Warehouse Manager Job Description: Duties, Template & Pay (2026)
A warehouse manager runs the building: receiving, storage, picking, shipping and inventory, the people who do that work, and the safety program that keeps them from getting hurt. A warehouse supervisor runs a shift or an area inside it. The two jobs share most of their duties and differ in scope, pay and who they answer to, so write the one you actually need. This page has a warehouse manager job description template, a warehouse supervisor version, the OSHA forklift training duties the role owns, pay and interview questions.
What a warehouse manager does
BLS covers warehouse managers within transportation, storage, and distribution managers (SOC 11-3071) and describes the warehouse side of that occupation this way: they “oversee the operations of storage facilities, warehouses, and distribution centers. They coordinate incoming and outgoing shipments of products and materials.” O*NET's sample of reported job titles for the occupation includes distribution center manager, logistics operations manager, shipping manager and warehouse supervisor.
In practice the job is three things at once: hitting the building's daily numbers (orders out, trucks turned, inventory accurate), managing a team of supervisors, leads and associates who are often hourly and often turning over, and owning safety for people working around forklifts, racking and trucks.
Warehouse manager duties
From O*NET's task list for transportation, storage, and distribution managers:
- Supervise the activities of workers engaged in receiving, storing, testing and shipping products or materials
- Plan, develop or implement warehouse safety and security programs and activities
- Develop and document standard and emergency operating procedures for receiving, handling, storing and shipping
- Monitor operations to make sure staff comply with policies, safety rules, union contracts and government regulations
- Monitor inventory levels of products or materials in the warehouse
- Inspect the physical condition of the warehouse and equipment, and order maintenance, repairs or replacements
- Interview, select and train warehouse and supervisory personnel
- Prepare and manage departmental budgets
- Review work orders and demand forecasts to anticipate peak periods and issue work assignments
- Maintain metrics, reports, process documentation and training or safety records
- Plan changes to facility layout, equipment and space allocation
The forklift training duties a warehouse manager owns
Many warehouses run powered industrial trucks, and OSHA puts the training and evaluation duties on the employer. In practice the warehouse manager owns that program. Under 29 CFR 1910.178(l):
- (l)(1)(i): “The employer shall ensure that each powered industrial truck operator is competent to operate a powered industrial truck safely, as demonstrated by the successful completion of the training and evaluation specified in this paragraph (l).”
- (l)(2)(iii): “All operator training and evaluation shall be conducted by persons who have the knowledge, training, and experience to train powered industrial truck operators and evaluate their competence.”
- (l)(4)(iii): “An evaluation of each powered industrial truck operator's performance shall be conducted at least once every three years.”
- (l)(6): “The employer shall certify that each operator has been trained and evaluated as required by this paragraph (l). The certification shall include the name of the operator, the date of the training, the date of the evaluation, and the identity of the person(s) performing the training or evaluation.”
Refresher training is also required after unsafe operation, an accident or near miss, a failed evaluation, a change of truck type, or a workplace change that affects safe operation, under (l)(4)(ii). Put “maintain the powered industrial truck training and evaluation program” in the manager's duties. Our guide to OSHA forklift training requirements covers the rule in full. This is general information, not legal advice.
Warehouse manager job description template
Copy this into your ATS or job board, replace the bracketed fields and delete what does not apply. It is written for the manager of a single building; the next section adapts it for a shift supervisor.
Job title
Warehouse Manager, [Company name], [City, ST]
Summary
[Company name] runs a [size] sq ft [distribution center / warehouse] in [city] shipping [what you ship] to [customers / stores / e-commerce orders]. We are hiring a warehouse manager to run the building: receiving, storage, picking, shipping and inventory, a team of [number] supervisors, leads and associates across [number] shifts, and a safety program everyone takes seriously. You will report to the [operations manager / general manager].
[Schedule, including weekend and peak-season expectations]. [Pay range and bonus]. [One sentence on what is good about working here.]
What you will do
• Run daily receiving, putaway, picking, packing and shipping to hit [service level / orders per day / on-time targets]
• Lead, schedule and develop supervisors, leads and associates; hire and train the team
• Own the safety program, including forklift training and evaluations, incident investigation and safety meetings
• Keep inventory accurate through cycle counts and root-cause fixes
• Plan labor for daily volume and peak seasons, including temporary staff
• Track and report productivity, accuracy and cost metrics
• Manage the building budget, equipment and maintenance
• Work with [transportation / customer service / purchasing] to solve problems
What you need
• [3–5+] years in warehouse or distribution operations, including [2+] years supervising people
• Working knowledge of [WMS] or similar warehouse management systems
• Experience running a safety program around forklifts and racking
• Comfort with productivity metrics, labor planning and spreadsheets
• Able to work on the floor and cover [nights / weekends] when needed
Nice to have
• [Bachelor's degree in business, logistics or supply chain]
• [Cold storage / hazmat / food-grade / e-commerce] experience
• Lean or continuous improvement experience
What we offer
• [Salary range and bonus]
• [Benefits and eligibility date]
• [Paid time off]
• [Path: multi-site or regional operations]
How to apply
[One step. Say how fast you respond.]
Warehouse supervisor job description
A warehouse supervisor runs a shift, department or area, such as receiving, picking or shipping, and reports to the warehouse manager. They spend most of the shift on the floor: assigning work, checking quality, fixing problems as they happen and coaching associates. O*NET lists warehouse supervisor among the reported job titles for first-line supervisors of helpers, laborers and material movers, whose tasks include:
- Maintain a safe working environment by monitoring safety procedures and equipment
- Plan work schedules and assign duties to keep adequate staff for fluctuating workloads
- Transmit and explain work orders to workers
- Review work throughout the process and at completion
- Assess training needs and arrange or provide instruction
- Conduct staff meetings, including on safety
- Participate in hiring by interviewing and making recommendations
- Evaluate performance and resolve complaints, or refer them upward
- Perform the same work as those supervised when needed
To turn the template above into a warehouse supervisor job description, change the title and reporting line, scope the summary to one shift or area, cut the budget and facility duties, and add “work on the floor with the team” and the specific equipment. For requirements, one to two years as a lead or experienced associate is a realistic floor. Be exact about the shift, because supervisors often cover nights or weekends. For interviewing, see our warehouse supervisor interview questions, and for the hourly role below the supervisor, the warehouse lead job description.
Requirements: what to ask for, and what to drop
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree | BLS lists a high school diploma as the typical entry-level education. Make a degree preferred, not required, or you screen out supervisors who have run your kind of building. |
| Years of experience | BLS lists 5 years or more in a related occupation as typical for managers. For supervisors, one to two years as a lead is enough. |
| Specific WMS | Nice to have. Warehouse management systems differ, but the logic transfers. |
| Forklift experience | Useful for credibility on the floor; you will train and evaluate on your trucks anyway. |
| People leadership | Keep it, and ask for evidence: team size, turnover, how they hired. |
| Schedule | Say it. Peak season, weekends and night coverage decide who applies. |
Customizing it by setting
E-commerce fulfillment
High order volume, small parcels, same-day cutoffs and big seasonal peaks. Emphasize labor planning and temporary staffing.
Cold storage and food distribution
Temperature control, food safety and freezer work. Name the temperatures and any food safety program.
Manufacturing plant warehouses
Raw materials in, finished goods out, line-side delivery. Coordination with production planning is the key skill.
Third-party logistics (3PL)
Several clients in one building, each with their own requirements and metrics. Customer communication moves up the list.
What warehouse managers and supervisors earn
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers had a median wage of $107,230 a year, or $51.55 an hour, in May 2025. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $65,120 and the highest 10 percent more than $194,900. That occupation includes logistics and transportation managers as well as warehouse managers, so a single-building warehouse manager may sit below the median.
| Industry (May 2025) | Median annual wage, managers |
|---|---|
| Management of companies and enterprises | $156,720 |
| Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals | $120,650 |
| Manufacturing | $117,660 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $102,850 |
| Wholesale trade | $100,670 |
BLS counted 228,100 jobs in the occupation in 2025 and projects employment to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than average, with about 18,300 openings a year.
For supervisors, O*NET reports the wage for first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors: a median of $30.23 an hour, or $62,890 a year, in 2025. Check local postings before you set either range.
Interview questions for a warehouse manager
These six questions work for managers and, with smaller scope, for supervisors. The warehouse supervisor interview page has a longer set.
1. Walk me through how you plan labor for tomorrow's volume.
A good answer covers the forecast or order pool, rates by function, attendance, and a plan for when volume or call-outs change mid-shift. Vague answers suggest they have never owned the plan.
2. Tell me about a serious safety incident or near miss in your building. What changed afterward?
Listen for investigation, root cause, retraining and a change in the process or layout, not just discipline.
3. Inventory accuracy has dropped. Where do you start?
Strong candidates talk about cycle counts, finding where errors enter (receiving, putaway, picking), and fixing the process rather than recounting.
4. How have you reduced turnover on a team?
Specifics matter: schedules, first-week experience, supervisor coaching, pay conversations. Numbers are a plus.
5. How do you handle a supervisor whose shift keeps missing its numbers?
Look for data first, then coaching, clear expectations and follow-up, with escalation only after that.
6. What does your forklift training and evaluation program look like?
Good answers mention formal and practical training, evaluation in the workplace, refresher triggers, evaluations at least every three years, and certification records, which matches 29 CFR 1910.178(l).
What it costs to reach a warehouse manager
Warehouse managers fall in the management / professional role family in our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark. On Meta it ran a median cost per applicant of $16.87, with a wide middle half of campaigns between $4.62 and $60.11, a blended figure of $5.45 and a 16 percent apply rate. Hourly supervisor and lead postings that recruit from the floor behave more like the warehouse / production family: a $9.83 median and a 20 percent apply rate. The all-role median is $13.88. That is cost per applicant, not cost per hire.
Apply rate explains 70 percent of the variation in cost per applicant across the benchmark. For managers, a short form with two or three questions (years supervising, building size, shift) and a fast call from the hiring manager keeps good candidates from moving on. See the full benchmark data.
The job description is not the job ad
The template is for your files and your ATS. The ad has to reach a supervisor at another building who is ready to move up, or a manager who is not looking.
- Lead with the building and the scope: square footage, team size, what you ship.
- Put the pay range and schedule in the ad itself.
- Say whether you promote from within and what the next step is.
- Keep the application short. A manager who is employed will not fill out a long form on a phone.
More on the hiring side is in warehouse recruiting and warehouse staffing agency cost.
Frequently asked questions
What does a warehouse manager do?
A warehouse manager runs a warehouse or distribution center: receiving, storage, picking, shipping and inventory, the supervisors and associates who do that work, and the safety program. Duties include labor planning, hiring and training, tracking productivity and accuracy, managing the budget and equipment, and working with other departments to solve problems.
What is the difference between a warehouse manager and a warehouse supervisor?
A warehouse manager is responsible for the whole building, including budget, staffing plans, safety program and results. A warehouse supervisor runs one shift or area, such as receiving or shipping, and spends most of the shift on the floor assigning work, checking quality and coaching associates. Supervisors usually report to the manager.
What does a warehouse supervisor do?
A warehouse supervisor directs a shift or area of a warehouse. They plan schedules and assign duties, explain work orders, check work as it happens, monitor safety procedures and equipment, run safety meetings, train new associates, take part in hiring and evaluate performance. Many also do the same work as their team when volume requires it.
How much does a warehouse manager make?
Transportation, storage, and distribution managers, the BLS occupation that includes warehouse managers, had a median wage of $107,230 a year, or $51.55 an hour, in May 2025. The occupation also includes logistics and transportation managers. First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers had a median of $62,890 a year.
What qualifications does a warehouse manager need?
BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education and 5 years or more of work experience in a related occupation. Employers typically look for warehouse supervisory experience, knowledge of a warehouse management system, labor planning skills and experience running a safety program. A bachelor's degree is often preferred rather than required.
Is a warehouse manager responsible for forklift training?
The employer is, and the warehouse manager usually owns the program. Under 29 CFR 1910.178(l), each operator must be trained and evaluated by someone with the knowledge, training and experience to do it, evaluated at least once every three years, and certified with the operator's name, training and evaluation dates, and the trainer's identity.
What should a warehouse supervisor job description include?
Include the shift and area supervised, team size, reporting line, core duties (assigning work, checking quality, safety, training, scheduling), the equipment and systems used, required experience such as one to two years as a lead, the pay range and the schedule. Say whether the supervisor is expected to work alongside the team.
What interview questions should I ask a warehouse manager?
Ask how they plan labor for tomorrow's volume, about a safety incident and what changed afterward, where they start when inventory accuracy drops, how they have reduced turnover, how they handle a supervisor missing targets, and what their forklift training and evaluation program looks like. Look for specifics and numbers.
Is warehouse management a growing field?
Yes. BLS projects employment of transportation, storage, and distribution managers to grow 6 percent from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 18,300 openings a year on average over the decade. BLS counted 228,100 jobs in the occupation in 2025.
How much does it cost to recruit a warehouse manager?
On Meta, the management and professional role family in Boostpoint's 2026 benchmark ran a median of $16.87 per applicant, with a wide middle half between $4.62 and $60.11 and a 16 percent apply rate. Hourly supervisor and lead roles look more like the warehouse and production family at a $9.83 median. Both are cost per applicant.
Related job descriptions
Hiring warehouse managers and supervisors?
The description is the document. Getting it in front of supervisors and leads ready to move up near your building is the part we do.
Wage, employment and projection data for transportation, storage, and distribution managers (SOC 11-3071): U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, last modified 27 August 2026; wages are May 2025 OEWS, projections 2025–35. Tasks: O*NET OnLine 11-3071.00 and 53-1042.00; supervisor wage from O*NET 53-1042.00, which reports the 2025 median for first-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors. Forklift training: 29 CFR 1910.178(l) on eCFR. General information, not legal advice. Cost-per-applicant and apply-rate figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, 891 managed campaigns and 1,334 campaign-months. Read at source 24 September 2026.