Senior Manager, Warehouse Operations

Capital Area Food Bank•Washington, DC

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Manager of Operations provides strategic and hands-on leadership for two critical components of Capital Area Food Bank’s distribution operation: Transportation and Warehouse Pulling Operations. This position is accountable for ensuring customers and program orders are pulled accurately, staged on time, loaded correctly, and delivered safely and on schedule. The Senior Manager owns the operational flow from order readiness through final delivery and serves as a key link between Warehouse Operations, Inventory, Routing, Customer Relations, Programs, and other cross-functional partners. The Senior Manager provides direct leadership to transportation and pulling teams and is expected to maintain a strong presence in the operation. This leader must understand daily staffing, pulling workload, route requirements, fleet availability, order exceptions, and operational risks and take timely action to ensure successful execution. The successful candidate will be a hands-on people leader who demonstrates extreme ownership, operational discipline, sound judgment, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvement while maintaining safety, accuracy, service, and accountability as core priorities.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in Warehousing, Supply Chain, Logistics, Distribution, and Inventory Systems.
Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with a solid understanding of mathematical concepts.
Proficient in computer systems, particularly Excel and data management.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-energy environment while managing multiple priorities and meeting deadlines.
Ability to delegate effectively to maximize employee performance.
Experience working in team environments and driving change.

Nice To Haves

College degree preferred.
Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
Strong proficiency with inventory or data warehousing software.
Strong data and analytical abilities.
Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
Demonstrated ability to engage effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Prior experience working with underserved or under-resourced populations.
Strong leadership and communication skills to ensure effective teamwork across departments and timely task completion.
Experience in fostering cooperative work environments using an effective leadership style.
Experience working in a warehouse and/or non-profit environment.
Ability to lead diverse teams and drive performance.
Demonstrated ability to creatively solve problems and implement improvements to processes and systems.

Responsibilities

Provide overall leadership and direction for daily transportation and pulling operations.
Ensure routes are properly planned, staffed, dispatched, executed, and completed according to established delivery schedules and customer commitments.
Maintain a strong daily operating cadence that provides visibility to route status, staffing, equipment availability, delivery exceptions, and operational risks.
Monitor routes throughout the day and proactively address delays, callouts, equipment issues, capacity constraints, and other service disruptions.
Ensure appropriate communication and escalation when operational issues may impact customers, programs, warehouse operations, or delivery commitments.
Partner with Routing, Customer Relations, Programs, Warehouse Operations, and other stakeholders to ensure transportation plans are operationally executable.
Ensure transportation activities remain aligned with approved processes, service areas, operational priorities, and available resources.
Maintain appropriate contingency plans for staffing shortages, vehicle downtime, volume spikes, weather events, and other operational disruptions.
Accurately pull food and other products from assigned warehouse locations based on Sales Orders, Work Orders, Transfer Orders, or other approved system-generated documentation.
Ensure orders are pulled accurately, completely, and on time to support scheduled deliveries, agency pickups, transfers, and internal production requirements.
Safely operate forklifts, electric pallet jacks, manual pallet jacks, RF scanners, and other assigned material-handling equipment.
Work collaboratively with Inventory, Replenishment, Put-Away, Receiving, Shipping, Transportation, and Operations leadership to resolve issues and maintain efficient product flow.
Support cross-training and other warehouse functions as operational needs require.
Maintain a safety-first transportation operation and ensure compliance with all applicable DOT, FMCSA, OSHA, CAFB, and vehicle safety requirements.
Follow all GMP, food safety, warehouse safety, PPE, and equipment safety requirements.
Review daily staffing for drivers, pullers, supervisors, and leads, including call-outs, PTO, vacancies, and other coverage gaps, and adjust resources as needed.
Review the daily and upcoming pulling workload, delivery schedule, route plan, and operational priorities to ensure adequate staffing and capacity.
Coordinate with Inventory, Replenishment, Put-Away, Shipping, and other warehouse functions to remove barriers impacting order completion.
Maintain communication with Routing, Customer Relations, Programs, Inventory, and Warehouse Operations regarding issues that could impact service.
Review operational KPIs and exceptions daily, including pulling accuracy, order completion, productivity, on-time departures, on-time delivery, overtime, staffing, and safety performance.
Provide coaching and immediate feedback to supervisors, leads, drivers, and pullers when performance or process gaps are identified.
Escalate significant operational, safety, staffing, inventory, or service risks to the Deputy Chief of Warehouse Operations with a clear assessment and recommended solution.
Provide coaching and mentoring to developing staff.
Develop and execute a training schedule to ensure KPIs are met.
Appraise the performance of direct reports and identify growth opportunities.
Conduct supervisory duties in accordance with organizational policies.
Manage human resource functions within warehouse operations, including recruiting, training, scheduling, coaching, and staff development.