Description
POSITION TITLE: SHIPPING MANAGER
REPORTS TO: Plant Manager
Salary: ($90k-$115k)
SUMMARY
Lead a high-velocity, 24-hour shipping department, overseeing forklift operations, supports carrier scheduling, and internal logistics. The successful candidate will be a leader of character who builds disciplined crews capable of maintaining elite standards of safety and quality around the clock, even during unsupervised shifts.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Culture of Accountability: Establish and maintain an environment of high morale through fairness, consistency, and absolute transparency in all departmental dealings.
- Self-Sustaining Leadership: Develop and coach 24-hour crews to execute elite "best practices" in loading and safety during all shifts, ensuring operational excellence continues when leadership is off-site.
- Integrity and Reporting: Ensure 100% compliance with company reporting policies regarding equipment damage, safety incidents, and operational anomalies; lead by example in honest and direct communication with management.
- Efficiency Optimization: Continually analyze and optimize the shipping schedule to meet fluctuating customer requirements while minimizing freight costs and maximizing trailer utilization
- Logistics & Schedule Optimization: Coordinate with Sales and Scheduling to execute the daily production plan, optimizing driver runs and freight lines for maximum cost-efficiency and on-time delivery.
- Operational Excellence & Quality: Supervise high-velocity loading operations to ensure loads are neat, accurate, and meet customer specifications, while maintaining seamless communication across all 24-hour shift changes.
- Asset & Compliance Management: Oversee the maintenance and repair of all fleet and dock equipment (trucks, forklifts, dock plates) and ensure 100% compliance with drivers’ logs, safety programs, and housekeeping standards.
- Cultural Leadership & Accountability: Build high departmental morale through fair and consistent employee relations; lead safety meetings and manage corrective actions or with transparency and integrity.
- Strategic Communication: Keep senior leadership informed of operational risks and proactively recommend schedule or process optimizations to meet cost, quality, and service goals.
- Confidentiality & Professionalism: Maintain strict confidentiality regarding company data and personnel issues, serving as a reliable managerial representative of the company in all internal and external interactions.
- Professional Development: Commit to continuous improvement of leadership and technical skills through approved seminars and related college coursework.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE
- Industry Experience: Minimum of 5 years in a high-velocity manufacturing environment, with at least 2 years in a dedicated shipping/logistics leadership role.
- Complex Coordination: Proven experience managing 24-hour/3-shift operations, ensuring seamless transitions and consistent standards across all "dark hours."
- Logistics Acumen: Deep understanding of freight coordination, carrier relations, and the physical constraints of loading custom-manufactured goods (non-standardized loads).
- Technical Foundation: High School Diploma or GED; proficient in ERP/WMS systems and Microsoft Excel for data-driven decision-making.
CANDIDATES ARE PREFERRED WHO OFFER THE FOLLOWING:
- Academic Achievement: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Logistics, or Accounting (or current enrollment in a related degree program). We value leaders who prioritize continuous professional and academic growth.
- Corrugated Expertise: 4+ years of experience specifically within the corrugated packaging industry or heavy industrial manufacturing.
- Advanced Leadership: Experience leading diverse teams of 15+ employees, with a track record of improving retention and safety through "Firm but Fair" mentorship.
- Integrity Track Record: Demonstrated experience in roles requiring high levels of transparency, equipment asset management, and accurate incident reporting.
LANGUAGE SKILLS
- Able to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
- Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
- Ability to communicate with clarity and candor across all levels of the organization—from frontline loaders to executive leadership—ensuring that information is accurate and unfiltered.
MATHEMATICAL SKILLS
Able to read a tape measure with speed and accuracy. Able to calculate figures and amounts such as percentages, measurement, volume and rate. Able to apply concepts of high school math.
REASONING ABILITY
Ability to apply critical thinking to identify root causes in non-standard situations; must be capable of independent decision-making during high-pressure scenarios to maintain operational integrity and transparency.
TECHNICAL SKILLS
The individual must have a working knowledge of the following:
- Asset Stewardship: Responsible for the care of high-value equipment; ensures all damage or maintenance needs for trailers, forklifts, and dock assets are reported immediately and accurately.
- Financial Acumen: Utilize data to identify operational variances and execute cost-reduction strategies (e.g., freight spend, labor efficiency) that align with plant-wide P&L goals.
- Quality & Load Integrity: Mastery of unitization standards and loading patterns to ensure product arrives at the customer in "as-manufactured" condition. Must be able to identify and intercept manufacturing defects before they are loaded.
- Regulatory & Compliance: Knowledge of wage and hour laws, environmental waste minimization, OSHA, DEQ, and EEO.
- Ethical Integrity: Strict adherence to ethical reporting standards and company investigative protocols, specifically regarding safety incidents and equipment damage.
CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS
May be required to maintain a current Lift Truck Operator License.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the functions of this job.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee is occasionally required to sit. The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the functions of this job.
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts. The employee is frequently exposed to wet and/or humid conditions. The employee is occasionally exposed to high, precarious places; fumes or airborne particles; and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually loud. Must be comfortable working in a non-climate-controlled manufacturing environment where production pace dictates shipping priorities.
LEADERSHIP ATTRIBUTES
The individual must possess the following:
- Unyielding Integrity: Serves as a managerial representative of the company with a commitment to honest reporting and ethical decision-making, especially under pressure.
- The Supervisor as Teacher: Actively trains personnel in both technical loading skills and administrative accuracy, fostering a department that values "doing the right thing" over "taking the shortcut".
- High EQ Crisis Management: Maintains emotional control and decisive leadership during peak high-velocity loading periods to ensure customer satisfaction without compromising safety or quality.
PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS
The performance of the supervisor will be measured as follows:
- Employee Relations: Evaluated by the development of subordinates and the creation of a positive, transparent work environment where safety and reporting are non-negotiable.
- Operating Standards: Must consistently meet or exceed goals for cost, quality, and safety while maintaining a high-velocity throughput to meet the demands of a premier California shipping corridor.
