Powder7 Director of Operations

About Us

Powder7 is a ski retailer in Golden, Colorado serving customers in person and online. The company prides itself on providing an exceptional customer experience, expert gear advice, and a vast selection of gear for every type of skier, Powder7’s mantra of skiing for all is embraced by employees at every level of our business. We believe people are at their best when they are active outside, especially in winter. We strive to inspire, enable, and support more people in experiencing the joy of a powder day. 

Founded in 2007, Powder7 is family owned and led. We employ approximately 40 year round full time employees, and our team grows to 80 in peak season.

Job Summary

Powder7’s Director of Operations has a customer-first mentality and ties together a team player attitude with strong and experienced business acumen. Our Director of Operations leads our Customer Service (retail, ecommerce), Fulfillment, and Ski Technician teams. This person connects the dots within all areas of the business, eliminating points of friction and working to reduce siloing, to make sure we are running as efficiently as possible. Strong leadership and communication skills are essential, as this person serves as the link and liaison between ownership and the three largest departments of the company, all of which are customer touch points. Additionally, this person will work closely with human resources to ensure all company policies are being upheld, creating new forward-thinking approaches to staffing, scheduling, and all aspects of the employee life-cycle. Collaboration with the Merchandising and Inventory Planning team will be essential to ensure products flow smoothly through our systems and into our customers’ hands, while a strong relationship with our Marketing and Strategy team will be key looking ahead to forecast, plan, and develop new strategic initiatives.

Job Responsibilities

Leadership

• Acts with an owner mentality, maintaining a connection to all aspects of our business and keeping financial health and profitability top of mind while maintaining high standards of workplace culture

CS, Ski Tech Team, & Fulfillment

• Leads the CS, Ski Tech, and Fulfillment teams (approximately 28 year round full time employees; up to 60 during peak season) to ensure the service, productivity, and prioritization within and across these teams
• Formulates, delivers, and optimizes KPI’s for maintaining high customer satisfaction, accurate labor modeling, expense to revenue ratio trends, high staff morale, and owner involvement ratio trends
• Develops a proactive and dynamic staffing plan and model that ensures that Powder7’s staff is able to meet customer demand, while staying within our financial boundaries
• Aligns department leaders on attributes of high performing individuals and teams and ensures all are hitting the mark
• Coordinates closely with CS, Ski Tech, and Fulfillment managers in all of the above duties, yet ultimately manages the performance of these teams and managers.
• Embraces technology, automation, and constantly looks for ways to improve and increase efficiency within our operations
• Helps drive and rally staff around major strategic initiatives, such as major backend software upgrades such as Shopify and Netsuite
• Works closely with the Leadership Team to help develop and execute long and medium term vision and strategy and aligning department priorities with overall priorities of company
• Works closely with the VP of Merch and Inventory Planning, particularly on product listing and inventory workflow, matching the demand and supply of work and labor appropriately
• Works closely with the VP of Marketing and Strategy to help plan sale periods and meet customer demand
• Works closely with HR to continually evaluate the performance of the CS, Ski Tech, and Fulfillment teams
• Takes direction and guidance from owners and has the confidence to carry out decisions
• Develops an understanding of when to involve owners in the decision-making process and presents clear, well articulated, data-based options to aid in the decision-making process.

Customer Experience & Voice

• Amplifies the voice of the customer to the Leadership Team in order to improve how Powder7 retains its current customers and gains new customers.
• Looks for new ways to improve Powder7’s customer experience and create new methods for doing so

Leadership Team Expectations 

• Willing to react immediately to occasional company emergencies
• Willing to occasionally sacrifice for the company over the short term when exceptional needs arise
• Willing to fill other roles in the company on a short term basis when exceptional needs arise
• Works on-site to observe overall company functions
• Reports to President / Owners who primarily work remotely

Benefits & Compensation / What we offer

• $115,000-$125,000/year depending on direct experience
• Medical, vision, dental, and life insurance
• 401k
• Discounts on ski and outdoor gear
• Access to industry events and networks

Requirements / About you

• Bachelor’s degree
• 6 years experience with increasing levels of responsibility within an operations role, including customer-facing responsibilities; experience in retail or ecommerce preferred, but not required
• 5 years of team management experience
• Possess strong critical thinking skills, thought leadership, and a strong business acumen
• Share all of Powder7’s values: Stay Curious, Find a Way, Better Together, Do What’s Right, Play, Authenticity.
• A belief that people are at their best when they are active outside, especially in winter.
• Ability to work professionally across functional and organizational boundaries
• Track record of delivering initiatives from conceptualization through completion of large-scale projects
• Strong verbal and written communication skills 
• Self-starting and resourceful work ethic and integrity
• Commitment to the highest level of customer service and satisfaction
• Proven forecasting skills and relationship management experiences
• Financial skills: ability to take financial documents and finance-based directives from president/ownership and implement them into day-to-day operations
• Experience with Shopify, Netsuite, MySQL are preferred but not required
• Works on-site at our location in our Golden, Colorado headquarters
• During peak season this position requires weekend availability up to four weekend days per month

To apply:

• Email your resume and cover letter to the email address provided on LinkedIn.