Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Delivery Operations Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Delivery Operations Manager owns daily delivery execution and performance across last-mile and middle-mile networks. This role leads drivers, dispatch teams, carrier partners and cross-functional stakeholders to meet on-time delivery (OTD), cost per delivery, customer experience and safety targets. The ideal Delivery Operations Manager blends people leadership, process design, analytics, and vendor management to scale operations reliably while continuously reducing cost and variability.

Key responsibilities include optimizing routes and schedules, managing fleet and third‑party carriers, designing SOPs, driving KPI performance (OTD, first‑attempt success, dwell time, cost per delivery), and ensuring regulatory and safety compliance. This role is highly cross-functional and requires strong communication with customer success, product, engineering, procurement and finance.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Delivery Supervisor / Dispatch Supervisor
Logistics Coordinator or Fleet Coordinator
Routing Analyst or Operations Lead

Advancement To:

Senior Operations Manager / Regional Operations Manager
Director of Delivery Operations or Head of Last-Mile
VP of Logistics / Head of Supply Chain Operations

Lateral Moves:

Carrier Partnerships / Supplier Management Lead
Customer Experience Operations Manager
Fulfillment & Warehouse Operations Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Own day-to-day delivery operations for assigned geography or business line, ensuring on-time delivery (OTD), first-attempt success, and high customer satisfaction while meeting cost-per-delivery targets.
Develop, monitor and report against a robust set of KPIs (OTD, delivered volumes, dwell time, driver utilization, cost per stop, customer NPS, SLA adherence), driving continuous improvement through weekly and monthly business reviews.
Manage and coach frontline teams including dispatchers, route planners, driver managers and supervisors; establish clear performance expectations, career development plans and cadence for 1:1s and performance reviews.
Design and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for dispatch, driver onboarding, proof-of-delivery, exceptions handling and escalation flows to ensure consistent, auditable delivery execution.
Lead route optimization initiatives using TMS/route planning systems to minimize mileage, reduce idle time, and balance workload across drivers while meeting delivery windows and customer constraints.
Own relationships with third-party carriers, brokers and contracted fleets: negotiate service-level agreements (SLAs), pricing, capacity commitments and performance penalties/rewards.
Partner with product, engineering and data teams to define requirements and prioritize enhancements for Transportation Management Systems (TMS), driver apps, telematics and dispatch tools that drive operational efficiency.
Build and maintain accurate daily operational plans (capacity vs. demand), including driver scheduling, shift patterns, and contingency planning for peak periods, strikes, weather or high-volume promotions.
Execute cost control strategies — manage fuel, maintenance, labor and carrier spend; analyze root causes of cost variance and implement corrective actions to improve margin and unit economics.
Implement and enforce safety, DOT and regulatory compliance programs (driver qualification files, hours of service, vehicle inspections, incident reporting) to reduce risk and insurance exposure.
Lead incident and large-scale disruption management (accidents, severe delays, critical system outages), running war-rooms, cross-functional communications and customer remediation as required.
Drive initiatives to improve driver retention, recruitment and engagement through targeted onboarding, incentives, training programs and performance recognition.
Oversee proof-of-delivery capture and dispute resolution processes, reducing claims and chargebacks by improving verification, photo capture, and audit trails.
Manage capacity forecasting and demand planning for delivery operations, collaborating with sales, marketing and fulfillment to align promotions and inventory flow with available delivery capacity.
Run process improvement and continuous improvement projects (Lean, Six Sigma principles) to reduce touches, eliminate waste, shorten cycle times and standardize best practices across regions.
Lead vendor selection and onboarding for ancillary services (white‑glove, installation, returns pickup), establishing KPIs and SLA monitoring to ensure partner performance meets brand expectations.
Create and present executive-level reporting (daily flash, weekly deep-dive, monthly exec summaries) summarizing performance, risks, and improvement initiatives to senior leadership.
Implement performance management systems for drivers and dispatchers, including scorecards, coaching frameworks and corrective action plans to elevate baseline performance.
Standardize and scale exception handling workflows for customer-delivery issues (missed windows, address problems, failed deliveries) to minimize customer impact and operational churn.
Design and execute pilot programs for new delivery models (crowdsourced drivers, micro-fulfillment, locker networks), measure outcomes, and scale successful models while sunsetting ineffective approaches.
Ensure cross-functional alignment with customer success, sales, warehouse operations and finance to close feedback loops, optimize handoffs and reduce touchpoints that impact delivery velocity and accuracy.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc cross-functional data requests; partner with analytics to develop dashboards and self-serve reporting that empower local ops leaders.
Participate in labor planning and collaborate with HR on workforce forecasting, recruitment strategies and compensation structures for hourly delivery staff.
Conduct periodic audits of drivers, vehicles and process compliance; lead remediation and continuous training to maintain high-quality delivery standards.
Collaborate with customer experience and sales teams on SLA definitions, escalation matrices and remediation playbooks to protect revenue and customer relationships.
Contribute to capital planning for fleet investments and telematics, providing ROI analysis and operational requirements for procurement.
Coordinate returns and reverse-logistics operations to streamline reverse flows, improve pickup scheduling and recover value from returns.
Serve as the local liaison for environmental, health and safety (EHS) programs to promote driver safety, ergonomics and company safety culture.
Facilitate cross-regional knowledge sharing and roll-out of best practices, standard templates and playbooks to scale consistent delivery excellence.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Transportation Management Systems (TMS) configuration and operational use (e.g., Descartes, Oracle Transportation, Manhattan).
Route optimization and planning tools experience (e.g., Routific, OptimoRoute, Paragon, Trimble).
Fleet management and telematics platforms (e.g., Samsara, Geotab, Verizon Connect).
Strong Excel skills including advanced formulas, pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP and VBA automation for operational modeling.
Data analysis and visualization (SQL for ad-hoc queries; BI tools such as Tableau, Looker, Power BI).
KPI design and dashboarding for operations metrics (OTD, dwell, utilization, cost-per-stop).
Budgeting and P&L awareness for operational cost control, vendor cost management and margin improvement.
Experience with order management, WMS and last‑mile integration patterns (API integrations, EDI).
Compliance knowledge: DOT regulations, hours-of-service, driver qualification files and local transportation laws.
Contract negotiation and supplier / carrier management, including SLA drafting and performance remediation.
Familiarity with Lean or continuous improvement methodologies and project management tools (A3, 5S, Kaizen).

Soft Skills

Strong leadership and people management: coaching, developing, and motivating frontline teams.
Excellent cross-functional communication and stakeholder management with product, engineering and commercial teams.
Analytical mindset with ability to translate data into action and measurable outcomes.
Problem-solving under pressure and capacity to lead incident response in high-stakes situations.
Customer-focused orientation with empathy for end-customer impact and service recovery.
Change management skills to drive adoption of new tools and processes across distributed teams.
Time management and prioritization in dynamic, high-volume operational environments.
Negotiation and influencing skills to align partners and internal stakeholders to operational goals.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering or related field.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s + MBA or Master’s in Supply Chain/Operations, or certifications such as APICS (CPIM/CSCP), Lean Six Sigma (Green/Black Belt).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Supply Chain Management / Logistics
Business Administration / Operations Management
Industrial Engineering / Transportation Planning

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

5–10 years of progressive experience in delivery operations, last-mile logistics, fleet management or transportation.

Preferred:

7+ years leading delivery or logistics operations with P&L responsibility, experience managing both in‑house fleets and third‑party carriers, and demonstrated success scaling operations through process, technology and leadership.