Director of Operations

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

LowerLeft Designs Ltd is building a family of purpose-driven outdoor brands rooted in sustainability, creativity, and a deep love for life outside. The company focuses on designing reliable gear that enables more people to enjoy the outdoors, emphasizing durability and alignment with customer values. LowerLeft takes a thoughtful, unconventional approach to product creation, grounded in clear purpose and distinct brand character. Its brands, including gogglesoc and Phunkshun Wear, reflect a commitment to responsible manufacturing and innovative design for outdoor enthusiasts.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Reporting into the Managing Director, the Operations Director leads the operational function of the business, ensuring products are efficiently, accurately and profitably manufactured and moved from factory through to customers across wholesale, retail, distributor and ecommerce channels.

While this is a broad role, its priority is distribution, transportation, logistics and inventory management: moving product into our markets at the lowest practical landed cost and ensuring that the right inventory is available at the right time. The role also holds accountability for production planning, factory operations, quality assurance, EDI and customer logistics, operational systems and budgeting.

The Operations Director leads the Operations team, delegating effectively and building scalable processes. This creates the capacity to focus on director-level strategy and to support the Managing Director and other departments in making profitable, operationally efficient decisions.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Distribution, Transportation, Logistics & 3PL Management

Own the performance of our freight forwarders, logistics providers and global 3PL network, moving product from factories into our markets at the lowest practical landed cost.

• Manage freight forwarder relationships and oversee inbound and outbound logistics, ensuring product moves between factories, warehouses, distributors and customers accurately and on time.
• Continually evaluate freight routes, modes, providers and strategies to improve cost, speed and reliability, including planning for seasonal and peak periods.
• Lead the onboarding of new 3PL partners, set service-level expectations and proactively manage 3PL performance.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of tariffs, duties, customs regulations, trade agreements and import/export requirements.
• Monitor landed costs, working with Finance to keep them accurate, and identify savings through sourcing, freight, packaging and routing.

Strategic Inventory Management

Lead the company's approach to strategic, profitable inventory management, providing the visibility, processes and leadership that allow every department to make informed inventory decisions.

• Ensure accurate inventory visibility across all 3PLs and systems, with clear processes to investigate and resolve discrepancies.
• Monitor inventory levels, ageing, turns and sell-through, flagging aged, excess and slow-moving stock early.
• Work with Sales, Marketing, Finance and Product on strategies to sell, repurpose (including Value Added Services) or liquidate inventory.
• Balance product availability against the working-capital cost and risk of carrying excess stock, and challenge other departments to do the same.

Customer Logistics & EDI

• Act as the primary point of contact for EDI, leading the onboarding of new EDI customers in SPS Commerce through testing and final sign-off.
• Ensure routing guides, ASNs, labelling, shipping and returns requirements are followed, proactively resolving errors, compliance issues and chargebacks.

Sales, Marketing & Distributor Support

• Coordinate the domestic and international distribution of samples, displays and tradeshow materials to sales agents and distributors, along with customer returns logistics.
• Clearly communicate operational constraints and lead times to Sales and Marketing.

Production, Factory Management & Quality Assurance

• Own product forecasts with all departments and provide factories with timely forecasts to plan raw materials and capacity.
• Oversee market-ready bulk purchase orders, monitor production schedules and ensure factory and shipping documentation is accurate and on time.
• Manage the factory audit schedule and bulk-production quality assurance, driving corrective action on recurring quality issues.

Operational Data, NetSuite & Transactional Accuracy

• Keep inventory, landed-cost, SKU and item master data accurate across NetSuite, 3PLs and other platforms.
• Ensure shipping documentation is accurate and distributor and ModEx orders are processed to established business rhythms, with appropriate checks and controls.

Operations Leadership & Strategy

• Develop and execute the operational strategy in partnership with the Managing Director, establishing clear priorities, business rhythms and KPIs.
• Build scalable processes that support growth across multiple sales channels and international markets.
• Proactively identify operational risks and opportunities, balancing customer service, availability, efficiency and profitability.

Operational Systems & Process Improvement

• Lead the development and continuous improvement of operational systems, Standard Operating Procedures and training.
• Replace manual or unreliable processes with scalable solutions and improve data flow between platforms.

Budgeting & Financial Management

• Own the annual Operations budget with Finance and the Managing Director, supported by accurate purchasing, freight and inventory projections.
• Monitor expenditure against budget, explain material variances and deliver cost savings.

Operational Team Leadership

• Set clear roles, objectives and expectations, delegating effectively while retaining accountability for departmental performance.
• Provide coaching and build documentation and cross-training to reduce reliance on individuals, keeping the Director's time focused on strategic, higher-value work.
• Represent the Operations department at the annual general meeting.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

• Inbound Timeliness & Accuracy: factory production to timeline, inbound delivery performance, receiving and PO/shipment accuracy.
• Outbound Timeliness & Accuracy: on-time shipment, fulfillment accuracy, customer compliance and error rates.
• Landed Costs: accurate, timely landed-cost information; target performance of approximately ±10% year-over-year (recognizing material external factors); cost-reduction delivered.
• Strategic Inventory Management: inventory accuracy, ageing, turns, reduction of obsolete stock and the balance between availability and investment.
• EDI Order Accuracy: ASN accuracy, routing-guide compliance, EDI error rates and operationally attributable chargebacks.
• Product Wastage: wastage levels, repurposing of inventory and correction of recurring causes.
• Budget vs. Actual: expenditure against approved budget and management of material variances.
• Operational Scalability & Efficiency: process improvements adopted, reduced manual work and errors, and effective delegation.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE / QUALIFICATIONS

Requirements

• 4–5 years’ experience in a similar operations role, trained in a fast-moving, product-based business
• Hands-on experience in distribution, transportation, logistics and inventory management, including working with freight forwarders and 3PLs
• University degree
• Experience leading, delegating to and developing a team
• Experience setting and tracking budgets
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage several priorities and deadlines at once
• Strong attention to detail, particularly with inventory, landed-cost and shipping data
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, especially Excel
• A collaborative team player who builds strong working relationships across departments and with external partners
• Flexible with working hours, including occasional early-morning or evening calls with overseas factories and European partners
• Legally entitled to work in Canada

Nice to have

• Experience with NetSuite
• Bilingual in English and French

LowerLeft is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and will provide accommodations throughout the hiring process on request.

WHY JOIN LOWERLEFT

This is a chance to join a growing, ambitious outdoor company at a pivotal stage. As Operations Director, you’ll shape how we scale into new markets and help build an operation that reflects our environmental and community values. Your impact will be visible, your ideas welcome, and your work will support products you can be proud of.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary of $85,000–$100,000, depending on experience
• Individual & company performance based bonuses
• Very competitive vacation policy
• Hybrid working, with a mix of remote and office-based (Squamish & Vancouver) days
• Health benefits
• Opportunities to grow and progress in your career
• Opportunities to travel
• Be part of the outdoor industry community, including trade shows and industry events

Start date: As soon as possible