Warehouse Manager

About Us:

Hardware Sales Inc is a third generation locally owned family business operating since 1962 and headquartered in Bellingham, WA. In addition to sales of hardware, tools, and all of the usual hardware store products, we are proud to provide our community with access to an extensive fleet of equipment rentals for both homeowners and contractors. Our Lawn Equipment Service Center is a certified repair center and offers a one-stop shop for purchasing, servicing and maintaining your lawn equipment.

Hardware Sales has worked hard to become one of the Pacific Northwest's premier hardware suppliers. Hardware Sales is an award-winning business that fills several city blocks in Bellingham and offers over 70,000 items for sale to everyone from do-it-yourself homeowners to major contractors. What started in 1962 with three people, now has over 140 employees and covers a total of 37,000 square feet of retail and 50,000 Sq. Ft. warehouse In Bellingham, a 32,000 Sq. Ft. warehouse in Ferndale, WA, and a 65,000 Sq. Ft. warehouse in Whiteland, IN.

We are extremely proud of the customer service priority that has won us Cascadia Daily News Best Customer Service, in addition to winning Best Hardware Store more than once. Our reputation for having courteous and knowledgeable employees, the hundreds of years of hardware experience that our employees represent, and the extensive selection of tools, materials and supplies we carry make us one of a kind.

About The Role:

The Warehouse Manager owns logistics operations at our Bellingham campus. Everything that happens from the moment product arrives on property to the moment it reaches the sales floor or a customer's job site belongs to this position: receiving, inventory accuracy, storage and organization, order fulfillment, delivery, and the flow of goods into the store.

Responsibilities that are today spread across several people and several informal habits will be consolidated under one owner. You will inherit an operation that works, and you will be expected to make it systematic.

You will lead a team of approximately ten, including warehouse associates, forklift operators, and our CDL delivery drivers. You will carry real authority. You will hire, train, schedule, coach, evaluate, and, when necessary, discipline your team, and you will own the processes they work within, including warehouse layout, location systems, and standard operating procedures.

Our Bellingham warehouse supports a retail operation carrying more than 50,000 items across several city blocks, serving both homeowners and working contractors. When product flow is right, the shelves are stocked and the customer gets what they came for. When it is not, the cost shows up as lost sales, shrink, and wasted labor. We are looking for someone who treats warehouse organization as a system rather than a chore: every item has a location, every location is findable, and every recurring process is written down.

One operating principle governs this role: the customer comes first. When the sales floor needs product, the product goes to the floor. That is not negotiable in the moment. But an operation that runs on emergency requests is an operation that has not been designed yet. The measure of success here is not how fast you can respond to a scramble, it is how rarely a scramble is necessary. You will be expected to work shoulder to shoulder with store leadership to build the triggers, on-floor minimums, and delivery cadence that move product before anyone has to ask for it.

Key Responsibilities:

Daily Operations

- Direct day-to-day warehouse operations across receiving, put-away, picking, staging, shipping, and delivery, setting daily priorities and reallocating people and equipment as conditions change.

- Lead shift-start communication so that every team member knows the day's priorities, the freight expected, the delivery commitments outstanding, and the safety focus.

- Serve as the on-site decision maker for operational exceptions, including late or short freight, equipment failures, driver absences, and urgent store or customer needs.

- Maintain visibility of open receipts, unstaged orders, and pending deliveries throughout the day, and close each day in a known, documented position.

- Ensure the warehouse, dock, and yard are left in a ready state at the end of every shift.

Receiving and Inbound Freight

- Own the receiving function end to end, including scheduling and staging inbound freight, verifying shipments against purchase orders and packing slips, and recording receipt accurately and promptly in the system of record.

- Establish receiving standards that catch problems at the dock rather than weeks later, including shortages, overages, concealed damage, substitutions, and mislabeled product.

- Own the resolution of receiving discrepancies with vendors and carriers, including damage and shortage claims, and serve as the operational point of contact back to Purchasing and Brand Management on unresolved issues.

- Monitor inbound volume and dock throughput and adjust the plan to match expected receipts.

Inventory Accuracy and Control

- Own physical inventory integrity for the Bellingham warehouses, including the design and execution of a cycle count program, count cadence, and variance investigation.

- Investigate and document the root cause of inventory variances rather than simply adjusting balances, and implement process changes that prevent recurrence.

- Partner with Accounting and Systems on inventory reconciliation, period-end counts, and audit support.

- Monitor and reduce shrink, damage, and obsolescence, and recommend disposition of damaged, aged, or unsellable product.

Warehouse Organization, Layout, and Location Systems

- Design and maintain a location system in which every item has a defined, labeled home and any team member can find it without asking.

- Own slotting decisions, placing fast-moving, heavy, hazardous, and seasonal product to minimize travel, handling, and risk.

- Continuously evaluate warehouse layout, racking, and storage density against changing volume and product mix, and lead reconfiguration projects as needed.

- Maintain housekeeping standards, clear aisles and emergency egress, and an organized yard and outdoor storage area.

Outbound Shipping, Delivery, and Fleet

- Oversee order picking, staging, loading, and shipping, holding the team accountable for accuracy and on-time departure.

- Supervise CDL delivery drivers and delivery operations, including route planning, load scheduling, and customer delivery commitments.

- Ensure delivery vehicles and material handling equipment are inspected, maintained, and in safe operating condition, and that required vehicle and equipment documentation stays current.

- Maintain compliance with applicable federal and state motor carrier requirements, including driver qualification files, hours of service, and the DOT drug and alcohol testing program, working with Human Resources and the Safety and Security Manager as needed.

Product Flow to the Sales Floor

- Treat store demand as customer demand. When the sales floor needs product, get it there.

- Own the replenishment system so that emergency requests become rare. In collaboration with store leadership, build and maintain defined replenishment triggers, minimum and maximum on-floor quantities, and a predictable delivery cadence by department.

- Treat every emergency replenishment as a process failure worth diagnosing. Track what ran out, why, and which signal was missed, and fix the upstream cause rather than the symptom.

- Meet on a standing cadence with store department leads to review upcoming promotions, seasonal shifts, contractor projects, and known demand spikes, and stage product in advance of them.

- Maintain and report agreed service levels for fill time and accuracy on store requests, and publish performance against them so the store can plan around real numbers.

- Escalate persistent gaps between store demand and available inventory to Purchasing and Brand Management with supporting data rather than absorbing them quietly.

Scheduling and Labor Planning

- Build and publish the warehouse and delivery schedule, matching staffing to expected inbound freight, outbound order volume, delivery routes, and store replenishment demand.

- Forecast labor needs against seasonal peaks, promotions, large contractor orders, and known vendor shipment cycles, and plan coverage in advance rather than reacting to it.

- Manage overtime deliberately. Monitor hours worked, authorize overtime against real operational need, and keep labor cost within budget without compromising service levels or safety.

- Review and approve time-off requests, arrange coverage for planned and unplanned absences, and maintain a cross-trained roster so that a single absence does not stop work.

- Oversee timekeeping accuracy for the team and partner with Human Resources and on discrepancies, meal and rest break compliance, and attendance concerns.

- Recommend headcount changes based on measured volume and productivity data rather than habit.

Team Leadership and Development

- Directly lead a team of approximately ten warehouse associates, forklift operators, and delivery drivers.

- Hire, onboard, train, coach, and evaluate team members, and partner with Human Resources on formal corrective action and termination decisions.

- Set clear daily and weekly performance expectations and hold the team accountable to documented standards.

- Build bench strength through cross-training so that no critical function depends on a single person.

- Hold regular one-on-ones, deliver timely and direct feedback, and develop team members toward greater responsibility.

Process Improvement and Documentation

- Build, document, and maintain standard operating procedures for receiving, put-away, picking, replenishment, shipping, cycle counting, and delivery.

- Identify bottlenecks, duplicate handling, and non-value-added steps, and lead improvement projects with measurable outcomes rather than impressions.

- Define and report a focused set of operating metrics, such as receiving turnaround, inventory accuracy, order fill rate, and on-time delivery, to leadership on a regular cadence.

- Pilot changes on a limited scale, measure the result, and either standardize the change or discard it.

- Manage warehouse supplies, equipment needs, and capital requests within approved budget authority.

Safety and Compliance

- Own warehouse safety. Ensure powered industrial truck operators are trained, evaluated, and certified as required, and that refresher evaluations occur on schedule.

- Enforce safe lifting, loading, racking, and material handling practices, and correct unsafe behavior immediately and consistently.

- Maintain compliance with company safety policy and applicable Washington State Department of Labor and Industries requirements, including hazard communication, personal protective equipment, and emergency egress.

- Investigate incidents and near misses, document findings, implement corrective action, and report injuries to Human Resources promptly in accordance with company procedure.

- Participate in the company safety committee and ensure required safety training is completed and documented for all warehouse staff.

- Support compliance with company policy and applicable wage and hour requirements within the department, including accurate timekeeping and break practices.

Qualifications

Qualifications

- Three or more years of warehouse, distribution, or logistics experience, including at least two years in a supervisory or management role with direct accountability for a team.

- Demonstrated ownership of inventory accuracy, including cycle counting, variance investigation, and shrink reduction.

- Experience designing or materially improving warehouse organization, including location and labeling systems, slotting, and layout.

- Prior experience supervising delivery drivers preferred; working familiarity with U.S. Department of Transportation and FMCSA requirements strongly preferred.

- Forklift certification required, or the ability to obtain certification within 30 days of hire. Ability to train and evaluate other operators preferred.

- Proficiency with inventory, ERP, or warehouse management software, and with Microsoft Office; comfortable building and maintaining tracking spreadsheets.

- Demonstrated ability to write, implement, and enforce standard operating procedures.

- Strong communication skills, including the ability to deliver direct feedback and to work effectively with store, purchasing, and accounting partners.

- High school diploma or equivalent required. A degree in supply chain, logistics, operations, or business is preferred, and relevant progressive experience will be considered in its place.

- Valid driver's license and an acceptable driving record.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements
This position is based in an active warehouse, dock, and yard environment. The Warehouse Manager spends the majority of the workday on the warehouse floor rather than at a desk. The following describes the physical demands and working conditions that are representative of this role. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

- Regularly required to stand and walk for extended periods, and to bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, climb stairs and ladders, and reach at or above shoulder height.

- Must be able to lift, carry, push, or pull up to 50 pounds regularly and up to 75 pounds occasionally, with or without assistance or mechanical aid.

- Must be able to safely operate, or learn to safely operate, a forklift and other powered industrial trucks.

- Frequent exposure to seasonal temperature variation, dust, noise, and outdoor conditions at the docks and in the yard.

- Required use of personal protective equipment, including safety footwear and high-visibility apparel, as designated by company safety policy.

- Regular use of a computer, handheld scanner, and telephone for inventory, scheduling, and communication.

- Schedule is generally Monday through Friday, with flexibility required for early receiving, seasonal peaks, and physical inventory counts.

- Occasional travel to the Ferndale location may be required.

Benefits

- 401(k) with 3% salary contribution given upon enrollment and 2% company matching contribution (after 1 year of employment).

- Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance.

- Medical FSA and Dependent Care FSA (Flexible Spending Account).

- Paid time off, starting at three weeks per year.

- LegalShield and IDShield legal and identity theft protection services.

- Welcome Home program for assistance purchasing a home.

- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providing free counseling, life coaching, and therapy sessions.

Equal Employment Opportunity
Hardware Sales is committed to the principles of equal employment. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities, and all other employment laws and regulations. It is our intent to maintain a work environment that is free of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation because of age (40 and older), race (including traits historically associated or perceived to be associated with race, which include, but are not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles such as afros, braids, locks, and twists), color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation (including transgender status, gender identity or expression), pregnancy (including childbirth, lactation, and related medical conditions), physical or mental disability (including obesity), genetic information (including testing and characteristics), veteran status, uniformed service member status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws. Hardware Sales is dedicated to the fulfillment of this policy in regard to all aspects of employment, including but not limited to recruiting, hiring, placement, transfer, training, promotion, rates of pay, and other compensation, termination, and all other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.