Director of Inventory Operations

Director of Inventory Operations

Rochester, NY

JK Executive Strategies is proud to partner with a growing organization in the telecommunications and network equipment industry in search of a Director of Inventory Operations to join its team! This newly critical leadership role will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Inventory Department, ensuring incoming equipment is received, prioritized, processed, and moved efficiently through the operation.

Position Description/Overview

The Director of Inventory Operations will be responsible for leading the people, processes, and resources necessary to maintain inventory throughput while ensuring staffing, warehouse capacity, and operational priorities remain aligned with business needs. This individual will play an integral role in creating structure, improving processes, and positioning the department to effectively support continued growth.

The ideal candidate is an organized, proactive, hands-on leader who thrives in a fast-paced operational environment. This individual will be skilled at balancing competing priorities, allocating resources effectively, identifying potential constraints, and developing repeatable processes that improve efficiency and accountability.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day operations and execution of the Inventory Department, ensuring work is completed efficiently and in alignment with organizational priorities.
• Coordinate inbound equipment, including labor, unloading, staging, storage, and space requirements, proactively identifying potential capacity or logistical challenges.
• Translate business and project priorities into clear daily work assignments, operating plans, and expectations for the inventory team.
• Oversee the complete inventory workflow, including receiving, triage, sorting, processing, staging, storage, and movement of equipment to sales-ready status.
• Monitor inventory throughput and cycle times, ensuring high-priority and high-value equipment progresses through the operation without unnecessary delays.
• Manage approved scrap and disposition processes, including staging, tracking, vendor coordination, and timely removal of obsolete materials.
• Maintain productive use of warehouse space by proactively addressing inventory backlogs, scrap accumulation, and changing storage requirements.
• Evaluate departmental capacity and recommend temporary, temp-to-hire, and permanent staffing levels based on current and anticipated inventory volume.
• Anticipate labor, warehouse, equipment, storage, and space requirements as operational volume changes.
• Lead and develop inventory team members by establishing clear expectations, assigning responsibilities, monitoring performance, and promoting accountability.
• Track and communicate department performance, priorities, challenges, capacity constraints, and progress to organizational leadership through consistent reporting.
• Partner cross-functionally with sales, business development, operations, and other stakeholders to ensure inventory priorities align with customer and business needs.
• Develop, document, and improve standard operating procedures, workflows, key performance indicators, and other operational processes.
• Identify and implement measurable process improvements that increase throughput, improve labor utilization, reduce cycle times, and support greater operational efficiency.
• Proactively communicate risks, delays, resource constraints, and other issues that could affect inventory processing or organizational priorities.

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience leading inventory, warehouse, distribution, logistics, operations, or a related function.
• Proven experience managing and developing employees within a fast-paced operational environment.
• Strong understanding of inventory receiving, material handling, warehouse organization, staging, storage, and disposition processes.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and shifting priorities while maintaining productivity and attention to detail.
• Experience assessing operational capacity and anticipating staffing, labor, space, and resource requirements.
• Demonstrated success developing or improving workflows, standard operating procedures, and operational processes.
• Experience establishing and monitoring performance metrics and using data to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Strong organizational, planning, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate priorities, progress, and challenges across all levels of an organization.
• Collaborative leadership style with the ability to work effectively across multiple functional areas.
• Proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with the ability to identify and address potential challenges before they impact operations.
• Comfortable maintaining a hands-on presence within a warehouse and operational environment.
• Ability to establish structure, accountability, and repeatable processes while operating with a high degree of autonomy.
• Experience within telecommunications, network equipment, electronics, technology asset disposition, resale, or a related industry is preferred but not required.

Salary Range

• $110k - $120k variable compensation

JK Executive Strategies is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy of JK Executive Strategies to provide equal opportunity in employment and conditions of employment to all individuals regardless of age, race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, veteran or military status, disability, pregnancy-related condition, predisposing genetic characteristics, genetic information, marital status, familial status, prior arrest, domestic violence victim status, non-job related convictions, participation in lawful activities outside of our workplace, or any other status protected by law.