The Warehouse Manager is responsible for the overall management and day-to-day operations of the warehouse, including receiving, storage, inventory movement, order fulfillment, picking, packing, loading, shipping, and warehouse safety. This position also has significant responsibility for coordinating logistics activities, ensuring accurate and timely transportation of goods, and maintaining compliance with customs, import/export, and applicable regulatory requirements.
The Warehouse Manager will work closely with Purchasing, Sales, Customer Service, Production, Quality Control, Finance, freight carriers, customs brokers, cross-dock partners, and other external service providers to ensure products move efficiently and accurately from supplier to warehouse and ultimately to the customer.
The successful candidate is highly organized, detail-oriented, solutions-focused, and comfortable managing a fast-paced warehouse and distribution environment with significant cross-border activity between Canada and the United States.
Key Responsibilities
Warehouse Operations
- Manage all day-to-day warehouse operations, ensuring products are received, stored, picked, packed, staged, and shipped accurately and efficiently.
- Supervise warehouse employees, including scheduling, delegation of work, training, performance management, and attendance.
- Establish and maintain warehouse procedures, standards, and operating processes.
- Ensure inventory is properly organized, identified, labeled, and stored to maximize space and operational efficiency.
- Monitor warehouse capacity and proactively identify space requirements and potential constraints.
- Coordinate receiving schedules and ensure inbound shipments are properly documented and processed.
- Ensure customer orders are picked and shipped accurately and within required timelines.
- Oversee loading of trucks and containers, ensuring proper product handling, pallet configuration, documentation, and shipment accuracy.
- Maintain high standards for housekeeping, organization, product protection, and workplace safety.
- Investigate inventory discrepancies, shipping errors, damages, shortages, and other operational issues and implement corrective actions.
Logistics & Transportation
- Coordinate daily transportation requirements, including LTL, FTL, container, cross-dock, and other freight movements.
- Work with carriers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, cross-docks, and third-party logistics providers to ensure timely movement of goods.
- Schedule pickups and deliveries and ensure appointments are confirmed and met.
- Monitor shipments from pickup through delivery and proactively address delays, missed appointments, damages, or other transportation issues.
- Review freight requirements and work with the Supply Chain team to identify opportunities to consolidate shipments and reduce transportation costs.
- Maintain accurate shipment records, including BOLs, packing lists, shipping confirmations, tracking information, and other required documentation.
- Support the planning and execution of international shipments, including shipments originating from Canada, the United States, India, China, and other countries.
- Escalate transportation issues immediately when they may affect customer commitments, production requirements, or delivery timelines.
Customs & Import / Export Compliance
- Ensure all shipments crossing international borders have accurate and complete customs documentation.
- Work closely with customs brokers and freight forwarders to facilitate timely customs clearance.
- Ensure commercial invoices, packing lists, certificates of origin, BOLs, customs instructions, and other required documentation are accurate and complete.
- Support the classification and maintenance of HS codes and product information required for customs purposes.
- Ensure country-of-origin information is accurately maintained and communicated.
- Monitor customs requirements, tariff changes, duties, taxes, and other applicable import/export requirements.
- Coordinate with the Supply Chain team and customs brokers regarding tariff changes and ensure appropriate procedures are followed.
- Ensure shipments are routed through approved ports of entry and comply with customer-specific transportation and customs requirements.
- Maintain records necessary to support customs audits, duty recovery, drawback programs, and other applicable customs programs.
- Identify and escalate potential customs compliance issues before goods are shipped.
- Work with customs brokers to resolve customs holds, documentation discrepancies, classification questions, and entry issues.
- Maintain an organized and auditable record of customs and international shipping documentation.
Regulatory Compliance
- Ensure warehouse and logistics activities comply with applicable federal, provincial/state, municipal, transportation, customs, and workplace safety requirements.
- Support compliance with applicable product-specific regulatory requirements, including labeling, documentation, country-of-origin, packaging, and customer requirements.
- Maintain awareness of changing customs, import/export, transportation, and regulatory requirements that may affect the company's operations.
- Work with Quality Control and Supply Chain to ensure products and shipments meet customer and regulatory requirements before release.
- Assist with customer, regulatory, customs, and supply-chain audits as required.
- Ensure required documentation and records are maintained accurately and are readily accessible.
- Identify compliance risks and implement procedures to prevent recurring issues.
Inventory Control.
- Maintain accurate physical and system inventory records.
- Coordinate cycle counts and participate in regular physical inventory counts.
- Investigate inventory variances and implement corrective actions.
- Monitor inventory movements between warehouse locations, production, cross-docks, and customer shipments.
- Ensure inventory transactions are completed accurately and in a timely manner within the ERP system.
- Work with Purchasing and Planning to identify excess, obsolete, damaged, or slow-moving inventory.
- Ensure appropriate controls are in place for high-value, customer-specific, or program-specific inventory.
ERP, Systems & Reporting
- Ensure warehouse and shipping transactions are accurately entered into the ERP system.
- Maintain accurate shipment, receiving, inventory, and logistics information.
- Monitor key warehouse and logistics performance indicators.
- Prepare and review reports related to inventory accuracy, receiving, shipping, freight, warehouse productivity, and order fulfillment.
- Identify opportunities to improve system processes and automation.
- Work with IT and Supply Chain to resolve ERP, scanning, labeling, shipping, and inventory system issues.
People Leadership
- Lead, coach, and develop warehouse employees to create a high-performing and accountable team.
- Establish clear expectations for productivity, quality, safety, attendance, and teamwork.
- Conduct regular performance reviews and provide ongoing feedback and training.
- Ensure employees are properly trained on warehouse procedures, equipment, safety requirements, and company policies.
- Manage staffing requirements based on workload, seasonality, customer programs, and shipping volumes.
- Foster a positive, respectful, and team-oriented workplace.
- Address performance and operational issues promptly and fairly.
Health & Safety
- Maintain a safe and compliant warehouse environment.
- Ensure employees follow all applicable health and safety policies and procedures.
- Ensure proper use of PPE, warehouse equipment, forklifts, pallet jacks, and other machinery.
- Conduct or participate in safety inspections and investigations.
- Report and investigate workplace incidents, near misses, and unsafe conditions.
- Ensure corrective actions are implemented and followed through.
- Maintain compliance with applicable Ontario workplace health and safety requirements.
Key Performance Indicators
The Warehouse Manager will be accountable for performance in areas including:
- Inventory accuracy
- Order fulfillment accuracy
- On-time shipment performance
- Receiving accuracy and timeliness
- Warehouse productivity
- Freight and transportation efficiency
- Shipment damage and error rates
- Inventory discrepancies
- Customs clearance delays and documentation accuracy
- Compliance with customer shipping requirements
- Warehouse capacity and utilization
- Employee productivity, attendance, and safety
- Health and safety performance
- Continuous improvement initiatives
Qualifications & Experience
- 10+ years of progressive warehouse, distribution, logistics, or supply chain experience.
- Previous warehouse management or supervisory experience in a high-volume environment.
- Experience managing both warehouse operations and transportation/logistics activities.
- Experience with cross-border shipments between Canada and the United States is strongly preferred.
- Working knowledge of customs documentation, HS codes, country of origin, tariffs, duties, and import/export processes.
- Experience working with customs brokers and freight forwarders.
- Strong understanding of warehouse inventory control and shipping processes.
- Experience using an ERP system; Epicor experience is considered an asset.
- Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Excel.
- Forklift certification and experience operating or supervising warehouse equipment is an asset.
Skills & Competencies
- Strong leadership and people-management skills.
- Excellent organizational and time-management abilities.
- Strong attention to detail, particularly with shipping and customs documentation.
- Ability to prioritize effectively in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
- Ability to identify operational risks and take proactive action.
- Strong negotiation and vendor-management skills.
- Comfortable working with changing priorities, tight deadlines, and seasonal fluctuations.
- High level of accountability and ownership.
- Continuous-improvement mindset.
