Vending Machine Warehouse Manager/Driver

Pod Plug | Specialty Vending. Nightlife Pokémon / TCG.

Warehouse Manager Route Driver

Full-time | $40,000/year | Fort Worth, TX (HQ: 220 S Sylvania Ave) | In-person ~15-20% travel

Reports to: Marcelo, Operations Manager

About Pod Plug

Pod Plug is America's top specialty vending company. We run 163 machines across 30 states in two verticals: nightlife venues (bars, nightclubs, casinos, and adult entertainment) and Pokémon / TCG retail (malls, grocery, convenience stores, trampoline parks, bowling alleys, and other family entertainment locations).

We own the equipment. We control the inventory. Our City Launchers and Franchisees run the local routes (besides our home route in DFW). We are growing by roughly 20 machines a month.

This role is the engine room of the entire operation.

The Role

You will start with one foot on the route and one foot in the warehouse. The route work is how you learn the business: what sells, what breaks, what great service looks like, what a clean install looks like.

Our DFW operation currently runs around 25 machines split across 3 routes (Fort Worth, North Dallas, and Dallas), each cycled every 7 to 10 days. That is the route work this person inherits on day one.

Over time the role shifts. You will spend less time in the truck and more time running the warehouse, prepping machines for shipment, managing inventory, and keeping the building moving at the pace we are growing.

You will also fly out to City Launcher markets across the US to help operators launch new cities (around 15 to 20 percent of your time, usually a week at a stretch). Travel is covered.

This is not a clipboard job. This is a sleeves-rolled-up, multi-hat, figure-it-out-and-ship-it role. Typical week runs 40 to 45 hours, with longer push weeks when we are shipping multiple machines or onboarding a new market. This is a founder-pace company.

You will be solo for the first few months. We are hiring a Warehouse Associate underneath you within the next 4 months. You will help us recruit, train, and lead them.

What You Own

These are your accountabilities. You are the person responsible for each:

•    Restocking the DFW machine fleet (~25 machines across 3 routes: Fort Worth, North Dallas, and Dallas, each on a 7 to 10 day cycle)

•    Maintenance and repairs on machines (electrical, mechanical, cosmetic, card readers, coils, control boards)

•    Receiving inventory and verifying every box against the PO

•    Order packing and fulfillment for City Launchers nationwide

•    Warehouse facility management (clean, organized, safe, optimized for flow)

•    Asset management for all machines, coils, parts, components, and tooling

•    Inventory management across nightlife product and Pokémon / TCG product

•    Prepping machines for franchisee and City Launcher shipment (load, wrap, palletize, document, ship)

•    Prepping machines for shipment to Pod Plug markets in other cities as we expand

•    Customer and technical support when machines go down and our operators need us

Also Part of the Role

Outside of the chart above, you will also own:

•    Account management and keeping our locations happy

•    Traveling to City Launcher markets across the US to support new market launches (around 15 to 20 percent of time, usually a week at a stretch)

•    Machine installs at DFW venues (going on-site to set up new placements)

•    Mystery slab assembly when production runs through HQ

•    Supporting HQ content shoots (b-roll setup, demos, machine staging)

How Your Time Splits

Rough percentages, with flex around travel weeks and shipping pushes:

•    35 to 50%: DFW route work (3 routes, ~25 machines, 7 to 10 day cycle)

•    30 to 40%: Prepping and shipping machines (City Launchers new market expansion)

•    15 to 20%: Traveling to support City Launcher market launches

•    Balance: Receiving, maintenance, warehouse facility management, asset and inventory management, City Launcher onboarding at HQ, product assembly, and light content support

Who You Are

•    Technical. Comfortable with software, dashboards, spreadsheets, scanners, and modern inventory tools.

•    You use AI every day. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, whatever the task calls for. We expect you to use AI to move faster: troubleshoot machine issues, write SOPs, draft emails, clean up data.

•    Fast. You move with urgency. You do not drag two-hour tasks across three days.

•    Detail-obsessed. You catch the wrong SKU before it ships. You notice the dent. You double check the count.

•    Handy. You can swap a coil, mount a wall unit, troubleshoot a card reader, drill into stud, patch a chipped wrap, and read a wiring diagram. You know your way around power tools and can troubleshoot mechanical and electrical issues. Pod Plug provides the toolset.

•    Organized. You can label, log, and locate anything in the warehouse inside 60 seconds.

•    Loyal and honest. You handle inventory and machines worth tens of thousands of dollars. We need someone we can trust without watching.

A Day in the Life

•    Mornings: Receive inbound inventory, verify against POs, log into our system, restock the warehouse picking locations, and run a building walk.

•    Mid-day: Prep machines for outbound shipment to City Launchers and new markets. Load product, wrap and label, palletize, generate paperwork, hand off to carrier.

•    Afternoons: Hit one of the 3 DFW routes (Fort Worth, North Dallas, or Dallas) to restock, repair, merchandise, and audit machines in the field.

•    Evenings (as needed): Some night runs to nightlife venues. Flexibility required, not nightly.

•    Travel weeks: Fly out to a City Launcher market to help them launch. Days on-site go into installs, training, troubleshooting, and merchandising.

•    Ongoing: Maintenance work, repairs, building SOPs, improving processes, and reporting metrics to leadership.

Requirements

•    Based in Fort Worth, TX

•    2 years in warehouse, logistics, route service, field service, or hands-on operations

•    Valid driver's license and a clean driving record

•    Reliable personal vehicle for the route work (Pod Plug provides a company gas card)

•    Can lift 60 lbs solo and move 600 lb machines with a partner and proper equipment

•    Comfortable with software: inventory systems, spreadsheets, Google Chat

•    Handyman skills: power tools, basic electrical, basic mechanical troubleshooting

•    Daily AI usage already part of how you work

•    Available for occasional nights for nightlife restocks

•    Available to travel ~15 to 20 percent of the time to City Launcher markets (usually a week at a stretch)

•    No vending experience required. We will teach you the business.

Bonus Points

•    Forklift certified

•    Vending or amusement industry experience

•    Experience with Pokémon or trading card product

•    Background working with freight carriers (UPS, FedEx Freight, R L, or LTL)

•    You already follow @vendingguyethan and know how we operate

What You Get

•    $40,000/year salary, paid bi-weekly

•    Paid time off (PTO)

•    Company gas card for all route work

•    All tools and equipment provided

•    Travel covered (food, flights, hotel, etc.) when flying out to support City Launcher market launches

•    Direct seat at the table inside one of the fastest growing specialty vending companies in the country

•    Real career path: Warehouse Manager into Operations Lead as we scale

•    You work directly with the Operations Manager and Founder. Your input changes the playbook.

•    Exposure to every part of the business: nightlife, Pokémon / TCG, City Launcher onboarding, machine R&D

What This Role Is Not

•    A clipboard manager who never lifts anything

•    A driver who clocks out at 5 and stops thinking

How to Apply

Send a 60 second Loom video introduction and your resume to ethan@podplug.com.

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