Inbound Manager

Description

Department: Operations 

Reports To: Branch Manager 

Classification: Exempt

Supervisory Responsibility: Receiving and Inbound Warehouse Team

Position Summary

This role will be a critical player in building the next chapter in our organization’s success. As a leader within one of ProSource’s flagship locations, the ideal candidate will be relentless in the pursuit of excellence and establish standards that promote people’s development to drive improvements in inventory speed, placement, accuracy and cost. To succeed the ideal candidate must communicate effectively, collaborate with all stakeholders across operations and the ProSource Support Center, leverage data to inform decisions and most importantly care deeply about building new systems while preserving a culture committed to people.

The Inbound Manager is responsible for leading and coordinating all inbound warehouse activities, including receiving, inspection, put-away, inventory accuracy, vendor discrepancy resolution, transfers, and the efficient movement of product into available inventory.

This position ensures incoming materials are received accurately, safely, and efficiently while maintaining strong inventory controls and supporting a high level of service to sales, operations, and customers. The Inbound Manager provides hands-on leadership to the inbound team, establishes clear priorities, monitors productivity, and works cross-functionally with Purchasing, Sales, Transportation, Inventory, and branch leadership.

The successful candidate will have experience in wholesale distribution, warehouse operations, inventory management, and ERP/WMS systems and will demonstrate a strong commitment to safety, accuracy, urgency, and continuous improvement.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Inbound Operations

• Direct daily receiving and inbound warehouse activities to ensure materials are processed accurately and efficiently.
• Coordinate the unloading, verification, inspection, receiving, staging, and put-away of incoming products.
• Prioritize inbound shipments based on customer requirements, inventory needs, transfers, backorders, and operational priorities.
• Ensure purchase orders, packing slips, quantities, product numbers, and receiving documentation are accurately matched and processed.
• Monitor receiving queues and ensure product is moved from the receiving area to its proper inventory location promptly.
• Coordinate inbound branch transfers and other internal inventory movements.
• Maintain an organized receiving area and prevent unnecessary product congestion or delays.
• Ensure damaged, incorrect, short, over-shipped, or otherwise nonconforming products are properly identified and isolated.

Inventory Accuracy & Controls

• Maintain a high level of inventory accuracy through disciplined receiving and put-away practices.
• Research and resolve receiving discrepancies, including quantity, product, pricing, damage, and purchase order issues.
• Partner with Purchasing and vendors to resolve shipment discrepancies and receiving-related issues.
• Ensure inventory transactions are entered accurately and timely into the ERP/WMS.
• Assist with cycle counts, physical inventories, inventory adjustments, and discrepancy research.
• Monitor receiving errors and identify recurring issues requiring corrective action.
• Ensure products are assigned to appropriate warehouse locations and stored according to operational and safety requirements.
• Support inventory controls designed to minimize shrinkage, damage, misplaced inventory, and transaction errors.

Team Leadership

• Supervise, coach, train, and develop employees assigned to inbound and inventory operations.
• Establish daily priorities and clearly communicate workload expectations to the team.
• Monitor employee productivity, accuracy, attendance, safety, and overall performance.
• Provide ongoing feedback, coaching, recognition, and corrective action when appropriate.
• Cross-train employees to improve operational flexibility and coverage.
• Ensure new employees receive appropriate training on receiving processes, systems, equipment, and safety requirements.
• Promote teamwork and effective communication between receiving, warehouse, drivers, counter sales, purchasing, and other departments.
• Maintain appropriate staffing levels and recommend staffing adjustments based on workload and business requirements.

Vendor & Purchasing Coordination

• Partner with Purchasing to address incomplete shipments, damaged products, incorrect materials, backorders, and vendor discrepancies.
• Communicate significant receiving issues promptly to appropriate departments.
• Ensure vendor returns and rejected materials are properly documented and staged.
• Identify recurring vendor performance issues and provide information to Purchasing and management.
• Assist with improving inbound scheduling and vendor delivery processes.

Safety & Compliance

• Properly conduct safety investigations, root cause analysis and understand how to apply the hierarchy of controls to eliminate future risk.
• Establishes and upholds world class expectations with 5S by maintaining a safe, clean, and organized receiving and warehouse environment.
• Ensure employees comply with company safety policies and established material-handling procedures.
• Conduct routine observations of warehouse activities and address unsafe conditions or behaviors.
• Ensure forklifts, pallet jacks, RF scanners, and other warehouse equipment are operated safely.
• Participate in safety meetings, training, incident investigations, and corrective actions.
• Ensure aisles, receiving docks, staging areas, emergency exits, and work areas remain clear and properly maintained.

Operational Improvement

• Monitor inbound workflow and identify opportunities to improve productivity, accuracy, and throughput.
• Develop and maintain standardized receiving and put-away processes.
• Identify bottlenecks and implement practical solutions to improve product flow.
• Use operational data to evaluate workload, staffing, productivity, and receiving performance.
• Partner with branch and operations leadership on warehouse layout, slotting, inventory, and process-improvement initiatives.
• Support implementation and effective utilization of ERP, RF scanning, warehouse technology, and other operational systems.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance may be evaluated using measures such as:

• Receiving accuracy
• Inventory accuracy
• Receiving errors and discrepancies
• Dock-to-stock time
• Inbound processing time
• Lines or units received per labor hour
• Same-day receiving/put-away percentage
• Vendor discrepancy resolution time
• Inventory adjustments attributable to receiving
• Product damage
• Safety incidents
• Overtime and labor utilization
• Employee productivity and attendance
• Receiving backlog
• Cycle count accuracy

Requirements

Education and Experience

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Associate or bachelor's degree in Supply Chain, Operations, Business, Logistics, or a related field preferred.
• 3–5 years of warehouse, distribution, receiving, inventory, or logistics experience preferred.
• 2+ years of supervisory or team leadership experience preferred.
• Experience in wholesale distribution strongly preferred.
• Experience with plumbing, electrical, HVAC, industrial, building materials, or similar distribution environments is a plus.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated understanding of lean principles and process improvement to drive performance at scale.
• Advocate of talent development and people engagement to promote a culture of winning.
• Strong knowledge of warehouse receiving and inventory-control processes.
• Ability to lead employees in a fast-paced distribution environment.
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills.
• Ability to analyze operational problems and implement practical solutions.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to inventory accuracy.
• Experience with ERP and warehouse management systems required; Epicor Eclipse/Solar and RF scanning experience preferred.
• Ability to read and interpret sales orders, transfer documents, pick tickets, delivery documentation, inventory reports, and operational reports.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to work in a warehouse and distribution environment for extended periods.
• Ability to stand, walk, bend, reach, and perform physical activities associated with warehouse operations.
• Ability to lift and move products weighing up to 50 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation.
• Ability to work around forklifts, pallet jacks, delivery vehicles, and material-handling equipment.
• Ability to work in warehouse conditions that may include varying temperatures and noise levels.
• Forklift certification or ability to obtain certification may be required.