Role Scorecard — KDS Finance Leader
Komar Distribution Services (Transportation & Distribution)
Job Mission
The mission of the KDS Finance Leader is to own the economic truth of the transportation and distribution business and to convert financial complexity into disciplined, scalable profitability.
This role exists to ensure KDS grows profitably, predictably, and transparently by:
- Protecting margin
- Enforcing pricing discipline
- Eliminating manual and wasteful financial processes
- Making financial performance visible and actionable at the client, facility, lane, and service level
This role does not exist to manage statutory accounting or corporate compliance.
It exists to drive economic outcomes, impose financial discipline, and scale responsibly.
Role Summary
The KDS Finance Leader is the senior financial authority for the supply chain business and serves as the economic counterweight to Operations and Sales.
They own KDS-specific finance teams, productivity, pricing economics, and margin accountability while partnering closely with Corporate Finance on consolidation and risk.
Primary Outcomes (What This Role Must Deliver)
1. Margin Discipline & Economic Transparency
- Clear visibility into profitability by:
- Client
- Facility
- Lane
- Service
- Identification and correction (or exit) of unprofitable business
- Consistent margin guardrails applied to all deals and scope changes
2. Scalable Finance Operations
- Reduction in finance cost per dollar of revenue over time
- Elimination of manual billing and reconciliation work
- Automation and system improvements that replace labor, not supplement it
- Finance headcount growth materially slower than revenue growth
3. Revenue Capture & Billing Excellence
- Accurate, complete, and timely invoicing across transportation and warehousing
- Minimal missed charges and billing leakage
- Reduced billing cycle time and dispute rates
4. Pricing & Deal Quality
- Strong pricing governance and deal economics discipline
- Financial sign-off on all KDS deals within defined thresholds
- Reduction in pricing exceptions and one-off commercial structures
5. Risk & Cost Accountability Embedded in Operations
- Insurance and claims costs visible in operating economics
- Cost drivers (labor, freight, insurance, temp labor) owned where they are created
- Behavioral change driven by economic transparency, not policy alone
6. Clean Interface with Corporate Finance
- Corporate receives clean, defensible financials
- Minimal post-close corrections or rework
- Escalation only when enterprise risk thresholds are exceeded
Key Performance Indicators (Scorecard Metrics)
Financial Productivity
- Finance cost per $ of KDS revenue
- Finance cost per invoice
- Finance cost per client
- Finance headcount growth vs. revenue growth
Margin & Profitability
- Gross margin by client / facility / lane
- % of revenue below margin floor
- Number and dollar value of unprofitable clients or services
- Margin improvement from corrective actions
Billing & Cash
- Billing accuracy (% error-free invoices)
- Billing cycle time
- Missed-charge recovery rate
- AR aging (logistics clients)
- Dispute rate and resolution time
Pricing Discipline
- % of deals requiring pricing exceptions
- Deal margin vs. target at launch and 90/180 days
- RFP win rate vs. margin quality
Risk & Insurance Economics
- Insurance cost as % of KDS revenue
- Claims frequency and severity trends
- Claims cost by facility, client, and lane
- Cost reduction tied to behavioral or process changes
Systems & Automation
- Manual finance hours eliminated
- Automation ROI realized vs. planned
- Reduction in custom / one-off reporting
Core Responsibilities
- Own KDS finance org design, staffing, and productivity
- Own pricing, deal economics, and commercial finance
- Own KDS billing, revenue assurance, and collections strategy
- Own FP&A, analytics, and operating financial insight
- Own logistics-specific procurement economics
- Own insurance cost allocation and claims economics (policy remains corporate)
- Act as an independent, fact-based counterweight to Ops and Sales
- Partner with Corporate Finance on consolidation, risk, and capital planning
Authority & Decision Rights (Non-Negotiable)
- Final KDS financial sign-off on deals within defined thresholds
- Authority to redesign or reduce KDS finance headcount
- Authority to standardize pricing, billing logic, and contracts
- Authority to recommend client exits based on economics
- Authority to define KDS financial KPIs and productivity standards
Ideal Experience Profile
Required Experience
- 10–15+ years in finance roles with increasing responsibility
- Direct experience in:
- 3PL, logistics, transportation, warehousing, or asset-heavy operations
- Experience in apparel and omni-channel fulfilment is ideal but not required
- Proven ownership of:
- Pricing and deal economics
- Margin management
- FP&A tied to operations
- Billing and revenue assurance
- Experience scaling a business while reducing cost per unit of revenue
Strongly Preferred Experience
- Multi-site or network-based operations
- Transportation + warehousing exposure (not just one)
- Experience fixing:
- Broken billing processes
- Manual finance workflows
- Poor system integrations
- Experience partnering with (but not reporting to) a corporate CFO or controller
- Exposure to insurance, claims, and risk economics in logistics
Experience That Is Not Sufficient on Its Own
- Pure accounting or controller backgrounds without commercial authority
- Corporate FP&A roles without operational ownership
- Finance roles that primarily support rather than decide
Leadership Characteristics
- Comfortable saying “no” to bad economics
- Intellectually honest and data-driven
- Willing to reduce headcount through process improvement
- Respected by operators but not captured by them
- Low tolerance for manual work, exceptions, and ambiguity
- Able to translate complexity into simple, enforceable rules
How This Role Is Evaluated
This role is not evaluated on:
- Team size
- Effort
- Volume of activity
This role is evaluated on:
- Margin quality
- Finance efficiency
- Scalability
- Clarity of economic truth
- Reduction of friction for corporate finance
Final Definition of Success
The KDS Finance Leader is successful when financial discipline becomes embedded in how KDS operates, not something applied after the fact.
Pay: $150,000.00 - $170,000.00 per year
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Perris, CA 92571
