What are the responsibilities and job description for the General Manager - Warehouse Operations, Life Science Division position at Langham Logistics, Inc?
The General Manager is responsible for upholding rigorous EH&S standards, exceptional customer service, cGMP compliance, quality, operational efficiency, and profitability by overseeing all functions within the multi-client pharmaceutical-grade logistics facility. This includes comprehensive leadership of warehouse operations, cold-chain management, receiving, storage, order fulfillment, quality assurance, distribution, and site support functions. A central responsibility of the General Manager is to uphold a culture where safety and quality is embedded in every process, and where operational discipline and documentation integrity are non-negotiable. The primary objective of the General Manager is to ensure that all pharmaceutical products and raw materials are received, stored, handled, and shipped in strict accordance with domestic and international regulatory agency and client-specific quality and regulatory requirements. This includes maintaining temperature integrity, ensuring accurate order fulfillment, executing all warehouse processes without deviation, and safeguarding product integrity at every step. The General Manager must ensure all activities meet client specifications and corporate targets for productivity, efficiency, and compliance.
The General Manager partners closely with executive leadership to establish annual operational goals, budgetary plans, quality objectives, client service metrics, and continuous improvement initiatives. The role is accountable for enforcing and monitoring policies related to cGMP/GDP quality systems, EHS, security, facility engineering, and employee training, ensuring the site is always prepared for regulatory inspections and client audits.
A key responsibility for this role is the effective development of personnel across all departments. The General Manager ensures that employees are trained, qualified, and performing to high standards of accuracy, compliance, and professionalism. This includes fostering a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, documentation integrity, and proactive issue identification. The General Manager is ultimately responsible for the delivery of all operational commitments for the clients supported at the facility. This includes meeting service-level expectations for storage, picking, packing, labeling, kitting, cold-chain distribution, and inventory control, while upholding the stringent quality and regulatory standards required for handling pharmaceutical and life sciences products.
Key Outcomes Expected
- A fully compliant, inspection-ready pharmaceutical logistics operation that consistently meets FDA, EU GDP, DSCSA, TSA, Homeland Security, and client-specific regulatory expectations.
- Flawless operational execution in receiving, storage, cold-chain management, order fulfillment, labeling, kitting, and distribution, ensuring zero product-integrity failures and strict adherence to documentation and cGMP/GDP requirements.
- Effective leadership across all building departments, including operations, quality, engineering, customer service, and support functions—ensuring alignment, communication flow, and accountability.
- Strong multi-client management performance, successfully balancing the needs, workflows, and compliance expectations of multiple pharmaceutical and life sciences customers housed within the facility.
- Full implementation and enforcement of all safety, quality, and security policies, including those required by TSA, Homeland Security, corporate standards, and client programs—resulting in consistently successful audits and inspections.
- Reliable adherence to budget expectations and financial discipline, including labor planning, capacity planning, operational cost control, and facility budget management at all levels.
- Consistent achievement of operational KPIs and benchmark metrics, including quality performance, inventory accuracy, temperature-excursion prevention, productivity, throughput, workforce turnover, and safety incident reduction.
- Accurate and proactive communication to senior leadership regarding operational performance, risks, recurring challenges, and recommended improvement strategies.
- An optimally staffed and trained workforce, with all management and operational personnel adequately qualified to meet daily customer workflows, pharmaceutical compliance standards, and peak-volume demands.
- Timely completion of cross-functional project initiatives, working collaboratively with internal and customer subject-matter experts to deliver compliant, on-time solutions.
- Accurate identification and execution of all regulatory and licensing requirements needed for each customer, including initiating, tracking, and completing all required certifications and documentation.
Critical Skills and Knowledge
- Deep understanding of cGMP/GDP principles, FDA regulations, EU GDP, DSCSA, and pharmaceutical logistics.
- Strong leadership with the ability to influence, coach, and develop staff at all levels.
- High commitment to quality, compliance, and accuracy.
- Operational excellence mindset with experience in lean, 5S, and root cause problem-solving.
- Strong communication, decision-making, and risk management capabilities.
- Ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong customer service orientation with the ability to translate client needs into compliant operational execution.
- Proficiency with WMS, ERP systems, and temperature-control technologies.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required (Supply Chain/Logistics, Life Sciences, Engineering, or related field).
- Lean Six Sigma certification preferred.
- 10 years of progressive leadership experience in highly regulated supply chain environment.
- 5 years in a cGMP/GDP-regulated pharmaceutical or life sciences environment.
- Experience managing cold-chain operations, quality systems, regulatory agency and client audits.
- Experience managing P&L, labor cost optimization, CapEx projects and high-value inventory.
- Other certifications as required by regulatory bodies preferred.
Physical Demands and Work Environment: Ability to walk warehouse floors, including cold-chain storage areas (2–8°C and below). Occasional lifting of up to 50 lbs. Ability to stand, walk, or sit for extended periods. Combination of warehouse, cold-chain storage, and office environments. Exposure to temperature-controlled areas and powered industrial equipment.
This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. The Operations Manager may be required to perform other related duties assigned to meet the ongoing needs of the organization. Langham reserves the right to modify job responsibilities and expectations as business demands evolve.