About Us:

For nearly 50 years, Tampa Maid Foods has been an industry leader in manufacturing and marketing innovative frozen coated foods. Our expanding portfolio of delicious products is served in restaurants and other foodservice outlets, and in grocer’s freezers throughout the U.S. Tampa Maid’s proprietary coatings and processing methods add flavor, texture, and creativity to seafood, vegetables, and more. Tampa Maid is headquartered in Lakeland, FL and is owned by Watkins Associated Industries, a family-operated U.S. company with holdings in food processing, real estate development and more.

Job summary:

Responsible for leading and directing all logistics functions in the transportation department. This role will have two direct reports from logistics and freezer. The Manager will work with the Logistics Supervisor to ensure that all related system transactions specific related to inbound and outbound shipments are performed accurately and timely.

Specific Responsibilities

Transportation Management:

• Ensure all transportation management and employees understand and operate within the organizational, operational, safety, and service policies and procedures.
• Adapting transportation and teams’ schedules to support production scheduling.
• Maintain updated driver logs and schedules in accordance with Department of Transportation.
• Manage transportation related projects and tasks, with an emphasis on implementing sound and innovative contracting methods.
• Manages carrier provider relationships, preparing carrier bid proposals and conducting transportation evaluations.
• Review and communicate weekly shipment schedule for inbound and outbound orders.
• Collaborate with Customer Service, Procurement and Production departments to ensure schedules are manageable.
• Execute RFPs, and on spot pricing requests, collaborating with external freight providers.
• Oversee and manage all aspects of the freight invoice review and approval process.
• Responsibility to monitor freight providers and implement controls for management of cost, service, and vet any erroneous fees.
• Ensure all logistics associates have all required Department of Transportation (DOT) certifications.
• Responsible for completing any root cause analysis for any delays in both in-bound and out-bound, or shorts.
• Ensure KPI targets in safety and shipments are met.
• Ensure all accidents are handled and reported, according to company policy.

Team Leadership & Development:

• Capable of staffing, structuring, and maintaining a productive team of highly skilled employees.
• Ensure that all team members daily work is complete and accurate.
• Manage, coach, and develop leaders.
• Coach, train, direct, and counsel logistics supervisor and freezer supervisors on overall performance.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, teamwork and safety within the logistics department.

Process Improvement:

• Implement a program to go paperless for all related paperwork associated with inbound, and outbound deliveries associated documents.
• Develop and implement continuous process improvement initiatives to enhance productivity and customer service.
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends, regulations, and best practices to ensure compliance and leverage opportunities for process enhancement.

Education & Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred in logistics, supply chain management, business administration or a related field
• Seven (7) years of proven experience in logistics management within the food manufacturing industry
• Experience in warehouse management, inventory management, material movement, logistics experience working cross-functionally with production, finance and supply chain
• Excellent communication, negotiation and leadership abilities
• Detailed oriented, organized and able to handle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Knowledge of DOT rules and regulations
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite