Senior 3PL Warehouse Manager

At Corbion, we exist to champion preservation in all its forms, preserving food and food production, health, and our planet.

Corbion is seeking a Senior 3PL Warehouse Manager based at our Lenexa, KS office.  In this role, you will be responsible for strengthening the performance, governance, and continuous improvement of the North American third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse network. The role builds strategic provider relationships and drives measurable improvement in service, cost, inventory accuracy, capacity, quality, reliability, and competitiveness. This position proactively identifies opportunities, challenges existing practices, and leads Lean and Six Sigma-based improvements with 3PL partners. Success requires strong cross-functional leadership, data-based decision-making, and disciplined follow-through. The role also shares standards, best practices, and lessons learned with internal warehouse operations to promote consistent execution across the broader warehouse network.

Essential Functions

• 3PL Governance & Relationship Management
  • Own implementation of the Global Logistics Vendor Performance Management standard for warehouse providers, including performance measurement, KPI governance, business reviews, complaint escalation, action tracking, and follow-through.
  • Build effective relationships with 3PL leadership and operating teams while setting clear expectations for performance, accountability, responsiveness, and continuous improvement.
  • Serve as the primary operational owner for 3PL warehouse performance, coordinating internal stakeholders and escalating unresolved risks or service failures.
  • Challenge existing practices using operational data, industry knowledge, and structured problem solving to improve network competitiveness and reliability.
• SLA, KPI & Performance Management
  • Partner with Procurement, the owner of supplier contracts and SLAs, to develop and maintain strong warehouse SLAs that clearly define service expectations, KPIs, operating requirements, escalation paths, communication cadence, business continuity provisions, and service improvement plans.
  • Provide operational requirements and provider-performance insights to support contract negotiations, renewals, RFIs, RFPs, and sourcing decisions.
  • Establish monthly performance data sharing and feedback with each provider, using scorecards to review trends, gaps, risks, complaints, and agreed actions.
  • Lead quarterly business reviews covering KPI performance, complaints and corrective actions, improvement priorities, anticipated changes, capacity, risks, and future business needs.
  • Drive timely corrective and preventive actions by assigning owners and due dates, tracking progress, escalating gaps, and verifying sustainable closure.
• Warehouse Performance & Continuous Improvement
  • Monitor provider performance across safety, service, inventory accuracy, damages, storage occupancy and capacity, quality, cost, responsiveness, audits, certifications, and compliance.
  • Coordinate inventory reconciliations and periodic joint cycle counts; investigate deviations and ensure corrective actions address root causes.
  • Monitor storage occupancy against pallet projections and available capacity, escalating and mitigating gaps before service is affected.
  • Ensure complaints and damages are documented, investigated, and resolved within agreed requirements, including claims and compensation when applicable.
  • Proactively identify and lead Lean and Six Sigma improvement initiatives that reduce waste, improve flow and productivity, strengthen controls, and lower total operating cost.
  • Maintain a prioritized improvement pipeline with providers, quantify expected benefits, and track results through implementation and stabilization.
• Cost, Risk & Operational Reliability
  • Monitor warehousing costs, accessorial charges, productivity, and provider billing to identify variances, cost drivers, and savings opportunities.
  • Ensure providers maintain effective controls for safety, inventory integrity, food quality, regulatory compliance, security, business continuity, confidentiality, data protection, and subcontractors.
  • Coordinate resolution of significant disruptions and recurring failures through containment, root-cause analysis, corrective action, and prevention of recurrence.
  • Conduct site reviews and operational assessments, coordinate requested audits, and maintain visibility to relevant provider certifications.
• Cross-Functional & Network Leadership
  • Partner closely with Procurement, IT, Law/Legal, Finance, Product Management, Supply Planning, Demand Planning, Customer Service, Manufacturing, Commercial, Quality, and other stakeholders to align warehouse performance with business and customer requirements.
  • Provide clear performance updates, risk assessments, recommendations, and business cases to support timely decisions and investment priorities.
  • Develop and promote common warehouse standards, KPIs, governance practices, and operating principles across external and internal warehouse operations.
  • Share provider best practices, benchmarks, and lessons learned with internal warehouse leaders and advise on performance management and continuous improvement.
• Technology & Data
  • Use WMS, ERP, business intelligence, provider systems, and complaint-management tools to create accurate visibility and support data-based decisions.
  • Improve data quality, reporting automation, system utilization, and process controls across the 3PL network.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Operations Management, Industrial Engineering, Business, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 5+ years of progressive experience in warehouse operations, logistics, distribution, 3PL management, or operational excellence.
• Demonstrated success managing 3PL performance, contributing to strong SLAs and KPIs, leading provider governance, and delivering measurable improvements in cost, service, quality, or reliability.
• Hands-on experience leading continuous improvement projects using Lean, Six Sigma, or comparable structured problem-solving methods.
• Experience with WMS and ERP systems, performance reporting, provider reviews, and cross-functional project leadership.
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• CPIM, CSCP, CLTD, PMP, or comparable supply chain or project management certification.
• Experience supporting 3PL sourcing, SLA development, contract negotiations, RFIs, RFPs, implementations, or warehouse transitions.

• Build credibility with providers, translates business requirements into measurable expectations, leads structured reviews, and drives accountability without relying on direct authority.
• Apply Lean, Six Sigma, root-cause analysis, process mapping, standard work, corrective and preventive action, and benefit tracking.
• Translate operational and financial data into priorities and understands warehouse cost structures, contracts, SLAs, claims, and total-cost tradeoffs.
• Lead complex initiatives from opportunity identification through implementation, stabilization, and benefit realization.
• Facilitate constructive discussions and influences a broad range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, ERP systems, WMS platforms, complaint-management systems, and business intelligence or reporting tools.

Working Environment

• Work is performed in office, warehouse, and manufacturing environments. The role regularly engages with third-party warehouse operations and may visit internal warehouses, manufacturing locations, and other business sites for meetings, training, benchmarking, continuous improvement initiatives, and company events.
• When in the Plant/Warehouse, will have to wear the appropriate PPE including but not limited to hard hats, safety glasses, safety boots, chemical suits, face-shields, rubber gloves, hair nets, aprons and uniform clothing.
• Temperature inside and outside the facility will range between -15ºF and 120ºF depending on location and the activities involved. Office temperatures should be ambient.

About Corbion

Corbion is a sustainable ingredients company dedicated to preserving what matters, including food and food production, health, and the planet. We specialize in lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives, food preservation solutions, functional blends, and algae ingredients, using our deep application and product knowledge to propel nature’s ingenuity through science. With more than a century of experience, we continue working side-by-side with our customers to make our cutting-edge technologies work for them. Leveraging our advanced capabilities in fermentation and preservation technology, we help customers differentiate their products in diverse markets ranging from food and animal nutrition to home & personal care, pharmaceuticals, electronics, medical devices, and bioplastics. In 2025, Corbion generated annual sales of € 1,267.4 million with a workforce of 2,408 FTEs. Corbion is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. For more information:  www.corbion.com

Corbion is an equal opportunity employer and committed to a diverse workplace.  All applicants will be considered equally without regard to race, color, ethnicity, veteran status, religion, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, age, sex, sexual orientation, handicapping condition, membership in an organization or any other non-merit factors.

Corbion provides reasonable accommodation to applicants.

EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled

Corbion does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers. All candidates must be submitted by approved Corbion vendors who have been expressly requested to make a submission by our Talent Acquisition team for a specific job opening. No placement fees will be paid to any firm unless such a request has been made by the Corbion Talent Acquisition team and such candidate was submitted to the Corbion Talent Acquisition Team.