What are the responsibilities and job description for the DTC Operations Manager position at Ghirardelli Chocolate Company?
Who We Are
At Ghirardelli, we honor tradition and drive innovation, aiming to be the top choice for premium chocolate. Our commitment to Making Life A Bite Better inspires both our products and the way we do business. We support personal and professional growth, recognizing that each employee’s contribution directly impacts Ghirardelli’s growth and success. Join our dynamic team and help shape Ghirardelli's future.
Job Summary
Reporting to the Sr. Manager of DTC, the DTC Operations Manager serves as the key liaison between the Ghirardelli commercial team and operations.
This role ensures that our DTC fulfillment operations deliver on brand priorities and financial goals through effective partnership management, operational governance, and continuous improvement.
The Operations Manager bridges the gap between internal stakeholders (eCommerce, Customer Service, Operations, IT, Finance, Product) and Fulfillment to ensure smooth execution, proactive communication, and data-driven performance oversight.
(This position represents the business interests of Ghirardelli, ensuring fulfillment operations meet or exceed service, cost, and quality expectations).
At Ghirardelli, we honor tradition and drive innovation, aiming to be the top choice for premium chocolate. Our commitment to Making Life A Bite Better inspires both our products and the way we do business. We support personal and professional growth, recognizing that each employee’s contribution directly impacts Ghirardelli’s growth and success. Join our dynamic team and help shape Ghirardelli's future.
Job Summary
Reporting to the Sr. Manager of DTC, the DTC Operations Manager serves as the key liaison between the Ghirardelli commercial team and operations.
This role ensures that our DTC fulfillment operations deliver on brand priorities and financial goals through effective partnership management, operational governance, and continuous improvement.
The Operations Manager bridges the gap between internal stakeholders (eCommerce, Customer Service, Operations, IT, Finance, Product) and Fulfillment to ensure smooth execution, proactive communication, and data-driven performance oversight.
(This position represents the business interests of Ghirardelli, ensuring fulfillment operations meet or exceed service, cost, and quality expectations).
- Serve as the primary point of contact between Ghirardelli commercial team and operations for all fulfillment and logistics initiatives
- Govern service level agreements (SLAs), contracts and performance metrics
- Escalate operational issues and track resolutions
- Ensure data accuracy and operational transparency between systems and stakeholders
- Drive alignment between business priorities and logistics execution
- Individual contributor (no direct reports)
- Govern SLA compliance, KPI tracking and performance scorecards
- Facilitate weekly operational check-ins and monthly/quarterly business reviews
- Escalate and track resolution of service and performance issues
- Monitor and report fulfillment KPIs to DTC team
- Lead root cause analysis and corrective action planning if targets are missed
- Ensure clean data flow between ERP, OMS and fulfillment systems
- Collaborate with DTC and Finance teams on volume and labor planning
- Represent DTC logistics in broader Ghirardelli and Lindt North America supply chain and business planning meetings
- Manage supplies forecast (ice packs, liners, etc)
- Coordinate with IT on ticketing, integrations and process improvements
- Partner with Customer Service on order related issues
- Liaise with Customer Service and Fulfillment on B2B orders, address list and order customizations
- Lead process improvement workstreams involving fulfillment operations
- Document workflows, SOPs and escalation protocols to ensure operational consistency
- Identify cost-reduction and efficiency opportunities across logistics network in partnership with Lindt USA and Lindt North America
- Accountable for Product inventory, new product launches and Gift building schedules, especially during Q4
- Ensure operations adhere to brand standards (packaging, sustainability, user experience)
- 4 years in eCommerce/marketplace operations
- Proven success managing vendor relationships
- Strong analytical skills
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
- Advanced understanding of SAP ERP, OMS and WMS
- Foundational understanding of eCommerce platforms (Magento/Shopify
- Based in Tracy, with bi-monthly trips to HQ in San Leandro
- Occasional walking and standing during on-site visits to warehouse facilities (required use of PPE)
- Occasional lifting of materials or product up to 25lbs
- Ability to travel occasionally to other fulfillment locations (East Coast
- Exposure to warehouse environments (temperature variations, noise, material handling equipment)
- May require flexible scheduling during peak season
Salary : $106,000 - $137,800