Manhatten SCALE Lead (WMS)

Job Description: Warehouse Manager – WMS Transformation Lead

Position Overview

Location: Florence, AL (100% Onsite)

Position Type: Full-Time, Permanent

Target Compensation: $100,000 – $125,000 Base Salary (Commensurate with experience) + Relocation/Sign-On Assistance

A leading national specialty retailer is seeking a strategic, floor-ready Warehouse Manager – WMS Transformation Lead to spearhead a high-stakes supply chain modernization project. Operating out of our high-throughput, climate-controlled distribution center in Florence, Alabama, this individual will serve as the critical operational bridge between our technical implementation teams and frontline facility personnel.

The primary immediate mission is to lead our facility through a comprehensive migration from a 40-year-old legacy system to Manhattan Scale WMS . Post-go-live and system stabilization—following a full annual cycle and holiday peak season—this highly visible position is explicitly structured to transition into a long-term departmental leadership seat (such as Operations Manager or Production Control Manager).

Key Responsibilities

WMS Transformation & Implementation Support

• Act as the functional "internal encyclopedia" and operational super-user for the newly adopted Manhattan Scale WMS platform.
• Partner closely with corporate IT leaders, Application Development Directors, and external Manhattan Associates consultants during the current configuration and design phases.
• Lead user acceptance testing (UAT), identify systemic or workflow design gaps, and collaborate with software engineers to troubleshoot operational bottlenecks ahead of the targeted spring go-live window.
• Collaborate heavily with internal facility training departments to create "train-the-trainer" programs, ensuring successful knowledge transfer across all operational shifts.

Change Management & Leadership

• Drive change management across a deeply loyal, highly tenured team of 350 facility personnel transitioning from a text-based legacy system to a modern, point-and-click Windows-based environment.
• Maintain multi-level relatability; navigate floor-level cultural shifts with empathy and approachability while communicating systemic timelines clearly to the corporate executive team (CIO, VP of HR, and DC Director).
• Provide daily floor presence, working side-by-side with department managers and hourly associates to build confidence in the new technical environment.

Inventory & High-Velocity Distribution Oversight

• Oversee workflow adjustments tailored to a complex, low-density inventory matrix characterized by managing 110,000 to 120,000 active SKUs across 170,000 physical slotting locations.
• Ensure high-velocity fulfillment processes are optimized under the new system without attempting to duplicate old, inefficient legacy behaviors.
• Manage systemic alignment across an environment driven by standard material handling equipment, conveyors, handheld RF sorting units, and voice-directed picking applications.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree is strictly required to align with long-term organizational talent pipeline strategies.
• Experience: 3 to 5+ years of progressive operational management or supervisory experience within a high-volume distribution center or fulfillment hub.
• WMS Expertise: Proven track record as a hand-on functional super-user, troubleshooter, or implementation partner specifically with Manhattan Scale WMS .
• Inventory Depth: Experience navigating high-SKU inventory environments with fast-turning distribution processes.
• Leadership Depth: Exceptional interpersonal and "soft" communication skills; a proven ability to mentor, train, and guide teams through substantial technological or organizational transformations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience participating in a full-cycle warehouse management system rollout, migration, or major upgrade lifecycle.
• Familiarity with retail store replenishment, omnichannel, or e-commerce fulfillment operations.

What We Offer

• Long-Term Executive Track: A clearly defined path to transition directly into standard distribution center operations leadership (e.g., Operations Manager) post go-live.
• High Visibility: Direct operational accountability over the largest modern capital infrastructure upgrade in the facility's history, reporting outcomes directly to corporate executive stakeholders.
• Workplace Comfort: Full-time employment within a climate-controlled distribution facility.
• Financial Security & Support: Competitive base salary accompanied by a comprehensive benefits package and a sign-on/relocation allowance of up to $10,000 for non-local candidates.