The Company
Barnes & Noble is the world’s largest retail bookseller and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. Founded in 1971, the company currently operates approximately 600 Barnes & Noble bookstores across all 50 States, and one of the Web’s premier e-commerce sites, BN.com. Barnes & Noble’s mission is to operate the best omni-channel specialty retail business in America, helping both its customers and booksellers reach their aspirations, while being a credit to the communities it serves.
Barnes & Noble is owned by Elliott Advisors Limited and run by CEO and bookseller James Daunt, who is also Managing Director of Waterstones bookstores in the U.K. and founder and owner of Daunt Books. The Company has approximately 900 employees working out of the Home Office, 19,000 employees working in its stores, and 1,500 employees across its two distribution centers.
The Role
Barnes & Noble stocks over 100,000 unique book titles in its stores and over 1 million unique titles in its warehouse – more than any of its competitors or even the largest book wholesalers. Its vast inventory contains over 50,000 publisher imprints, including small presses, university presses and independently published books.
Because of its decentralized purchasing model, no two Barnes & Noble stores are alike. Store managers play a central role in deciding what titles are stocked in their stores, and they have the additional authority and responsibility to reorder books to fill local demand. In addition, customers can always order books online, capitalizing on the extensive warehouse stock and quick shipment times, faster than any online bookseller.
With support from Elliott Management, Barnes & Noble is embarking on its next chapter of growth, expanding its U.S. footprint by 50 stores and driving overarching supply chain and operational efficiencies. The company is seeking a new Head of Logistics to transform and lead operations across its two DCs, all inbound and outbound transportation, inventory management, and network optimization to support continued growth and the maturation of its supply chain.
Experience & Requirements
• 15+ years of logistics management experience in a multi-location retail environment, with credibility in safety, operations, and facilities management.
• Experience managing pick-pack and distribution operations, including transportation and e-commerce fulfillment.
• Expertise in lean/continuous improvement inventory and flow optimization with a high mix/low volume pick-pack and lean process management/continuous improvement
• Expertise in inventory control and order fulfillment quality standards and metrics (e.g., KPIs) including customer order fill rates, inventory turnover, excess and short-dated inventory management, and forecast accuracy.
• Experience working cross functionally with Inventory Management, Merchandising, and Store Operations functions to improve end-to-end supply chain performance.
• Expert-level financial, quantitative, and analytical skills; practical knowledge of accounting practices governing inventory management, e.g., write-downs, material transfers.
• Experience maximizing value from transportation networks by optimizing production planning, modes, routes, relationships, and vehicles; uses a TCO methodology.
• Experience using ERP, MRP, WMS, and TMS applications to drive decision making and performance improvements.
• Strong project management skills, including stakeholder?, timeline?, and meeting management skills; demonstrated excellence in managing internal customers.
• Experience applying Continuous Improvement, Lean, and Six Sigma principals to drive improvement.
• A track record of team building and organizational development; able to hold employees accountable for results; able to recognize when education and training is needed.
• Excellent communication skills, including written, verbal and presentation skills; comfortable and credible with both internal stakeholders and external audiences.
• A flexible, dynamic, self-demanding and proactive individual; able to motivate him/herself and others; a natural bias for action and ability to deal with ambiguity.
• Bachelor’s degree required, preference for Business, Finance, Engineering, or Supply Chain degree; MBA preferred.
• Lean/Six Sigma experience preferred.
