Operations Manager

RSL’S story:
Refrigerative Supply Limited is a family business owned by Alison Hamilton and Linda Gibbs. The business was founded by Peter Gibbs' and Alison Hamilton's parents, Jack and Elizabeth Gibbs. In 1949 they acquired the four-year-old Vancouver branch of an American-based company. From this modest beginning, the Company now has a Head Office in Burnaby, Twenty-Three Branches, and Four Distribution Centers spread across Western Canada. We are committed to remaining a family business and are proud to have the third generation working in the business. The company's mantra is to ‘inspire excellence and trust’ by providing creative solutions and unrivaled experiences, in-store and online, that make RSL the choice for customers, suppliers, and employees at every location. For more information, please visit: www.rsl.ca

RSL Mission
Our purpose is to provide the highest quality HVAC and Refrigeration experience in Canada.

RSL Vision
To be the environment that inspires excellence and trust within our community.

RSL Values
Gracious, Collaborative, Courageous, Innovative, Community Focused, and Exceptional Experience.

Great Place to Work
At RSL, we pride ourselves on fostering a dynamic and inclusive workplace culture. Our commitment to excellence and employee satisfaction has been recognized with the prestigious “Great Place to Work” certification for Six consecutive years. This accolade reflects our dedication to creating an environment where every team member feels valued, supported, and empowered to achieve their best.

The Opportunity:

Scope of the Position

The Operations Manager leads the safe, efficient, and consistent performance of the company’s distribution network. The role is accountable for DC operations, people and financial performance, inventory accuracy, transportation, service quality, compliance, continuous improvement, and the implementation of enabling technologies and standardized processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides leadership and direction to DC Managers, establishing consistent operating standards and accountability across the network.
• Recruits, coaches, develops, and performance-manages direct reports, while establishing role-specific training, development plans, and succession coverage for key DC positions.
• Develops and maintains DC performance scorecards, using operational KPIs to identify trends, prioritize corrective actions, and drive continuous improvement.
• Develops and manages operating, labour, freight, and capital budgets for distribution operations; monitors performance against plan, explains material variances, and tracks the financial benefits and return on investment of approved initiatives.
• Establishes labour plans and productivity standards based on volume, seasonality, service requirements, and operating capacity, optimizing staffing levels, overtime, temporary labour, and workload balancing across facilities.
• Leads initiatives to improve operational efficiency, productivity, service levels, and cost performance across Distribution Centers.
• Establishes, documents, implements, and audits standard operating procedures across Distribution Centers to ensure consistent execution, effective controls, and timely corrective action.
• In partnership with DC Managers, optimizes warehouse layouts, material flow, capacity utilization, and the selection and application of appropriate storage media.
• Champions warehouse and distribution projects, including the assessment, recommendation, and sourcing of temporary or additional distribution facilities.
• Leads the evaluation and implementation of distribution technologies, including Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (ASRS), Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs), and other automation solutions at Distribution Centers.
• Improves branch processes and efficiency through the effective use, standardization, and adoption of handheld scanning devices.
• Champions the rollout, adoption, and continuous improvement of Transportation Management System (TMS) and Warehouse Management System (WMS) capabilities across the distribution network.
• Develops, maintains, and optimizes the transportation network across inbound supplier-to-DC, DC-to-DC, DC-to-branch, and branch-to-customer movements.
• Continuously optimizes inbound and outbound freight service and cost in partnership with DC leadership, branch operations, Purchasing, and Supply Chain.
• Owns operational service and delivery quality, monitoring fulfilment errors, picking accuracy, damages, delivery exceptions, operations-related returns, and complaints, and leading root-cause analysis and corrective action for recurring failures.
• Owns inventory count governance and reconciliation across Distribution Centers and branches, including cycle-count programs, annual physical inventory counts, variance investigation, corrective action, and timely financial reconciliation.
• Supports the Supply Chain team in implementing and optimizing distribution-related supply chain initiatives.
• Ensures compliance with applicable transportation, dangerous-goods, workplace safety, environmental, storage, and other provincial and federal requirements, maintaining audit readiness and timely closure of compliance actions.
• Develops, maintains, and tests business continuity and operational risk plans for carrier disruptions, severe weather, system outages, labour constraints, facility interruptions, and peak-demand events, coordinating recovery actions across the network.
• Demonstrates visible health and safety leadership across the warehouse network, ensuring each facility maintains a compliant program and follows established best practices.

Competencies and Qualifications

• Post-secondary education in business, supply chain management, logistics, operations, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered.
• Progressive leadership experience in distribution, warehousing, logistics, or supply chain operations, including accountability for multiple facilities or a complex distribution network.
• Strong people leadership capability, with demonstrated success coaching managers, building accountability, developing talent, and leading teams through operational change.
• Comprehensive knowledge of warehouse operations, inventory control, transportation, freight management, labour planning, capacity planning, and service-quality management.
• Experience implementing or optimizing WMS, TMS, handheld scanning, warehouse automation, and material-handling technologies; exposure to ASRS and VLM solutions is an asset.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen, including experience managing operating, labour, freight, and capital budgets and evaluating business cases, benefits, and return on investment.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and use KPIs, scorecards, data analysis, and root-cause methods to identify trends, solve problems, and drive measurable continuous improvement.
• Working knowledge of applicable workplace safety, transportation, dangerous-goods, environmental, storage, and other regulatory requirements relevant to distribution operations.
• Excellent project management, change management, communication, negotiation, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Lean, Six Sigma, supply chain, logistics, or project-management certification is considered an asset.
• Ability to travel regularly among Distribution Centers and branch locations and to provide leadership support during peak periods or operational disruptions.

What we offer:

It's not all about work. That's why we support and recognize our team members with a range of benefits:

• RSL is an entrepreneurial company - we don't micromanage.
• Embark on a continuous development journey. You have access to $3,500 annually to invest in your professional growth.
• Annual Bonus Program

• Vacation entitlement starting at three (3) weeks annually, with incremental increases based on years of service, up to a maximum of six (6) weeks.

• 3 personal obligation days.
• Wellness Account.
• Stay healthy with our rich benefits package.
• Protect your future with our Registered Retirement Savings Plan.
• Access a 24/7 Employee Assistance Program.

Refrigerative Supply Limited is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination based on age, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and any other legally protected class in accordance with applicable federal, provincial and local laws. We are also committed to creating and maintaining an inclusive and accessible workplace.