Director of Lumber Supply Chain
10+ years
North Carolina, United States
Full-time
Remote
1 month ago
About the role
ABOUT THE ROLE
World Tree is scaling its Paulownia timber program & is hiring a Director of Lumber Supply Chain to build & lead end-to-end operations—from harvest through processing, warehousing, & delivery to buyers. This is a high-ownership leadership role at an agroforestry company with a rapidly growing grower network across the USA & Latin America.
The Director will oversee four core areas: harvest & milling operations, warehousing & distribution, third-party Paulownia stand scouting, & sales support. The ideal candidate combines hands-on timber operations experience with strong program management skills & the ability to build systems from scratch.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Paulownia Lumber Harvest and Processing — Program Management
Paulownia Lumber Warehousing and Distribution — Program Management
3rd Party Paulownia Stand Scouting — Program Management
Sales Support
Additional Responsibilities
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education & Experience
Technical Skills
Professional Competencies
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
The following qualifications are not required but will strengthen a candidate's application:
ABOUT WORLD TREE
World Tree is an agroforestry company on a mission to plant, grow, and harvest high-value, fast-growing timber trees at scale. Our flagship species is the Paulownia — a remarkable tree that reaches harvest maturity in as little as 8–10 years, sequesters significant carbon, requires minimal inputs, & produces lightweight, high-strength timber prized for furniture, millwork, & specialty wood products.
We work through a distributed grower network: landowners across the USA & Latin America plant & tend Paulownia trees on their properties, & World Tree provides trees, agronomic support, & access to a developing timber market. As our oldest grower sites reach harvest maturity, we are building the downstream supply chain infrastructure — harvest, processing, warehousing, & sales — to bring Paulownia lumber to market at scale.
This is an early-stage, high-impact role at a company with a compelling environmental & commercial story. You'll be one of the first people to move Paulownia through a commercial supply chain in the United States, building the playbook along the way.
COMPENSATION & ROLE DETAILS
Employment Type: Full-time, exempt
Location: Remote (Southeast US); travel to grower sites, mills, & warehouses required
Travel: ~ 25-35% to grower sites, processing facilities & warehouses
Reports To: Chief Operation Officer
Compensation: Competitive base salary commensurate with experience; performance bonus; equity participation
Benefits: Health, dental & vision insurance; 401(k) with match; PTO
World Tree is scaling its Paulownia timber program & is hiring a Director of Lumber Supply Chain to build & lead end-to-end operations—from harvest through processing, warehousing, & delivery to buyers. This is a high-ownership leadership role at an agroforestry company with a rapidly growing grower network across the USA & Latin America.
The Director will oversee four core areas: harvest & milling operations, warehousing & distribution, third-party Paulownia stand scouting, & sales support. The ideal candidate combines hands-on timber operations experience with strong program management skills & the ability to build systems from scratch.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Paulownia Lumber Harvest and Processing — Program Management
- Own end-to-end harvest-to-lumber operations across World Tree’s grower network (assessment through processing delivery).
- Source & manage sawmill & kiln partners; negotiate pricing & capacity.
- Set & enforce harvest quality standards (log grades, defect tolerances, diameter minimums) aligned with NHLA targets.
- Build harvest scheduling to optimize grower readiness, demand, processing capacity, & seasonal constraints.
- Track yield by site, log grade, & vendor; identify improvements & inform grower/harvest practices.
- Ensure compliance with timber regulations; maintain chain-of-custody & sustainability documentation.
- Partner with Grower Success to support harvest execution (site access, equipment, post-harvest restoration).
Paulownia Lumber Warehousing and Distribution — Program Management
- Design & operate a distributed warehousing strategy that positions processed Paulownia lumber near key buyer markets across the USA.
- Source & manage relationships with third-party logistics (3PL) providers, regional warehouses, & LTL/FTL freight carriers; negotiate rates & service agreements.
- Build & own inventory management processes that track lumber SKUs (species, grade, thickness, width, length, drying status) across multiple warehouse locations, with real-time visibility into available stock.
- Manage order fulfillment from buyer purchase order through shipment & delivery confirmation; coordinate directly with sales to align available inventory with committed orders.
- Develop KPIs & reporting for warehousing & distribution operations: fill rates, days of inventory, freight cost per MBF, on-time delivery, & damage rates.
- Plan for capacity expansion as lumber volume scales; evaluate owned vs. leased warehouse options in strategic markets.
3rd Party Paulownia Stand Scouting — Program Management
- Build upon & manage World Tree’s scouting program to identify mature Paulownia stands outside World Tree's grower network that are candidates for contract harvest or timber purchase arrangements.
- Evaluate scouted opportunities for commercial viability — timber quality, harvest economics, logistics feasibility, & landowner deal structure — & present recommendations to leadership.
- Build relationships with landowners, farm managers, & rural real estate brokers in target geographies to generate a pipeline of scouting leads.
- Maintain scouting database to track leads, site assessments, outreach status, & closed harvest agreements.
- Collaborate with World Tree's forestry teams to coordinate scouted harvest opportunities with the broader supply strategy.
Sales Support
- Serve as the operational point of contact for the sales team: translate buyer inquiries into accurate availability windows, lead times, & freight cost estimates.
- Participate in key customer conversations where supply chain specifics — lumber grade, drying status, packaging, volume minimums, & delivery terms — are central to closing deals.
- Develop and maintain sales support toolkit: grade & species cut sheets, packaging and bundling specs, & sample availability.
- Alert sales leadership proactively to supply constraints, lead time changes, or inventory surpluses that affect deal structuring or pricing.
Additional Responsibilities
- Establish & enforce Paulownia lumber quality standards across all processing vendors — moisture content, dimensional tolerances, grade-out rates, & appearance — monitor output against customer specs, & drive corrective action when issues arise.
- Oversee kiln-drying specifications with attention to Paulownia's fast-drying properties; hold processing vendors accountable for equipment maintenance, uptime, & yield recovery benchmarks.
- Build & manage the lumber supply chain team as operations scale, including setting performance goals, conducting evaluations, & maintaining a strong culture of safety and accountability across all field & processing activities.
- Develop & manage the annual operating budget for the lumber supply chain; track and report KPIs across cost per MBF, yield recovery, freight cost, & contribution margin by product line; contribute to long-term capacity planning as the grower network matures.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education & Experience
- 7+ years of progressive experience in timber supply chain, lumber operations, or forest products logistics, with at least 3 years in a program management or leadership role.
- Demonstrated experience managing end-to-end lumber supply chain operations, including harvest coordination, mill & kiln-drying vendor management, warehousing, & freight logistics.
- Direct experience working with growers, landowners, or timber sellers, including negotiating harvest agreements & coordinating field operations across multiple sites.
- Track record of building operations systems, workflows, & vendor networks in a scaling or startup-stage business.
- Bachelor's degree in forestry, supply chain management, agricultural business, operations management, or a related field — or equivalent professional experience.
Technical Skills
- Proficiency with inventory management & supply chain software (e.g., ERP systems, WMS platforms, or equivalent tools); comfort adopting new technology stacks.
- Strong working knowledge of lumber grading standards (NHLA and/or export standards), kiln-drying specifications, & common lumber defects & their market implications.
- Ability to read & interpret timber cruise & stand assessment data; familiarity with GIS tools or mapping platforms for spatial scouting work is a plus.
- Proficiency with spreadsheets & data tools (Excel, Google Sheets) for supply/demand modeling, cost analysis, & operational reporting; experience with data visualization or BI tools is a plus.
- Working knowledge of freight logistics: LTL and FTL rate structures, carrier management, Incoterms, and BOL documentation.
Professional Competencies
- Builder mentality: thrives in environments where infrastructure, processes, & vendor relationships need to be created from scratch with limited guidance.
- Strong cross-functional communicator: able to translate complex supply chain realities into clear, actionable information for sales, marketing, & leadership audiences.
- Data-driven decision maker: naturally tracks KPIs, builds simple models to evaluate tradeoffs, & uses data to continuously improve operations.
- Highly organized with strong project management instincts: able to manage multiple concurrent workstreams, vendors, & deadlines without losing detail.
- Entrepreneurial & self-directed: comfortable setting priorities & moving work forward independently in a remote, fast-moving company environment.
- Collaborative & relationship-oriented: skilled at building trust with growers, vendors, buyers, & internal teammates across different cultures & geographies.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
The following qualifications are not required but will strengthen a candidate's application:
- Experience with Paulownia, lightweight hardwoods, or tropical/exotic species supply chains.
- Familiarity with agroforestry, silvopasture, or plantation forestry business models.
- Bilingual in English and Spanish.
- Experience with FSC, SFI, or other chain-of-custody certification programs.
- Background in furniture, millwork, cabinet, or architectural wood products markets — understanding of buyer specs, grade expectations, & purchasing cycles.
- Experience sourcing lumber from or selling into export markets, including understanding of phytosanitary requirements, heat treatment certification (ISPM 15), and export documentation.
- Familiarity with CRM systems (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce) & comfort integrating supply chain data with sales workflows.
- Experience managing remote or field-based teams across multiple geographic regions.
ABOUT WORLD TREE
World Tree is an agroforestry company on a mission to plant, grow, and harvest high-value, fast-growing timber trees at scale. Our flagship species is the Paulownia — a remarkable tree that reaches harvest maturity in as little as 8–10 years, sequesters significant carbon, requires minimal inputs, & produces lightweight, high-strength timber prized for furniture, millwork, & specialty wood products.
We work through a distributed grower network: landowners across the USA & Latin America plant & tend Paulownia trees on their properties, & World Tree provides trees, agronomic support, & access to a developing timber market. As our oldest grower sites reach harvest maturity, we are building the downstream supply chain infrastructure — harvest, processing, warehousing, & sales — to bring Paulownia lumber to market at scale.
This is an early-stage, high-impact role at a company with a compelling environmental & commercial story. You'll be one of the first people to move Paulownia through a commercial supply chain in the United States, building the playbook along the way.
COMPENSATION & ROLE DETAILS
Employment Type: Full-time, exempt
Location: Remote (Southeast US); travel to grower sites, mills, & warehouses required
Travel: ~ 25-35% to grower sites, processing facilities & warehouses
Reports To: Chief Operation Officer
Compensation: Competitive base salary commensurate with experience; performance bonus; equity participation
Benefits: Health, dental & vision insurance; 401(k) with match; PTO
Skills
Environmental Services