Senior Manager - Fulfillment Center

Description

SUMMARY

The Senior Manager, Fulfillment Center holds operational and financial accountability for Hatteras’s new 65,000 sq. ft. fulfillment center serving our beauty and cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and retail clients. The role owns the complete flow of goods — receiving, putaway, high-velocity pick and pack, light assembly and kitting, inventory management, and shipping — along with the people, systems, and cost structure behind it.

The immediate mandate is the relocation out of our current 15,000 sq. ft. fulfillment area — the move plan, the transition of the existing team, and go-live without a client experiencing it as a service event. From there the mandate shifts to systematizing and scaling into more than four times the space we occupy today.

This is a high-mix, SKU-dense, hands-on environment. Success requires someone who has personally run a rapid pick and pack operation, who treats the warehouse management system and its data as the primary instrument of control, and who can absorb volume growth without a proportional increase in headcount. Regulated-client discipline is routine here rather than exceptional: pharmaceutical traceability and serialization, cosmetic GMP practices, client audits, and hazardous materials compliance for aerosol product.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Relocation, Transition & Go-Live

• Own the move. Build and execute the relocation plan — sequencing, inventory transfer and reconciliation, system cutover, client communication, and contingency planning — while holding order accuracy and on-time shipping for every active client program across the move window. Racking and floor plans are finalized; pressure-test them against real order data before product lands.
• Transition the existing team. Retrain current staff on new layout, zones, travel paths, and processes; retain the institutional knowledge they carry and convert apprehension into ownership.
• Build the initial slotting plan. Develop velocity-based, cube-aware slotting across roughly 14,000 pick locations from actual line-level demand rather than carrying over a legacy arrangement.

Daily Operations & Throughput

• Run every functional area. Receiving and putaway, storage, pick and pack, assembly and kitting, inventory control, shipping, and returns.
• Engineer the pick methodology. Select and refine the right mix of discrete, batch, zone, wave, and cluster picking against real order-profile data.
• Serve four distinct order profiles well. B2B replenishment to retail DCs and salons; DTC parcel including influencer gifting where presentation quality outweighs throughput; field-team and promotional kits; and store-level signage distribution requiring accurate ship-to list management.
• Establish labor standards and drive productivity. Build defensible standards by function, measure against them, and improve lines per labor hour through process, layout, and training rather than hours.
• Manage peak and control cost. Own the operating budget, cost per order, and overtime, and design a 20 to 40 FTE core team with a temporary pool that scales to promotional and holiday peaks without carrying structural overhead off-season.

Inventory Management & Control

• Guarantee inventory integrity. Own location-level accuracy across roughly 3,000 pallet positions and 14,000 pick locations through disciplined cycle counting and root-cause resolution of every variance — including a clean, auditable reconciliation through the move, the highest-risk inventory event this operation will face.
• Enforce lot, serial, and expiration control. Full traceability, serialization where applicable, FEFO rotation, quarantine and hold procedures, and documented destruction.
• Manage inbound and capacity. Hold dock-to-stock to target with inbound inspection and ASN reconciliation; forecast storage capacity and flag constraints early.

Systems, Data & Optimization

• Own Propago as a business system. Serve as the configuring owner — not an end user — for item and location setup, zone structure, pick and replenishment logic, and directed workflow.
• Own outbound execution in ShipStore. Carrier and service selection, rate shopping, cartonization, manifest integrity, and compliant shipping documentation.
• Build the reporting layer. Partner with IT on Navigator reporting and dashboards that make throughput, accuracy, labor performance, and client SLA attainment visible daily. Use Paylocity data to manage scheduling, attendance, and labor cost.
• Close system gaps and advance automation. Identify where the current stack constrains the operation and bring forward recommendations with a business case — configuration change, vendor development, Navigator build, or enabling technology such as RF and voice picking, put walls, print-and-apply, or conveyance — each with disciplined payback analysis.

Compliance, HazMat & Safety

• Own the HazMat program with Compliance. Build and maintain a defensible program for receipt, storage, handling, and shipment of aerosol and other regulated product — DOT classification and shipping papers, limited quantity and consumer commodity determinations governing ground and air movement, and carrier-specific requirements.
• Certify the workforce and manage storage. Ensure every HazMat employee holds current initial and recurrent training with documentation that survives audit, and work with Compliance, our insurance carrier, and the local authority having jurisdiction on aerosol storage classification, quantity limits, segregation, and required fire protection.
• Maintain audit readiness and quality systems. Host client and third-party audits, own corrective actions to closure, and maintain cGMP-aligned SOPs and training records in a continuous state of readiness.
• Lead on safety. OSHA compliance, powered industrial truck certification, ergonomics, and incident investigation to root cause.

People & Client Support

• Build and develop the team. Recruit, coach, and retain supervisors and leads; establish structured onboarding, task certification, and cross-training, which matters disproportionately in a team this size. Set clear expectations and address underperformance fairly and promptly.
• Serve as senior operational contact for clients. Lead business reviews and performance reporting, resolve issues, and support client tours and RFP responses with credible operational commitments.
• Onboard new programs and support pricing. Direct implementation from requirements through SOP creation, system setup, pilot, and steady state, and supply time studies and cost inputs to Estimating so this work is quoted profitably.

Requirements

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience: Seven or more years in warehouse, distribution, or fulfillment operations, including at least three years leading a facility or multiple departments.
• Rapid pick and pack ownership: Demonstrated hands-on leadership of a high-velocity, high-SKU-count pick and pack operation in a facility of roughly 40,000 sq. ft. or larger with a dense forward-pick area. This is the non-negotiable requirement.
• Relocation or startup experience: Has moved an active operation into a new building, or stood up a new site, without extended service disruption.
• HazMat accountability: DOT HazMat trained with direct responsibility for compliant shipping of regulated consumer product — aerosols preferred — or clear capability to build the program with Compliance support and become certified promptly.
• WMS depth: Advanced command of a warehouse management system as a configuring business owner rather than an end user. Strong results on a mid-market platform matter more here than tier-one platform experience.
• Labor leadership: Experience leading twenty-five or more hourly associates including supervisors, in a fast-paced environment with meaningful seasonal flex.
• Financial and metrics discipline: Budget ownership, cost-per-unit management, labor modeling, and fluency building and managing to a daily KPI framework.
• Regulated environment: Practical experience where formal documentation, traceability, and audit obligations apply — pharmaceutical, medical device, food, cosmetic, or equivalent.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in supply chain, logistics, industrial engineering, operations, or business. Substantial applicable experience considered in lieu of a degree.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Third-party logistics or contract packaging background with multi-client account and cost-to-serve discipline.
• Beauty and cosmetics, pharmaceutical, or retail brand fulfillment experience.
• Aerosol parcel shipping depth and familiarity with aerosol storage classification and fire-code requirements.
• Propago experience or a comparable platform combining storefront order management with warehouse execution, and print and marketing fulfillment work such as kit-by-store distribution, retail signage programs, and POP and display assembly.
• Lean or Six Sigma certification and conversational Spanish are all viewed favorably.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• On-site, floor-present role in an active warehouse environment
• Regular walking and standing across the facility
• Work in areas where regulated aerosol product is stored and handled with associated training and PPE requirements
• Occasional lifting up to 25 pounds, and safe movement around powered industrial truck traffic. 
• Extended hours are required during the relocation and peak season.

HOW PERFORMANCE WILL BE MEASURED

• Zero missed client commitments through the relocation, and 90% or better retention of the existing team six months post-move
• Order accuracy of 99.8% or better — 99.95% for serialized pharmaceutical product — and inventory accuracy of 99.5% or better at location level
• On-time shipment of 99% or better, same-day shipping on 95% or more of orders received before cutoff, and dock to stock within 24 hours
• Lines per labor hour improved 20% within twelve months of go-live
• Zero lost-time incidents, zero HazMat violations or carrier rejections, and no critical audit findings

Benefits:

• Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K with company match, and other voluntary benefits offered

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and value diversity in our workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels respected and empowered to contribute their best work.