Logistics Distribution Manager
About the role
The Logistics Manager leads the logistics function and directly manages logistics team members responsible for day-to-day freight and distribution coordination across Canada and the United States for raw materials and finished goods. This role is accountable for inbound and outbound transportation execution, freight forwarder governance, carrier management, 3PL warehouse performance, customer delivery performance, and logistics process improvement. The Logistics Manager will play a key role in building scalable logistics processes to support Crofters’ continued growth. This role requires a strong people leader who can implement change in a rapidly scaling environment, coaching team members through change, and building team capability to perform with greater structure, accountability, and confidence.
Key Responsibilities
- Transportation Strategy & Execution
- Lead implementation and ongoing governance of Crofters’ inbound freight forwarder model.
- Oversee inbound ocean freight, cross-border transportation, domestic freight, and outbound distribution lanes across Canada and the United States.
- Ensure suppliers follow approved routing guides, booking processes, shipping windows, and documentation requirements.
- Develop, maintain, and enforce logistics routing guides.
- Negotiate and manage freight contracts, including spot, fixed-rate, index-based, and accessorial pricing structures.
- Manage carrier and freight forwarder performance through KPIs, business reviews, escalation protocols, and corrective actions.
- Monitor freight market conditions, capacity risks, fuel impacts, tender acceptance, and lane-level performance.
- Demurrage, Detention, Accessorial, Claims and Freight Audit
- Monitor and reduce demurrage, detention, storage, re-delivery, waiting time, and other accessorial costs
- Support freight audit, invoice validation, dispute resolution, and cost recovery
- Manage freight claims, OS&D issues, and carrier performance failures
- Customer Delivery Performance & Retail Compliance
- Partner with Customer Service, Sales, Supply Chain Planning, and warehouse partners to protect service levels during launches, promotions, and demand changes.
- Support on-time, in-full delivery performance to Canadian and U.S. customer distribution centers.
- Manage compliance with retailer routing guides, appointment requirements, MABD windows, delivery documentation, and chargeback prevention.
- Reduce short-ships, missed appointments, non-compliant deliveries, and customer chargebacks through root cause analysis and preventive actions.
- 3PL Warehouse Management
- Report on 3PL performance metrics, including inventory accuracy, dock-to-stock time, order fill rate, on-time shipping, and service level performance.
- Conduct quarterly performance reviews with warehouse partners
- Evaluate 3PL cost structure and recommend optimization opportunities
- Lead warehouse RFQs and support 3PL contract reviews as required
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives with warehouse partners to improve service, cost, accuracy, and responsiveness.
- Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop the logistics team, establishing clear accountabilities, performance expectations, escalation paths, and standard work to support a scalable supply chain organization.
- Implement change in a rapidly scaling environment by helping team members understand new processes, expectations, and ways of working.
- Coach team members through change, providing clarity, support, and feedback as the logistics function evolves.
- Coach team members to perform by setting clear goals, monitoring progress, addressing gaps, and reinforcing accountability.
- Build team capability through process discipline, training, cross-functional communication, and performance feedback.
- Define clear ownership between Logistics, Customer Service, Procurement, Planning, and warehouse partners.
- Cross-Border & Trade Compliance Collaboration
- Partner with Procurement, Finance, customs brokers, freight forwarders, and internal stakeholders to support tariff impact analysis, USMCA documentation, HS classification alignment, Incoterm compliance, and import/export documentation accuracy.
- Support customs documentation reviews, broker escalations, and process improvements to reduce clearance delays and compliance risk.
- Ensure logistics processes align with approved Incoterms, routing requirements, and customer delivery obligations.
- S&OP / Planning Alignment
- Participate in S&OP and supply planning discussions by providing logistics capacity, freight risk, cost, and lead-time inputs.
- Proactively communicate transportation and 3PL constraints that may impact customer service, inventory availability, production timing, or customer launch timing.
- Support scenario planning related to freight disruption, port delays, carrier capacity, inventory positioning, and customer demand changes.
- Food/ CPG/ Traceability Requirements
- Support logistics processes that meet food-grade warehouse, lot-controlled inventory, and traceability expectations.
- Ensure warehouse and transportation partners understand handling, documentation, and inventory accuracy requirements for food manufacturing and CPG distribution.
- Partner with Quality, Operations, and Supply Chain teams to support traceability, hold management, and product movement controls as required.
Qualifications
- A minimum of 5 years of progressive logistics, transportation or distribution experience, preferably in CPG, food manufacturing, food distribution, or high-volume retail supply chains.
- Minimum 2-3 years of direct people leadership experience, with demonstrated ability to coach, develop and hold teams accountable.
- Strong experience managing Canada–U.S. cross border freight, including LTL, FTL and retail distribution lanes.
- Experience managing ocean freight, freight forwarders, custom brokers, and international shipping documentation.
- Strong understanding of 3PL warehouse operations, service-level management, inventory accuracy, and warehouse performance metrics.
- Familiarity with retailer routing guides, chargebacks, and delivery compliance
- Strong analytical, negotiation, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
- Ability to make sound decisions in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment with competing service, cost and inventory priorities.
- Strong systems capability, including ERP, WMS/ TMS platforms, freight portals, advanced Excel and KPI/ dashboard reporting tools.
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Business, Logistics, Operations Management or related field preferred.
- Professional designation or training such as CITT, CIFFA, CCS, APICS/ ASCM or Lean/ Six Sigma is considered an asset.
About Crofter's Organic
Established in 1989 we are an organic food manufacturer located in Parry Sound, Ontario Canada. Where is that you ask? Well, it's a small town in northern Ontario, a few hours north of Toronto. There really is no better setting for an organic company. We are in the heart of the 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay which is part of Lake Huron. With a rugged shoreline of granite and windswept pines, and inland lakes everywhere you turn, we are literally surrounded by natural beauty and wildlife which puts us in a great state of mind to create the best tasting organic fruit spreads possible. UNESCO has even recognized this unique part of the world by designating it the Georgian Bay Biosphere.
Crofter's Food Ltd has been manufacturing organic products since the beginning of the trend toward organics. We now employ over 150 people making us one of the largest employers in the area.
Crofter's makes the best tasting, nutritious, organic fruit spreads possible with 1/3 less sugar than traditional preserves. We support your right to know what is in your food, so you can trust Crofter's to nourish your family with certified organic, Non-GMO Project Verfied fruit spreads with nutritious fruit and just the right amount of sweetness.
Jam isn't complicated; it's not going to change the world in any big way. By operating a sustainable business - a business that can be sustained environmentally, and by workers, consumers and a profitable bottom line - we can impact the world in many small but measurable ways.
Similar Jobs
Logistics Distribution Manager
About the role
The Logistics Manager leads the logistics function and directly manages logistics team members responsible for day-to-day freight and distribution coordination across Canada and the United States for raw materials and finished goods. This role is accountable for inbound and outbound transportation execution, freight forwarder governance, carrier management, 3PL warehouse performance, customer delivery performance, and logistics process improvement. The Logistics Manager will play a key role in building scalable logistics processes to support Crofters’ continued growth. This role requires a strong people leader who can implement change in a rapidly scaling environment, coaching team members through change, and building team capability to perform with greater structure, accountability, and confidence.
Key Responsibilities
- Transportation Strategy & Execution
- Lead implementation and ongoing governance of Crofters’ inbound freight forwarder model.
- Oversee inbound ocean freight, cross-border transportation, domestic freight, and outbound distribution lanes across Canada and the United States.
- Ensure suppliers follow approved routing guides, booking processes, shipping windows, and documentation requirements.
- Develop, maintain, and enforce logistics routing guides.
- Negotiate and manage freight contracts, including spot, fixed-rate, index-based, and accessorial pricing structures.
- Manage carrier and freight forwarder performance through KPIs, business reviews, escalation protocols, and corrective actions.
- Monitor freight market conditions, capacity risks, fuel impacts, tender acceptance, and lane-level performance.
- Demurrage, Detention, Accessorial, Claims and Freight Audit
- Monitor and reduce demurrage, detention, storage, re-delivery, waiting time, and other accessorial costs
- Support freight audit, invoice validation, dispute resolution, and cost recovery
- Manage freight claims, OS&D issues, and carrier performance failures
- Customer Delivery Performance & Retail Compliance
- Partner with Customer Service, Sales, Supply Chain Planning, and warehouse partners to protect service levels during launches, promotions, and demand changes.
- Support on-time, in-full delivery performance to Canadian and U.S. customer distribution centers.
- Manage compliance with retailer routing guides, appointment requirements, MABD windows, delivery documentation, and chargeback prevention.
- Reduce short-ships, missed appointments, non-compliant deliveries, and customer chargebacks through root cause analysis and preventive actions.
- 3PL Warehouse Management
- Report on 3PL performance metrics, including inventory accuracy, dock-to-stock time, order fill rate, on-time shipping, and service level performance.
- Conduct quarterly performance reviews with warehouse partners
- Evaluate 3PL cost structure and recommend optimization opportunities
- Lead warehouse RFQs and support 3PL contract reviews as required
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives with warehouse partners to improve service, cost, accuracy, and responsiveness.
- Leadership & Team Development
- Lead, coach, and develop the logistics team, establishing clear accountabilities, performance expectations, escalation paths, and standard work to support a scalable supply chain organization.
- Implement change in a rapidly scaling environment by helping team members understand new processes, expectations, and ways of working.
- Coach team members through change, providing clarity, support, and feedback as the logistics function evolves.
- Coach team members to perform by setting clear goals, monitoring progress, addressing gaps, and reinforcing accountability.
- Build team capability through process discipline, training, cross-functional communication, and performance feedback.
- Define clear ownership between Logistics, Customer Service, Procurement, Planning, and warehouse partners.
- Cross-Border & Trade Compliance Collaboration
- Partner with Procurement, Finance, customs brokers, freight forwarders, and internal stakeholders to support tariff impact analysis, USMCA documentation, HS classification alignment, Incoterm compliance, and import/export documentation accuracy.
- Support customs documentation reviews, broker escalations, and process improvements to reduce clearance delays and compliance risk.
- Ensure logistics processes align with approved Incoterms, routing requirements, and customer delivery obligations.
- S&OP / Planning Alignment
- Participate in S&OP and supply planning discussions by providing logistics capacity, freight risk, cost, and lead-time inputs.
- Proactively communicate transportation and 3PL constraints that may impact customer service, inventory availability, production timing, or customer launch timing.
- Support scenario planning related to freight disruption, port delays, carrier capacity, inventory positioning, and customer demand changes.
- Food/ CPG/ Traceability Requirements
- Support logistics processes that meet food-grade warehouse, lot-controlled inventory, and traceability expectations.
- Ensure warehouse and transportation partners understand handling, documentation, and inventory accuracy requirements for food manufacturing and CPG distribution.
- Partner with Quality, Operations, and Supply Chain teams to support traceability, hold management, and product movement controls as required.
Qualifications
- A minimum of 5 years of progressive logistics, transportation or distribution experience, preferably in CPG, food manufacturing, food distribution, or high-volume retail supply chains.
- Minimum 2-3 years of direct people leadership experience, with demonstrated ability to coach, develop and hold teams accountable.
- Strong experience managing Canada–U.S. cross border freight, including LTL, FTL and retail distribution lanes.
- Experience managing ocean freight, freight forwarders, custom brokers, and international shipping documentation.
- Strong understanding of 3PL warehouse operations, service-level management, inventory accuracy, and warehouse performance metrics.
- Familiarity with retailer routing guides, chargebacks, and delivery compliance
- Strong analytical, negotiation, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
- Ability to make sound decisions in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment with competing service, cost and inventory priorities.
- Strong systems capability, including ERP, WMS/ TMS platforms, freight portals, advanced Excel and KPI/ dashboard reporting tools.
- Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, Business, Logistics, Operations Management or related field preferred.
- Professional designation or training such as CITT, CIFFA, CCS, APICS/ ASCM or Lean/ Six Sigma is considered an asset.
About Crofter's Organic
Established in 1989 we are an organic food manufacturer located in Parry Sound, Ontario Canada. Where is that you ask? Well, it's a small town in northern Ontario, a few hours north of Toronto. There really is no better setting for an organic company. We are in the heart of the 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay which is part of Lake Huron. With a rugged shoreline of granite and windswept pines, and inland lakes everywhere you turn, we are literally surrounded by natural beauty and wildlife which puts us in a great state of mind to create the best tasting organic fruit spreads possible. UNESCO has even recognized this unique part of the world by designating it the Georgian Bay Biosphere.
Crofter's Food Ltd has been manufacturing organic products since the beginning of the trend toward organics. We now employ over 150 people making us one of the largest employers in the area.
Crofter's makes the best tasting, nutritious, organic fruit spreads possible with 1/3 less sugar than traditional preserves. We support your right to know what is in your food, so you can trust Crofter's to nourish your family with certified organic, Non-GMO Project Verfied fruit spreads with nutritious fruit and just the right amount of sweetness.
Jam isn't complicated; it's not going to change the world in any big way. By operating a sustainable business - a business that can be sustained environmentally, and by workers, consumers and a profitable bottom line - we can impact the world in many small but measurable ways.