Company Overview

Latin Specialties LLC is a Houston-based importer, distributor, ripener, fresh-cut processor, and repacker of fresh produce serving retail, foodservice, and wholesale customers. Our perishable-product operations require disciplined inventory control, reliable cold-chain execution, food safety, and close coordination across teams.

Position Summary

The Warehouse Manager has end-to-end accountability for warehouse execution, including receiving, storage, inventory integrity, order picking, quality checkpoints, shipping, loading, returns, and accurate ERP transactions. This is a hands-on, floor-based leadership role—not an office-only supervisory position. The manager leads by example, develops qualified team leads, plans ahead, coordinates proactively with other departments, and independently designs, implements, and improves reliable processes.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Hands-On Floor Leadership & Team Development

Maintain an active, visible presence on the warehouse floor; demonstrate, coach, and verify the work rather than managing solely from an office. Lead by example.
Direct daily operations through trained leads; assign ownership, monitor execution, correct deficiencies, and follow up until issues are resolved. Own warehouse operations in full.
Build schedules and cross-training plans around actual order volume, inbound deliveries, departure times, and qualified coverage—not merely minimum staffing. Build an effective team.
Establish training and competency records for critical tasks. Do not permit untrained or unauthorized employees to perform critical warehouse functions independently. Train your team.
Ensure designated, trained leadership coverage and documented handoffs for early shifts, late shifts, and weekends. Review work completed before arrival and after departure. Create team redundancies.
Remain reasonably reachable for urgent operational escalations outside scheduled hours, or establish and communicate an approved qualified backup and escalation plan. Be available.

Proactive Planning & Cross-Department Accountability

Prepare and communicate a forward-looking daily operating plan, ideally before the next shift, covering workload, staffing, product availability, inspections, equipment, truck schedules, and priorities.
Coordinate proactively with Quality Control, Production, Logistics, Sales, Procurement, and Inventory Control to secure the information, releases, materials, staffing, and timing needed for successful execution.
Identify dependencies and resolve potential bottlenecks before they disrupt work; clarify owners, deadlines, and contingency plans.
Own warehouse outcomes even when another department contributes to an issue. Avoid blame-shifting; communicate facts, propose solutions, follow up, and escalate unresolved risks early.
Lead brief daily huddles with warehouse leads and maintain effective shift-to-shift and department-to-department communication.

Shipping, Picking, Verification & Cold Chain

Oversee order release, picking, staging, final verification, and loading to ensure correct items, quantities, lots, labels, customer specifications, and truck assignments.
Establish documented checks for product condition, customer quality requirements, shipping paperwork, trailer suitability, and required product/trailer temperatures.
Ensure loading and departures are coordinated with Logistics; investigate shipment errors, shortages, misloads, and customer claims, and implement preventive actions.
Ensure appropriate traceability records and timely, accurate shipping transactions in the ERP.

Receiving, Inventory Integrity & ERP Ownership

Direct inbound receipt, counting, inspection coordination, identification, lot control, temperature checks, put-away, storage, and FIFO/FEFO rotation.
Partner with the Inventory Control Lead to perform cycle counts, investigate variances, reconcile physical and system inventory, and monitor aging or at-risk stock.
Maintain working proficiency in the ERP (currently LinkFresh / Prophesy / Samsara / Microsoft Dynamics NAV and future systems) sufficient to execute, verify, troubleshoot, and audit key receiving, movement, shipping, and adjustment transactions.
Require every material movement and disposition to be recorded accurately and promptly. Delegating data entry does not remove managerial accountability for system integrity.

Returns, Quality Holds & Product Disposition

Establish a controlled return workflow: identify shipment and lot, count, document condition, segregate when necessary, obtain QA evaluation, record disposition, and reconcile ERP inventory.
Ensure returns are promptly processed and routed to saleable stock, hold, sorting/repack, vendor return, donation, or disposal only under authorized criteria.
Coordinate with Quality Control on inspections, holds/releases, food safety, and disposition authority; warehouse personnel execute approved handling and movement decisions.
Proactively walk storage and staging areas to identify quality, temperature, damage, sanitation, and rotation concerns before product is selected for customers.

Process Improvement, Reporting & Accountability

Create, document, train, audit, and continuously improve warehouse SOPs, checklists, verification points, shift handoffs, and escalation procedures.
Track and report weekly KPIs, including shipping accuracy, inventory accuracy, ERP posting timeliness, returns closure, quality/cold-chain compliance, labor productivity, and training coverage.
Summarize operational data and corrective actions for company financial and operational leadership; recommend and own measurable improvements.
Use Excel, ERP reporting, and approved AI/automation tools responsibly to improve planning, analysis, documentation, and productivity while protecting confidential information.
Promote safe work practices, sanitation, GMP, traceability, equipment care, and compliance with company food-safety and workplace procedures.

Qualifications & Skills

Demonstrated hands-on leadership experience in a high-volume fresh-produce, refrigerated distribution, or comparable perishable-goods warehouse; fresh-produce experience strongly preferred.
Proven ability to supervise and train teams, manage shift coverage, and hold leads accountable across receiving, shipping, and inventory functions.
Working knowledge of ERP warehouse transactions, lot traceability, cycle counts, reconciliations, order fulfillment, returns, and cold-chain controls. Ability to learn and implement new systems as required.
Strong analytical judgment, attention to detail, problem-solving, communication, and ability to anticipate operational needs across departments.
Self-directed initiative to learn systems, improve processes, use technology and approved AI tools, and follow through under time pressure.
Comfort working regularly in refrigerated areas and adjusting work hours to support operational needs. Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.
Relevant experience and demonstrated leadership capability are more important than a particular college degree.

Performance & Management Standards

Shipping execution and accuracy — 20%; inventory and ERP integrity — 20%; floor leadership, training, and shift coverage — 20%.
Product quality and cold chain — 15%; receiving and returns — 10%; continuous improvement — 10%; cross-department planning and communication — 5%.
Serious food-safety, employee-safety, and control failures require immediate escalation regardless of weighted score. Measures and targets will be established with management.

Warehouse Manager

Job description