About The Role

Kinder’s is seeking a Director, Customer Operations, Retail and Alternative Channels to lead service and order execution across these customer portfolios, develop two Senior Managers, and build the processes needed to support continued growth.

We are a fast-growing company bringing flavor solutions to consumers nationwide. Our team values quality, collaboration, practical problem solving, and a commitment to our customers.

How you’ll have an impact at Kinder’s

Reporting to the Senior Director of Customer Operations, you will lead the Senior Manager for Retail and the Senior Manager for Alternative Channels. You will set priorities and service standards across both portfolios, serve as the senior escalation point for customer operations issues, and align Sales, Planning, Co-Manufacturing, Inventory Control, Logistics, Warehousing, and Finance around customer needs. You will own customer operations outcomes and partner with the teams that manage production, inventory, transportation, and distribution.

Key Responsibilities

Portfolio and people leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop the Retail and Alternative Channels Senior Managers; set clear goals, decision rights, and succession plans for their teams.
• Establish consistent order management and customer service practices across channels while accommodating customer-specific requirements, including grocery, club, ecommerce, and emerging accounts as applicable.
• Own the operating cadence for portfolio priorities, service risks, escalations, and corrective actions; communicate decisions and tradeoffs to senior leadership.

Customer strategy and execution

• Partner with Sales and customer teams on business plans, new item launches, promotions, seasonal programs, distribution changes, and customer-specific order cadences.
• Oversee order-to-delivery performance through the Senior Managers, from order receipt and confirmation through shipment, customer communication, and issue resolution.
• Align with Demand and Supply Planning on customer forecasts, allocation, inventory positions, replenishment needs, and recovery plans during supply constraints.
• Build senior operational relationships with retail and alternative channel partners; lead resolution of complex or recurring service issues.

Performance and continuous improvement

• Set portfolio scorecards and review fill rate, OTIF, order accuracy, in-stocks where available, deductions, fines and fees, inventory health, and customer service trends.
• Use data and root-cause analysis to prioritize improvements, track corrective actions, and present performance, risks, and recommendations to leadership.
• Partner with Logistics, Warehousing, and Finance to reduce avoidable freight expense, inventory moves, service penalties, and other cost-to-serve drivers.
• Standardize SOPs, reporting, allocation communication, and customer operations controls; support ERP, EDI, and workflow improvements with Customer Excellence and Systems.

Cross-functional partnership

• Coordinate with Planning, Sourcing, Co-Manufacturing, Quality, Inventory Control, and distribution partners on supply risks and customer readiness.
• Partner with Logistics and Warehouse Operations leaders on fulfillment and delivery execution; escalate partner issues and support contingency planning without directly managing those functions.

What You Bring to the Table

• 10+ years of progressive experience in customer operations, customer service, order management, or supply chain, preferably in food or consumer packaged goods.
• 5+ years leading people leaders or multi-team customer operations groups, with a record of developing managers and improving service.
• Experience supporting national retail and alternative channels, with strong knowledge of retailer order requirements, replenishment, promotions, and customer communications.
• Strong grasp of order-to-delivery processes, inventory constraints, allocation, EDI, customer portals, ERP systems, and service performance measures; SAP experience preferred.
• Ability to influence cross-functional partners, make sound decisions amid competing customer needs, and communicate clearly with senior leaders and external partners.
• Analytical and financial judgment to prioritize service recovery, process improvements, and cost-to-serve opportunities.
• Bachelor’s degree preferred, or equivalent relevant experience.

Location and Travel

This role is based in Kinder’s Walnut Creek, California office, with four days in the office each week. Travel to customers and Kinder’s operating partners may be required as business needs dictate.

Pay Transparency

The expected starting salary range for this role is $215,000- $240,000 per year. The salary range posted for this role reflects the good-faith base pay range Kinder’sreasonably expects to offer at the time of posting and may vary based on the location of the role. Individual compensation within the posted range will be determined based on factors such as relevant education, experience, qualifications, skills, and business needs.