepares the inbound and outbound forecast for each 3PL on weekly buckets and with a 6 month horizon so the 3PL can assess the resources needed to service our account.

• Keeps detailed and precise records of all billable activities within the 4 walls of the 3PLs and validates the vendors’ pre-bill and final invoice for approval.

• Develops a 3PL scorecard to measure the operational effectiveness and capacity of the logistics partners.

• Sets up and tracks on a daily basis the operational KPIs to ensure capacity, throughput, productivity and cost efficiency.

• Manages and controls the 3PL budget and expenses to ensure that CPU remains on target.

• Manages and directs the Carter’s 3PLs in-plant team to ensure operational excellence.

• Communicates, advises and raises concerns and issues between the 3PL and Carter’s organization.

• Has the responsibility to act as Carter’s customer service representative in front of internal and external customers, ensuring that any request for information, complaint or inquiry is followed through until resolution.

• Directs, coaches, trains, and motivates assigned team. Ensures development plans are defined and individuals are assigned to appropriate roles 

Order Management:

• Responsible of processing in the system all Wholesale, Retail and e-comm orders, and releasing them to the respective 3PL for fulfillment.

• Assigns stock to the different orders by channel and according to the pro-forma orders (product reservation) performed by the commercial team.

• Makes sure that the Fill Rate meets the minimum customer’s requirements to avoid fines and penalties.

• Coordinates and negotiates with the commercial team product delivery windows and cancellation dates.

• Keeps track and controls of all outstanding orders to ensure that all of them are processed in a timely manner.

Imports:

• Negotiates services rates with freight forwarders, customs brokers, local transportation companies and other service providers.

• Manages service providers’ performance by developing key performance indicators and meet with them quarterly to review scorecards

• Analyzes and identify process improvements from booking to delivery, streamlining processes.

• Analyzes cost saving opportunities, making network changes and communicating to internal partners and service providers.

• Shipment tracking, monitor, review and track all shipments to ensure they are on schedule to meet the required in-DC date. 

• Responsible for the overall Mexico importation process, making sure the customs clearing processes are done efficiently minimizing the number of days.

• Responsible for garment classification (HTS tariff code) and constantly be informed/updated on Mexican customs regulations.

• Keeps track of guaranties to make sure funds are reimbursed in a timely manner.

• Non-tariff regulations, analyzes customs broker information to identify the garments that require Imports Permit and Guarantees Deposit. Submit Imports permit on Ministry of Economy website and submit guarantees on Bank.

• Imports file - Verify that documents are correct and complete according to the Mexican Customs Regulations

Operations (International Purchases):

• Directs the activities of the Operations Planning team across multiple Brands (Carter’s, OshKosh, Child of Mine, Skip Hop, licensed product) and product lifecycle (seasonal vs. replenishment).

• Leads the seasonal coverage process.

• Identifies and reports risk when significant Supply Chain disruptions occur (transportation issues, factory strikes, natural disasters, vendor failures, etc.), which requires coordination across the organization.

Quality Assurance:

• Oversees Quality Assurance personnel through the correct execution of Carters auditing process, and defect classification.

• Ensures the proper documentation of the QA processes at Inspectorio QA system according to corporate guidelines.

• Supervises that product verification in the 3PL premises takes place in time and under the parameters established by the NOM 004 and others that might apply to our products.

• Responsible of product sampling, lab testing and customers’ quality inspections at the 3PL premises.

• Follows up QA Corporate notifications or result from random product checks under Carters protocol and process factories chargebacks for any reworks incurred, procuring to salvage the product for sale.

• In site review of the manufacturing process of third party manufacturers (3PM) for local sourced product. Statistical analysis of factories that present incidents and Works with their supervisors to reduce error levels.

• Responsible of QA reports requested by Walmart for Sam’s Club - Walmart deliveries to be approved and valid during the producto delivery window with the customer.

• QA Budget control to reduce expenses.

Local Manufacturing:

• Responsible of the new third party manufacturers (3PM) onboarding process through compliance of Corporate Social Responsibility and product safety audits in the new locations.

• Establishes and follows up the local manufacturing production schedule with 3PMs based on the sales forecast for basic replenishable and limited life products.

• Negotiates costing structure with 3PMs to get the right balance between price and quality for the Company.

• Controls the Manufacturing budget seeking savings and efficiencies to reduce expenses.

• Works in coordination with the Merchandising department to define the product technical specs, materials, manufacturing techniques, etc.

Knowledge, skills and ability requirements (minimum competencies required for job performance)

• Strives for continuous improvement of the Supply Chain organization, engaging the team in the vision and encouraging creativity and innovation across team members and business partners.

• Strategic and analytical problem-solving skills including decision making, time management and task prioritization.

• Data-driven thinker, excellent quantitative skills.

• Self-starter eager to work in a fast-growing environment.

• Maintains a positive attitude and high-volume, high-quality workload under demanding conditions (e.g., short time frame).

• Demonstrates the ability to set goals, provide direction and action steps necessary to maximize short-term and long-term objectives.

• Ability to effectively delegate, multi-task and change priorities as needed.

• Ability to assume an influential leadership, communicate effectively and build consensus across functions and different stakeholders.

• Meets deadlines in a timely and efficient manner.

• 10 years of experience in Supply Chain operations in multinational companies.

• 3-5 years of experience working for or working with 3PL partners.

• Capacity to work effectively in multiple and complex systems with a strong attention to detail and organization.

• Demonstrates ability to quickly learn new technology and systems.

• Ability to determine/prioritize customer needs to empathize and provide appropriate solutions.

• Proficiency in ERP systems and data management.

• Fluent in English language.

Prior work experience and educational requirements

• BA/BS degree in Industrial Engineering, Logistics or similar areas.

• Must possess an in-depth knowledge of Supply Chain.

• Proficient in PC use including strong skills in MS Windows and Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, Power Point, Word).

• Past Enterprise system/ERP experience needed.

• 3 year E-commerce fulfillment experience, setting up, developing and operating the supply chain and omnichannel capabilities in fast growing environments.

At Carter's we promote a culture of inclusion and an environment of equality and respect, which is why our Talent Acquisition process is aligned with a policy of equality and non-discrimination with a firm commitment to attract, retain, develop and motivate our human talent based on competencies and skills. Carter's provides equal opportunities to all candidates, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital or marital status, nationality or any other situation protected by federal, state or local laws, and does not require medical certificates of no pregnancy or Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) as requirements for admission, permanence or promotion in employment.