Director of Operations in Schomberg, Ontario at Brookdale Treeland Nurseries

Brookdale Treeland Nurseries Limited (BTN) is one of Canada’s largest and most respected growers and distributors of garden plants, serving customers across Canada and the United States. With a history rooted in horticulture dating back to its formation in 1983, BTN operates multiple farms in Ontario and British Columbia spanning hundreds of acres of cultivated land.

BTN specializes in growing and supplying a wide range of high-quality plant products — including flowering shrubs, evergreens, broadleaf evergreens, perennials, trees, vines, holiday greens, small fruits, and tropical plants — and is known for building full-service customized programs tailored to the needs of garden retailers, landscape contractors, municipalities, golf courses, and retail partners.

Through a broad network of more than 300 growers around the world combined with BTN’s own production, the company stays ahead of market and consumer trends to deliver innovative plant assortments and branded offerings. BTN partners with well-known brands such as Proven Winners®, Knock Out® Roses, Heritage® Perennials, and more, providing both retail and wholesale customers with exceptional products and services.

Headquartered in Schomberg, Ontario, BTN is a company that takes pride in its horticultural expertise, commitment to quality, and customer-focused approach — continually working to support the success of its team members and trading partners alike.

We are looking for our next Director of Operations to drive excellence and lead our Operations teams.

Position Overview

Reporting to the President, the Director of Operations provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for BTN’s national operations and business stream execution, including purchasing, production, pick/pack, warehousing, and field operations. This role is accountable for designing, implementing, and governing the systems, processes, and organizational structures that connect sales and fulfillment to the customer delivery process across all divisions and partnerships.

Acting as both a strategic architect and a hands-on operator, the Director ensures that operational workflows, purchasing, production and pick/pack standards, as well as facility management are aligned, efficient, and financially sustainable. Working closely with the President, CFO, and Directors of Sales and Fulfillment/Logistics, this position drives continuous improvement of end-to-end operational performance by leveraging technology, standardized process discipline, cross-functional collaboration and cost control discipline to deliver reliable execution and exceptional customer outcomes.

Core Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership and Systems Development

• Define BTN’s long-term operations strategy to ensure scalability, cost efficiency, resilience, and reliability across all business streams.
• Lead the design and integration of end-to-end operational systems that connect demand planning, purchasing, production, pick/pack, warehouse management, order management, and customer delivery.
• Develop and govern standardized operational frameworks, playbooks, SOPs and process documentation to be adopted consistently across divisions.
• Drive the implementation, optimization, and adoption of SAP reporting compliance, production scheduling tools, and operational dashboards to improve visibility, forecasting, and decision-making.
• Partner with senior leadership to evaluate innovative opportunities in new markets, product programs, and capital investments from an operations and delivery feasibility perspective.
• Establish performance metrics (KPI’s), governance, and continuous improvement programs that align operations with corporate strategy and customer service level agreements.

2. Operational Planning, Production & Fulfillment Workflow Oversight

• Oversee purchasing, production, pick/packing operations, warehousing, and fulfillment protocols to ensure reliable daily execution against demand and seasonal peaks.
• Oversee capacity planning, labor modelling, shift scheduling, and site resourcing while optimizing labor productivity and cost strategies.
• Work with Director of Fulfillment and Logistics to ensure protocols related to case packs, cube, and production specifications are adhered to and functioning correctly.
• Help design order intake protocols, lead times, staging and picking strategies, and fulfillment timelines that enable divisions to plan and execute to sales and transport deadlines.
• Ensure execution adherence through regular audits, performance reviews, and timely refinement of operating protocols.

3. Inventory, Supply Chain & Demand Planning

• Lead inventory strategy including replenishment rules and thresholds, cycle counting, and transfer protocols to optimize availability and capital efficiency.
• Partner with Sales, Fulfilment and Finance to align demand forecasts, replenishment plans, and inventory allocations across regions and customers.
• Oversee vendor and supplier coordination for inbound scheduling, quality acceptance and standards, and lead-time management.
• Implement inventory reporting and analytics to drive root-cause resolution for stockouts, overstock, and obsolescence.
• Support procurement and sourcing decisions with operational input on lead times, capacity constraints, and risk mitigation strategies.

4. Shipping and Distribution Management

• Oversee inbound freight costing, daily reporting, and accountability to ensure consistent visibility and cost control of landed product pricing.
• Provide feedback and guidance on loading, manifesting, dispatch, cross-dock and delivery sequencing to ensure the coordination with the logistics team provides on-time operational performance.

5. Sales, Customer Service, and Commercial Coordination

• Partner with Sales leadership to evaluate operational impact of new programs, packaging concepts, rack configurations and pricing structures.
• Ensure systems and reporting deliver real-time visibility of purchases, production, fulfillment, availability and program performance to the business.
• Support the design and governance of order-to-cash workflows to ensure timely fulfillment of replenishment orders and purchase orders.
• Act as the executive escalation contact for complex customer operational issues, service recovery, and large program onboarding.

6. Asset, Infrastructure, Safety and Compliance Management

• Provide oversight for the procurement, lifecycle management and strategic deployment of operational assets including racks, containers, pallets, packaging materials, and equipment.
• Lead facility planning efforts (layout, throughput, racking, material handling equipment, etc.) and ensure integration of site planning into operational forecasts.
• Oversee asset tracking systems and enforce best practices for asset recovery, maintenance and utilization.
• Own safety, environmental and regulatory compliance for all operational sites; work with HR to develop and champion safety programs, training and incident reduction initiatives.
• Ensure operational infrastructure and equipment meet safety, quality and efficiency standards and drive capital planning for necessary investments and upgrades.

7. Leadership, Team Development, Financial Planning and Reporting

• Design and maintain an organizational structure that delivers clear accountability, effective span of control, and cross-functional collaboration across operations.
• Recruit, develop and coach management-level staff and frontline leaders to ensure the team has the capabilities required for autonomous, high-quality execution.
• Work closely with Human Resources on workforce planning, training modules, performance management and succession planning.
• Lead the development of annual operational budgets and forecasts in partnership with the CFO and senior leadership.
• Provide analytical support to Sales and Finance for program costing, pricing inputs and margin analysis.
• Monitor operational performance against budget and KPIs and take timely corrective action to address variances.
• Prepare and present executive-level reports and presentations summarizing operational performance, improvement initiatives and financial impacts.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications required to successfully perform the job:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Business Management or related field.
• 5+ Years experience in a management level role, preferably within a manufacturing-based industry.
• Experience in a horticultural or agricultural related industry is considered an asset.
• Managerial and Cost Accounting background
• Proven leadership experience managing and coaching teams in a results-oriented environment
• Strong understanding of process optimization, lean manufacturing and performance metrics
• Excellent communicator with problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making skills
• Strategic, innovative thinker that is highly motivated
• Computer literacy: Microsoft 365 Suite applications a must with previous experience in SAP (a plus).

Direct reports

There are 4-6 reports for this position.