DC Area Manager for Shipping

Company Description

Unity. Loyalty. Advancement. Charity. It’s what drives United Legwear & Apparel Co. to be the best global designer, manufacturer, and distributor of legwear, bodywear, apparel, and accessories. Founded in 1998 by Isaac E. Ash to make the very best legwear on the market, ULAC is an industry leader offering a full range of products for babies, kids, teens, and adults. We strive to sell our products at affordable prices for families. Hard work and exponential growth year on year has transformed ULAC into a global apparel and accessories company.

Our goal to deliver superior products that ensure superior customer satisfaction is made possible by our team of dedicated professionals who work together to make the company the best in business. Our manufacturing, distribution, and logistics division produces the highest quality products at the best possible prices without cutting corners. Integrity of goods is key, so compliance and quality assurance are top priorities, along with meeting every delivery date—whether shipping across the state or around the world.

We strive to foster an inclusive company culture that stands united to accomplish our mission. We are loyal to our people, supporting their development and ability to achieve excellence. We believe that when people bring their personal best to work each day, it leads to success, advancement, and upward mobility for all. We believe every individual has two hands: one to help themself, and one to help others. We pride ourselves in our value of charity and the commitments we make to help people in need. ULAC supports organizations that help those compromised by sickness, poverty, natural disasters, socioeconomic inequality, and other dire circumstances.

If you share our vision of delivering superior products in a culture of growth, excellence, and caring, then we want to hear from you!

For more information about United Legwear & Apparel Co., please visit: https://ulac.com/

Position Summary

The Area Manager plays a critical leadership role in overseeing daily operations within a high-volume, automated 1.8 million sq. ft. distribution center. Reporting to an Operations Manager, this position is responsible for managing any of the assigned departments including Out Bound/Shipping, Inbound/Receiving, Full Case Production, Pick & Pack, eCommerce, and Value-Added Services (VAS).

Leading a dedicated team of mostly hourly team members, the Area Manager oversees the accurate handling of merchandise and optimizing throughput. This position requires a strong blend of leadership, operational expertise in an automated facility, and a deep understanding of distribution operations, 3PL, and warehousing.

This role ensures operational efficiency, productivity, and accuracy while maintaining a safe, organized, and team-oriented work environment. The Area Manager ensures that staffing, workflow execution, and performance meet company and customer expectations. This role requires a hands-on leader who thrives in a fast-paced, high-volume environment, promotes continuous improvement, and fosters team collaboration to drive customer satisfaction and operational excellence.

Leadership Responsibilities

At ULAC, we are looking for people who share our vision of fostering a collaborative culture of continuous improvement. All leadership roles at ULAC are responsible for developing, empowering, and growing our people to be and deliver their best. Leadership behaviors that model ULAC’s mission and values of Unity, Loyalty, Achievement, and Charity include:

• Lead Proactively: Anticipate and solve problems with foresight, reflection, and curiosity. Inspire, reinforce, and motivate team members to be solution-oriented and strive for performance excellence. Identify and drive creative solutions.
• Provide Positive & Frequent Performance Feedback: Maximize performance and motivation by acknowledging and reinforcing good performance, identifying opportunities for growth, and supporting continuous development.
• Initiate Structure: Establish, communicate, and achieve ambitious and specific team goals. Consistently plan and build structured processes that reinforce company objectives.
• Achieve Objectives: Develop, initiate, and enhance plans that enable the execution of work. Provide consistent guidance, follow-up, feedback, support, and encouragement to team members to overcome barriers to success. Understand, use, and monitor all relevant reporting system metrics to make informed decisions that impact our people, processes, and systems.
• Foster Positive Culture: Perpetuate positive change and continuous improvement in processes and culture by fostering an optimistic, trusting, innovative, and open work environment.
• Communicate Effectively: Encourage effective dialogue, problem-solving, and conflict resolution by actively listening to, seeking to understand, and fostering collaboration with peers, leadership, and direct reports.
• Motivate and Inspire: Cultivate and empower high-performing teams by modeling company values, demonstrating respect, and providing constructive feedback. Serve as a visionary to encourage individuals and teams to reach their greatest potential.
• Train and Develop Others: Fulfill employee training and development needs by serving as a coach, mentor, and facilitator of their knowledge transfer, skill development, and ability to achieve high performance.
  
  

Functional Responsibilities

• Direct Daily Operations Per Department
  
  

Expectation across all Operational Areas

• Proactively manages and maintains daily and weekly operational efficiency by monitoring and ensuring performance standards are met accordingly in a time sensitive and fast-paced automated distribution center.
• Effectively manages team of associates, utilizing insights into business volume forecasting to anticipate and prepare for future trends.
• In alignment with Operations Manager, uses discretion and sound judgment to maintain the integrity of our Mission, Vision, and Values statement in making all business decisions.
  
  

Outbound/Shipping Operations

• Ensures timely, accurate, and complete shipment of orders, following company and customer requirements.
• Oversees truck loading operations, ensuring proper product placement, pallet integrity, and compliance with shipping protocols.
• Verifies and reconciles bills of lading, shipping documentation, and carrier requirements before dispatch.
• Monitors carrier performance, addressing delays, discrepancies, and optimizing outbound logistics.
  
  

Inbound/Receiving Operations

• Manages the timely intake and put-away of inbound inventory, ensuring dock scheduling efficiency.
• Prioritizes hot and urgent shipments to prevent stockouts and delays for high-priority orders.
• Maximizes unloading efficiency, ensuring optimal use of labor and equipment to process inbound shipments.
• Coordinates with Inventory Control and put-away teams to maintain inventory accuracy and minimize bottlenecks.
  
  

Full Case Production

• Oversees full-case picking operations, ensuring large-volume orders are processed efficiently and accurately.
• Manages workflow allocation, ensuring orders are prioritized correctly based on cut-off times and shipping deadlines.
• Ensures inventory integrity, reducing mis-picks, damages, and errors.
• Optimizes picking paths and warehouse slotting strategies to improve productivity.
  
  

Pick & Pack Operations

• Supervises piece-pick operations, ensuring high accuracy and order completeness.
• Monitors packing stations to prevent errors, mislabels, and damages.
• Ensures proper order consolidation for multi-line shipments and seamless handoff to shipping teams.
• Adjusts workflow and staffing to accommodate order volume surges, particularly during peak periods.
  
  

eCommerce Fulfillment

• Manages small-parcel order processing, ensuring timely shipping and compliance with customer expectations.
• Oversees automated and manual picking, packing, and labeling to maximize efficiency.
• Ensures proper sorting and staging for various carriers (FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc.).
• Monitors and resolves order discrepancies, delays, and packaging compliance issues.
  
  

Value-Added Services (VAS)

• Oversees special handling operations, including custom labeling, kitting, rework, and special packaging.
• Ensures orders are processed according to customer specifications without compromising accuracy or efficiency.
• Collaborates with customer service and account management teams to address specific client requests.
• Optimizes workflow to reduce rework and maximize efficiency in high-touch processing areas.
• Team Leadership and Supervision
• Supervises, directs, and develops a team of leads and associates within the designated distribution center areas, ensuring attention to detail, safety, efficiency, and meeting of key performance metrics.
• Delegates tasks and responsibilities effectively, ensuring each team member understands their role and objectives.
• Performance Monitoring and Quality Assurance
• Assumes personal responsibility to meet and exceed department key performance indicators (KPIs) and productivity levels, while maintaining quality and accuracy.
• Validates quality and accuracy of associate duties and responsibilities, ensuring efficient, accurate, and productive completion of all tasks.
• Proactively observes team members, point out what they are doing right, hold them responsible to meet performance standards such as adherence to safety, and document coaching conversations related to performance.
• Planning and Organization
• Demonstrates strong planning skills to efficiently manage daily operations in a high-volume fast-paced environment.
• Proactively plans and organizes workflows within the assigned area to ensure efficient operations and optimal use of resources.
• Collaboration and Strategic Planning
• Initiates collaboration with Senior Leaders, shared services, and team members to develop strategic plans and procedures to increase throughput, accuracy, and efficiency.
• Uses operational metrics to forecast trends to effectively deploy and support team members.
• Communication and Relationship Management
• Maintains high frequent engagement with team members on the floor to drive the flow of work and make necessary adjustments to ensure efficiency, productivity, and accuracy.
• Develops and maintains constructive and cooperative working relationships with direct manager, peers, and team members, proactively resolving conflicts and grievances as needed.
• Demonstrates ability to effectively communicate with Supervisors, Peers, or Associates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Safety, Compliance, and Training
• Ensures all safety programs and requirements are met, holding the organization to the highest standards of safety and compliance.
• Provides on-the-job training and coaching to new and existing employees to ensure compliance with safety regulations and continuous improvement in driving throughput and efficiency.
• Proactively identifies training needs tied to strategic outcomes and collaborate with management team to develop targeted training programs to optimize workflows.
• Subject Matter Expertise and Administrative Duties
• Develops a deep understanding of standard operating procedures and systems, gaining subject matter expertise in the designated distribution center’s assigned area.
• Performs administrative tasks such as maintaining information files, processing paperwork, and other duties as assigned by Operations Manager.
• Performs other duties as assigned by Operations Manager in support of ULAC’s operations.
• Continuing Education and Professional Development
• Stays up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices relevant to managing automated distribution centers, improving supply chain operations, and refining logistics efficiencies.
• Pursues advanced certifications or specialized training programs tailored to the critical aspects of the Area Manager role, such as Lean Six Sigma, Project Management Professional (PMP), or Certified Automation Professional (CAP).
• Maintains active membership and engagement in relevant industry associations to foster knowledge exchange, share insights, and establish strategic partnerships with industry peers.
  
  

Education/Qualifications

• REQUIRED
• Associate’s degree in supply chain management, Logistics, or related field, or a minimum of 5 years of experience in 3rd Party Logistics or warehouse.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and Microsoft Office Suite with advanced proficiency in Excel.
• Demonstrated proficiency in interpersonal skills through successful interactions in diverse professional settings.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both written and verbal.
• Exceptional organizational and administrative skills.
• PREFERRED
• Bachelor’s degree specifically in Supply Chain, Logistics, or related field.
• Fluency in Spanish.

Experience

• REQUIRED
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in a management role within a 3rd Party Logistics, distribution center or warehouse.
• Demonstrated leadership expertise, with a proven track record of fostering employee engagement, talent acquisition, retention, and development.
• Experience in resolving interpersonal conflicts and promoting a positive workplace culture.
• Proven ability to lead teams effectively, providing clear direction and proactively addressing challenges.
• Proven ability to work in a time sensitive, high volume, fast paced, high-energy environment.
• Aptitude for identifying and communicating opportunities for process improvement.
• Strong capability to establish and nurture both internal and external business relationships, emphasizing customer satisfaction and partnership.
• PREFERRED
• Previous experience in a leadership role specifically within automated distribution centers, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of automated systems and processes.
• Familiarity with Lean principles or Six Sigma methodologies, with a track record of implementing continuous improvement initiatives within a distribution center.
• Experience in warehouse Value Added Services and Special Services, pick and pack, distribution, picking/replenishment process, particularly in the apparel/accessories sector.
• Benefits:
  
  

401(k)

401(k) matching

Dental insurance

Employee assistance program

Employee discount

Flexible spending account

Health insurance

Health savings account

Life insurance

Paid time off

Parental leave

Tuition reimbursement

Vision insurance

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $70,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year

Schedule:

8 hour shift

Evening shift

Monday to Friday

Weekends as needed

Ability to Relocate:

Beaumont, CA 92223: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person