What are the responsibilities and job description for the Dock & Warehouse Manager position at Chicago Furniture Bank?
About Us
The Chicago Furniture Bank is dedicated to ending furniture poverty by repurposing and redistributing gently used furniture to individuals and families in need throughout Chicago. We believe that every person deserves to live in a furnished home with dignity and comfort.
Position Overview
This role will oversee all dock and warehouse operations that enables the collection and distribution of donated furniture. This role ensures safe, efficient, and organized operations while leading a team of warehouse staff and volunteers. The ideal candidate is a hands-on leader with strong dock, warehouse, safety, and inventory experience, combined with a passion for nonprofit service and community impact. The size of the fleet is ~13 box trucks with 2-3 guys per truck, plus anywhere from 4-10 warehouse staff on a given day.
Additionally, this role will oversee the contents, locations and movement of 10 to 15 trailers. Daily movement of these trailers is limited to our single cab, so it’s 2-3 adjustments per day.
Key Responsibilities
Dock Oversight
- Have a constant pulse on which truck/trailer is at which dock
- Maintain high communication with our logistics team and operations supervisors
- Ability to lift and move furniture (50–75 lbs) with proper equipment, and a ‘lead by example’ mentality
- Responsible for our teams loading/unloading their trucks properly and leaving timely in the morning
- Being the face of donations requires providing high customer service. Be grateful for their donation, and generally nice and helpful to ensure the donor has a great experience
- Oversee stocking of the equipment needed for docks and trucks
- Ensure overall cleanliness of the dock
- Determine which items can be repurposed and, in the unfortunate scenario, which ones need to be scrapped or dumped
Warehouse Operations
- Manage day-to-day operations of the warehouse, including receiving, storing, organizing, and preparing furniture donations
- Ensure inventory accuracy, cleanliness, and compliance with safety and OSHA standards
- Supervise a team of warehouse associates and volunteers, providing training, scheduling, and performance feedback
- Develop and implement processes to improve warehouse, safety, efficiency and maximize use of space
Leadership & Team Development
- Lead and support a team of warehouse staff, and volunteers, promoting safety, teamwork, and accountability
- Provide coaching and development opportunities to improve productivity and career growth
- Foster a positive, mission-driven culture that emphasizes respect and dignity for staff, donors, and clients
- Lead in de-escalating issues that arise among coworkers, clients or donors
Inventory Management
- With support of an internal inventory analyst, oversee real-time tracking of all furniture inventory across warehouse zones and trailers
- Conduct regular cycle counts, reconciling discrepancies and implementing corrective actions to improve inventory accuracy
Administration & Reporting
- Work with leadership to forecast staffing and warehouse equipment needs.
- Oversee HR related activities such as Workers Comp claims, hours approval, payroll approval and upkeep of employee records
Additional Information
Qualifications
- 3 years of experience in warehouse, dock, or inventory management
- Experience managing teams, with strong leadership and interpersonal skills
- Strong organizational and problem-solving abilities
- Ability to lift and move furniture (50–75 lbs) with proper equipment
- Valid driver’s license required; Non-CDL Class C preferred
- Comfortable utilizing computers, data analysis, Microsoft Suite and eventually WMS or logistics software
Why Join Us?
- Be part of a mission-driven team making a direct impact on families across Chicago.
- Hands-on leadership role with opportunities to innovate and grow dock / warehouse operations.
Workplace
- Standard hours will be 9am to 5:30pm (after a training period)
- 4801 S Whipple Ave, Chicago, IL.
- Smoke- and drug-free environment.
- 5 days/week on-site for the foreseeable future, with occasional Saturday and early/late responsiveness on weekdays
- Bilingual (Spanish and English) – HUGE plus