Senior Reverse Logistics Analyst

Most weeks tend to involve complex return-flow analysis, processing-cost optimization, vendor coordination, and the steady cadence of cross-functional senior advisory — running senior return-rate and recovery analyses, modeling refurbishment economics across SKUs and conditions, sitting with merchandising and product teams on return drivers, prepping executive recommendations. You're often the senior analytical voice in the business case for upstream changes that reduce returns. Return rate, processing cost, and recovery value anchor the operating view.

Friction tends to come from the upstream-versus-downstream pull — return drivers trace to product, marketing, and operational decisions that other functions own, and senior analysts spend real time on cross-functional persuasion. Variance across employers is sharp: at large e-commerce and retail operations reverse-logistics has dedicated systems; at smaller operations the work runs through spreadsheets.

Folks who do well here often bring analytical rigor, cross-functional diplomatic instincts, and operational curiosity. APICS CSCP and senior supply-chain credentials anchor advancement. The trade-off is operating in a function often seen as a cost center — visibility tends to flow to the revenue-facing teams whose decisions drove the return volume.