1st Shift Warehouse Supervisor at Urban Farmer LLC – Manteno, Illinois

The Warehouse Supervisor is responsible for overseeing and managing all off-shift warehouse operations to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and compliance with company standards. This role provides direct leadership to warehouse staff, ensuring safe work practices, smooth execution of receiving, inventory control, and material coordination, while optimizing space utilization and workflow. The Warehouse Supervisor also serves as the key point of accountability for warehouse-related ERP functions during off-shift hours, ensuring production and shipping needs are met in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Leadership & Supervision

• Provides direct supervision and leadership to all off-shift warehouse personnel, including forklift operators, inventory staff, and gatekeepers.
• Ensures adequate staffing levels are maintained to meet business needs and coordinates with other supervisors for shift handoffs.
• Coaches, trains, and develops employees to improve skills, performance, and adherence to safety and quality standards.
• Holds employees accountable for performance, attendance, and adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs).

Safety & Compliance

• Enforces strict compliance with OSHA requirements, GMP, Food Safety rules, and company safety programs.
• Conducts regular safety checks and ensures employees use required personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Immediately addresses and escalates safety concerns, food safety issues, or quality deviations.
• Maintains a clean and organized warehouse that meets internal and external audit requirements.

Operational Excellence

• Oversees daily receiving, storage, staging, and distribution of materials to support production and customer orders.
• Manages ERP system transactions for material scanning, work order generation, and inventory adjustments.
• Coordinates warehouse workflows to maximize efficiency, space utilization, and resource allocation.
• Analyzes daily production consumption, supply usage, and inventory accuracy to prevent shortages and downtime.
• Partners with production and logistics teams to align schedules and minimize operational disruptions.
• Recommends process improvements to reduce waste, control costs, and improve service levels.

Inventory & Documentation

• Ensures timely and accurate documentation of receipts, transfers, adjustments, and shipments.
• Reviews inventory reports daily to identify discrepancies, reconcile counts, and resolve issues.
• Tracks inventory KPIs such as accuracy, shrinkage, and stock rotation compliance.
• Supports cycle counts, year-end physical inventories, and root-cause analysis for variances.

Collaboration & Communication

• Acts as the primary point of contact for warehouse-related issues during off-shift hours.
• Communicates effectively with production, logistics, quality assurance, and procurement teams.
• Provides detailed end-of-shift reports to management summarizing productivity, safety incidents, and issues encountered.
• Works with cross-functional teams to develop strategies for continuous improvement.

Other Responsibilities

• Participates in special projects and process improvement initiatives as assigned by management.
• Identifies training needs and supports onboarding of new team members.
• Performs other duties as required to support the success of the warehouse and company.

Qualification Requirements

• Education: Associate degree preferred; equivalent experience (minimum 3+ years in warehouse leadership or supervisory role) required.
• Experience:
  • Proven experience in warehouse management within a food manufacturing or regulated industry strongly preferred.
  • Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Sage, Datacor, or equivalent).
  • Strong understanding of warehouse operations, material handling equipment, and inventory control processes.
• Skills & Competencies:
  • Demonstrated leadership skills, with the ability to motivate and hold staff accountable.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities with attention to detail.
  • Excellent organizational, time management, and communication skills.
  • Ability to manage budgets, control costs, and improve efficiencies.
  • Comfortable working in a fast-paced, team-oriented, and results-driven environment.

Physical Demands

• Ability to work in both cold storage and ambient warehouse environments.
• Approximately 50% of time at a computer/desk, and 50% in active warehouse settings.
• Ability to lift up to 35 lbs. and maneuver materials as needed.
• Frequent standing (up to 4 hours at a time), walking, bending, stooping, and reaching overhead.
• Required to wear PPE at all times while on the warehouse floor.

Work Environment

• Combination of office and manufacturing settings.
• Exposure to variable temperatures in warehouse environments (including cold storage).
• Frequent exposure to loud machinery, equipment alarms, and high-traffic forklift areas.
• Fast-paced production setting with multiple priorities and time-sensitive tasks.