What are the responsibilities and job description for the Warehouse Manager position at Pioneer Music Co?
PMC Warehouse Manager
Department: Operations | Reports To: Operations Manager | Type: Full-Time / Exempt | Location: Lenexa, Kansas
Position Summary
The Warehouse Manager owns back-of-house operations for our Lenexa distribution center and leads the merger of the PMC and Electronic Supply warehouse teams into a single high-performing operation. This is a seasoned-operator seat, not a caretaker seat: you will run distinct fulfillment and delivery programs for two entities — separate sales orders, pick tickets, and SKU sets — through one team and one process discipline, while leading the warehouse through a major modernization including bin locations and serialization. You will lead a team of 7–10, build a culture that keeps great people, and prepare the warehouse for where the business is going — not just for today's pick tickets. This is high-velocity distribution; the right leader thinks a week ahead (at minimum), rallies a team daily, and makes this warehouse their own.
Key Responsibilities
Team Leadership & Retention
• Merge the PMC and Electronic Supply warehouse crews into one team with shared standards, shared pride, and a single chain of accountability.
• Hire, train, coach, and develop 7–10 warehouse associates; own performance conversations, scheduling, and daily direction.
• Build a warehouse culture and role structure that measurably reduces associate turnover — the team you build is the product of this seat.
• Run daily rallies and communication rhythms so every associate knows the plan, the pace, and the priorities.
Dual-Entity Fulfillment Operations
• Run day-to-day receiving, put-away, picking, packing, shipping, staging, and will-call for both PMC and Electronic Supply through one warehouse operation.
• Manage two distinct delivery programs — separate order streams, pick tickets, and SKUs — without letting either entity's service level slip.
• Plan the warehouse a week ahead: inbound volume, promotions, large project staging, and labor coverage are anticipated, not discovered.
• Participate in the returns / RMA process in partnership with the teams that own it, ensuring warehouse-side receiving and disposition are clean and fast.
Warehouse Modernization
• Lead the implementation of bin locations and product serialization across the Lenexa facility — layout, labeling, process design, and team adoption.
• Redesign workflows, slotting, and space utilization to support growth, larger product categories, and faster fulfillment.
• Identify and fix process gaps that create errors, duplicate handling, or unclear ownership; document standard operating procedures as the operation matures.
• Support future systems transitions by building disciplined, data-clean warehouse processes today.
Inventory Control & Accuracy
• Own cycle count programs, inventory accuracy, bin integrity, and shrink control for both entities' inventory.
• Drive dead stock identification, stock rebalance activity, and obsolete inventory cleanup in partnership with Purchasing.
• Maintain inventory discipline that supports fill rate, turns, and clean financial reporting.
Freight & Shipping Cost Management
• Manage outbound shipping through UPS WorldShip and coordinate LTL shipments through our freight broker relationships.
• Own total freight expense as a managed cost: carrier selection, packaging discipline, consolidation opportunities, and error-driven reship reduction.
• Hold carriers accountable for performance and escalate systemic service or cost issues to the Operations Manager.
Facility, Safety & Equipment
• Own facility housekeeping, equipment readiness (forklifts, dock equipment, racking), and preventive maintenance follow-through.
• Build and enforce a safety-first culture; own incident prevention, reporting, and corrective action.
What Success Looks Like
• One team, two entities: PMC and Electronic Supply are both fulfilled through a single, consistent warehouse operation with no drop in either entity's service level.
• Bin locations and serialization are implemented on schedule and adopted by the team — the warehouse runs on locations and scans, not tribal knowledge.
• Inventory accuracy climbs and stays high; cycle counts are routine, and dead stock is visible and shrinking.
• Fill rate and same-day shipping performance improve while shipping errors decline.
• Warehouse associate turnover drops measurably, and a trained bench exists behind every critical function.
• Total freight expense is actively managed and trends down as a percentage of shipped revenue.
• The warehouse is prepared for next week, not just surviving today — inbound surges, big projects, and busy seasons are planned for in advance.
• Safety incidents are rare, addressed fast, and never repeated.
Core Competencies
• Team Leadership — Builds and rallies teams — creates followership, develops people, and holds standards without burning the crew out.
• Forward Operations Planning — Thinks a week or more ahead; anticipates volume, staffing, and space needs before they become today's crisis.
• Execution at Pace — Maintains accuracy and detail discipline at high-velocity distribution pace; speed never becomes an excuse for errors.
• Change Leadership — Has taken a warehouse from where it was to where it needed to be — bin locations, scanning, serialization, process redesign — and brought the team along.
• Dual-Program Discipline — Runs parallel programs for multiple business entities through one team without confusion or service degradation.
• Cost Stewardship — Treats freight, labor, and shrink as managed costs; understands how warehouse decisions hit margin and cash.
• Entrepreneurial Ownership — Operates the warehouse like an owner — takes initiative, solves problems without waiting for permission, and treats the facility, the team, and the results as their own.
Qualifications & Experience
• 5 years of warehouse or distribution center leadership experience, including direct management of teams of 5 or more.
• Proven experience in modern warehouse environments — bin locations, barcode scanning, serialization, or WMS-driven operations — and ideally experience leading the transition to them.
• Track record of building teams, developing associates, and reducing turnover in physically demanding roles.
• Hands-on experience with UPS WorldShip (or equivalent parcel systems) and working with LTL freight brokers; comfort managing freight expense as a KPI.
• Strong working knowledge of receiving, picking, shipping, cycle counting, and inventory control disciplines.
• Comfortable in Microsoft Office, especially Outlook and Excel; experience with Sage or other ERP systems is helpful.
• Experience fulfilling for multiple business units, banners, or entities from a single facility is a strong plus.
• Low-voltage, security, audio/video, networking, electrical, technology, or wholesale distribution experience is helpful but not required.
About Us
At Pioneer Music Company, we are in the business of installing human connections in a tech-connected world. With over 150 years of legacy and innovation, we operate as a value-added distributor in the low voltage and audio/video industry. Our mission is powered by people who serve passionately, face storms together, raise the bar, and embrace ingenuity.