Senior Operations Manager: Warehousing

Brilliant•Waukegan, IL

34d•$100,000 - $110,000•Onsite

About The Position

Brilliant creates high-impact unboxing experiences for some of the world’s leading brands. Through premium kitting, custom packaging, and reliable fulfillment, we help companies deliver gifts and products with precision, quality, and flair. As we scale to support complex, high-volume programs, we are investing in leadership that balances operational discipline with strategic foresight. The Senior General Manager (SGM) is the senior operational leader of our flagship fulfillment center in Waukegan, IL. This role is responsible for ensuring that warehouse operations run with consistency, speed, and accuracy across all core functions: receiving, inventory, picking, kitting, packing, and shipping. The SGM leads a multi-layered team across multiple shifts and partners closely with internal teams to align daily operations with broader business needs. This role balances floor-level engagement with longer-term strategic planning to improve performance, reduce friction, and support company-wide objectives.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in warehouse or fulfillment operations, with at least 5 in a senior leadership role.
Strong background in high-SKU, high-volume, or project-based fulfillment.
Experience managing multi-shift teams and building scalable operations.
Proven ability to improve processes, drive accountability, and lead cross-functional alignment.
Hands-on, floor-oriented leader with strategic thinking and strong communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Bi-lingual (English/Spanish) strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Oversee all aspects of fulfillment execution: inbound receiving, inventory put-away, order picking, kitting, packing, and outbound shipments.
Ensure day-to-day operations meet service-level agreements (SLAs), quality standards, and cost expectations.
Establish shift-level performance goals, labor assignments, and throughput targets to align execution with demand.
Monitor fulfillment workflows for bottlenecks or inefficiencies and implement corrective actions.
Lead a high-performing team of managers, supervisors, leads, and hourly associates across a multi-shift operation.
Build an engaged, accountable team culture focused on safety, communication, and performance.
Support leadership development through coaching, succession planning, and stretch opportunities.
Ensure staffing models align with forecasted volume and labor productivity goals.
Collaborate with internal teams (customer success, procurement, project management) to align warehouse readiness with program timelines and launch dates.
Design and implement scalable workflows to support increasing order complexity, SKU count, and multi-client execution.
Translate strategic business objectives into operational requirements and team-level plans.
Ensure consistent execution across fulfillment zones and product lines through standardized procedures and visual controls.
Drive ongoing improvements to fulfillment accuracy, labor efficiency, and inventory accuracy.
Build and refine SOPs that reduce errors, improve pick/pack times, and enable cross-training.
Develop and maintain dashboards, shift reports, and weekly reviews to drive operational visibility.
Ensure that learnings from missings, returns, or quality checks are fed back into process improvements.
Serve as the operational lead in cross-department meetings focused on order execution, timelines, and fulfillment readiness.
Act as the escalation point for fulfillment-related challenges, communicating root causes and solutions to stakeholders.
Provide operational updates and insights to senior leadership through recurring reviews and planning cycles.
Ensure full compliance with company policies and OSHA regulations.
Maintain a clean, safe, and organized facility across all work areas and shifts.
Lead regular safety meetings, training, and corrective action plans when necessary.
Model and reinforce Brilliant’s values and commitment to excellence at every level of the operation.