Warehouse Manager

Warehouse Manager

Full Time Management Chisago City, MN, US

Salary Range: $70,000.00 To $90,000.00 Annually

Why Kendall Howard?

We’re a growing manufacturer serving the IT infrastructure field, with a no-nonsense attitude: stay humble, work hard, and take on challenges head-first. Around here, you won’t just “do your job” — you’ll be part of a team that builds, solves, and delivers products we’re proud to put our name on. The benefits and pay are solid, but the real perk is being part of something that matters alongside people who care just as much as you do.

We know benefits matter, and we’ve got you covered. Full-time employees enjoy:

• Supplemental insurance options
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid holidays

Position Summary

The Warehouse Manager is the accountable owner of the complete warehouse function for the new facility. This position is responsible for establishing, leading, and continuously improving the warehouse operating system, including its infrastructure, equipment, organization, processes, systems, controls, and performance. The role extends beyond inventory accuracy and routine material movement and is expected to build a safe, disciplined, scalable operation capable of supporting production requirements, customer commitments, and future growth.

The Warehouse Manager has direct leadership responsibility for all warehouse associates, material handlers, team leads, supervisors, inventory-control resources, and other warehouse leadership positions assigned to the facility. The position works cross-functionally with Manufacturing Operations, Planning, Procurement, Engineering, Quality, Customer Service, Finance, Information Technology, and transportation partners while retaining clear accountability for warehouse execution and results.

Key Responsibilities

Warehouse Operations Leadership

• Direct all warehouse activities, including receiving, identification, labeling, staging, putaway, storage, picking, replenishment, kitting, material issue, returns, quarantine, finished-goods handling, shipment preparation, and shipping.
• Establish warehouse goals, priorities, service levels, performance expectations, escalation practices, and daily management routines aligned with production and customer requirements.
• Develop, document, implement, and maintain warehouse policies, procedures, standard work, visual controls, and work instructions.
• Own warehouse capacity, labor, equipment, storage, dock, staging, and throughput planning for current demand and forecasted growth.
• Ensure operational continuity through contingency planning for labor constraints, equipment failures, system interruptions, space limitations, and volume changes.

Organizational Leadership & Workforce Development

• Build and lead the complete warehouse organization required to operate the facility safely, accurately, and effectively.
• Develop staffing models, shift structures, supervisory coverage, role definitions, qualification requirements, and succession plans.
• Recruit, select, onboard, train, qualify, coach, and develop warehouse personnel in partnership with Human Resources.
• Establish clear performance expectations and conduct regular feedback, performance reviews, recognition, coaching, and corrective action in accordance with company policy.
• Maintain cross-training and skills-qualification plans that provide adequate coverage for critical warehouse functions.
• Promote a culture of safety, accountability, teamwork, urgency, operational discipline, and continuous improvement.

Shipping & Receiving Operations

• Oversee all inbound and outbound warehouse execution, ensuring materials and finished goods are received and shipped accurately, safely, and on schedule.
• Establish controls for purchase-order verification, quantity confirmation, visible condition checks, receipt documentation, labeling, discrepancy escalation, and timely system transactions.
• Manage dock scheduling, carrier coordination, freight documentation, shipment staging, load verification, and transfer of custody.
• Ensure shipping documentation, labels, packing lists, bills of lading, customer-specific requirements, and shipment records are complete and accurate.
• Coordinate with Procurement, Planning, Customer Service, Quality, and transportation providers to resolve shortages, damage, delays, priority changes, and shipping exceptions.

Inventory Management & Control

• Own inventory accuracy and location integrity across warehouse, staging, line-side, quarantine, finished-goods, and other controlled material locations.
• Establish and enforce barcode, labeling, unit-of-measure, location, lot or serial control, status identification, and ERP transaction standards.
• Develop and execute cycle-count programs based on material value, velocity, risk, and historical accuracy.
• Investigate inventory discrepancies, identify root causes, implement corrective actions, and communicate material risks to affected functions.
• Support physical inventory activities, internal controls, audit requirements, reconciliation, and inventory-adjustment authorization practices.
• Prevent unrecorded movement, unidentified material, unauthorized inventory adjustments, and storage outside approved locations.

Internal Logistics & Material Flow

• Own internal material movement between receiving, warehouse locations, production areas, point-of-use locations, finished-goods staging, and shipping.
• Design and maintain replenishment methods, routes, schedules, Kanban or signaling practices, delivery frequencies, quantities, and escalation standards where applicable.
• Coordinate with Manufacturing Operations on material presentation, point-of-use replenishment, empty-container return, finished-goods pickup, and production-priority changes.
• Ensure material is delivered to the correct location, in the correct quantity and condition, at the required time, with complete system traceability.
• Reduce excess handling, travel, waiting, congestion, damage, and other forms of waste through deliberate layout and flow design.

Warehouse Infrastructure & Equipment

• Own the readiness and effective use of warehouse racks, shelving, storage systems, staging areas, docks, traffic lanes, pedestrian pathways, and material-flow infrastructure.
• Develop and maintain warehouse location designs that balance space utilization, access, safety, inventory control, material velocity, and future expansion.
• Oversee forklifts, reach trucks, pallet jacks, carts, scanners, printers, mobile devices, charging areas, and other warehouse equipment.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance, inspections, repairs, certifications, replacement planning, and capital requests for warehouse assets.
• Ensure storage systems are appropriately identified, inspected, load-rated, protected, and used in accordance with approved standards.

Packaging & Finished-Goods Management

• Establish and maintain packaging methods, handling-unit standards, labeling requirements, load configuration, product-protection practices, and shipment-preparation standards.
• Ensure finished goods are identified, protected, staged, stored, and released for shipment in a manner that prevents damage, loss, mixing, or shipment error.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing Operations, Customer Service, and customers as appropriate to define and improve packaging requirements.
• Monitor packaging material availability, standardization, consumption, cost, ergonomics, and effectiveness.
• Lead corrective actions related to packaging failures, transit damage, shipment presentation, and handling-related product damage.

Safety, Compliance & Housekeeping

• Lead warehouse safety performance and ensure compliance with company requirements and applicable regulatory standards.
• Ensure employees are trained, qualified, and authorized for assigned work and material-handling equipment.
• Establish and enforce traffic plans, pedestrian controls, dock-safety practices, load-securing methods, storage rules, lifting practices, and emergency procedures.
• Conduct routine safety observations, workplace inspections, risk assessments, incident reviews, and corrective-action follow-up.
• Maintain 5S, housekeeping, aisle clearance, dock organization, waste handling, spill response, and equipment-readiness standards throughout the warehouse.

Systems, Data & Transaction Discipline

• Ensure warehouse processes are accurately represented and consistently executed within the ERP, warehouse, barcode, scanning, labeling, and data-collection systems.
• Own warehouse transaction discipline for receipts, transfers, putaway, picks, issues, returns, status changes, adjustments, finished-goods movement, and shipments.
• Partner with Information Technology and business-system owners to define requirements, test changes, resolve system issues, and improve warehouse functionality.
• Maintain data standards for warehouse locations, replenishment parameters, handling units, labels, printers, scanners, and related warehouse master data.
• Provide training and documented controls that enable accurate, timely, and traceable system transactions.

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

• Develop and maintain warehouse key performance indicators, visual management, operating reviews, and action plans.
• Monitor performance in safety, inventory accuracy, receiving accuracy, shipping accuracy, dock-to-stock time, on-time material delivery, on-time shipment, labor productivity, equipment availability, space utilization, damage, and transaction accuracy.
• Lead structured problem solving and corrective action for recurring operational, inventory, quality, safety, system, and service issues.
• Apply Lean principles to improve flow, reduce waste, simplify work, standardize processes, and increase operational capacity.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for automation, storage optimization, scanning, material-handling improvements, and technology deployment.

Cross-Functional Planning & Communication

• Participate in production, material, capacity, launch, and operational planning activities that affect warehouse workload or capability.
• Communicate shortages, capacity constraints, inventory risks, late receipts, shipping concerns, equipment issues, and resource needs promptly to affected leaders.
• Coordinate warehouse readiness for new products, engineering changes, supplier transitions, customer requirements, facility changes, and production transfers.
• Maintain productive relationships with internal customers, suppliers, carriers, service providers, and other bu

Minimum Qualifications

• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in warehousing, distribution, materials, inventory control, logistics, or manufacturing support operations.
• Two or more years of direct leadership experience with responsibility for staffing, training, coaching, performance management, and daily operational results.
• Experience with Infor CloudSuite Industrial (CSI / SyteLine) or a comparable manufacturing ERP platform preferred.

Kendall Howard provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability. We are dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants with disabilities.

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