Director of Warehouse/Operations

About Us 

Model Home Interiors (MHI), now part of Empire & Co., is a leading design and installation firm creating fully furnished environments for lifestyle real estate, including multifamily housing, student residences, senior living communities, and model homes. Together, we are the nation’s trusted one-stop partner for residential and lifestyle real estate FF&E. We help builders and developers stand out by ensuring no two communities ever feel the same, whether aligning with existing design schemes or co-creating custom, differentiated looks. Backed by Empire’s 80 years of expertise across commercial, residential, and hospitality projects, MHI delivers distinctive spaces that inspire buyers, attract residents, and accelerate sales. Joining MHI means being part of a collaborative team within Empire, where creativity, design thinking, and problem-solving make a real impact on how people live. 

Empire & Co., through our Model Home Interiors (MHI) division, is seeking a Director of Warehouse/Operations to oversee operations at our Durham, North Carolina warehouse. The Director of Operations will work closely with Sales, Account Management, and Installation teams to meet customer expectations and business goals.  

This is a full-time role based in Durham, North Carolina. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Daily Operations – Work with Direct managerial reports and oversee the daily scheduling of installation and warehouse operations. Act as a liaison for operations, by assisting supporting functions/departments on processes and ensuring teams are aware of status updates. 

• Financial - Manage the labor resources for both warehouse and installation teams to achieve financial goals.  

• Staff development – Manage and train direct reports and their staff, and long-term temps. 

• Communication – Assure the Operations team is proactive and replies promptly and accurately to e-mails and phone calls from other cross functional departments.  

• Inventory – assign cycle counts weekly to assure all locations are audited at least once a quarter. Based on accuracy rates, certain measure may need to be taken to improve accuracy. Lead the year-end Inventory process and forward results to NY Finance. 

• Asset management – Ensure storage are properly received, stored, and pulled for delivery. Be the liaison with the teams that manage the specific accounts.  

• Fleet management – Ensure fleet is properly maintained, work with management on replacement vehicles as leases expire, or owned vehicles reach end of useful operations.  

• Policies & procedures – Set policies and make recommendations for decisions guiding productivity, quality, and cost efficiency of operations. Assure the company policies and procedures, and governmental regulations are adhered to.  

• Operations Management - Manage and report through metrics, monitor performance against targets and develop reporting and auditing processes 

Skills & Qualifications 

• The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 10 years of operational and warehouse experience and a minimum of five years in a managerial role. Preferably in the residential furniture industry. 

• Possess excellent written and verbal communication skills 

• Demonstrate the ability to plan and forecast daily work, delegate effectively, and hold team accountable for results. 

• Problem solving – proactively identify issues and implement steps to resolve. 

• Staff development – both direct managerial reports and their staff