Warehouse Operations Manager

Reports to : Vice-President, Operations - International

Location: Pointe-Claire, QC

Bring your creativity and fresh thinking to WALTER Surface Technologies. Since 1952, WALTER has built a reputation for high quality and innovation in surface treatment technologies and a global leader in high-performance solutions for the metalworking industry. Our core philosophy centers on empowering customers to work smarter and achieve excellence through the best technology, products, performance, safety, and durability—driving increased productivity and profitability.

Job Summary:

The Warehouse Operations Manager is fully accountable for end-to-end warehouse, distribution, and production operations at the Montreal site, while also providing operational leadership, coverage, and best-practice alignment across multiple sites.

This role requires a hands-on, strategically minded leader who combines strong operational execution with business acumen, people leadership, and cross-functional collaboration. The incumbent owns site performance, safety, service levels, inventory integrity, and team development, while contributing to broader business objectives.

The role also oversees the development, implementation, and governance of policies and procedures to ensure efficient, compliant, and scalable warehouse and facility operations, while ensuring timely receipt of products and maximizing order fulfillment to meet customer service expectations.

Key Responsabilities:

Site Ownership – Montreal

• Own end-to-end warehouse and production operations, ensuring safe, efficient, and uninterrupted execution across receiving, storage, production coordination, inventory control, order fulfillment, and shipping.
• Lead workforce planning, scheduling, and performance management to deliver service, quality, safety, and cost targets.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to improve productivity, throughput, quality, and cost performance, including achieving annual operating profit targets.
• Ensure full compliance with environmental, health, safety, regulatory, and corporate standards; proactively identify, investigate, and mitigate operational risks.
• Optimize warehouse layout, space utilization, equipment, and workflows to maximize efficiency and minimize loss or damage.
• Maintain strong inventory governance through cycle counts, audits, root-cause analysis, and corrective actions; own strategies to optimize stock levels, reduce MOQs, and minimize working capital.
• Act as the operational liaison between R&D and production, providing manufacturing input on new product development, process feasibility, and expansion of the chemical product line.
• Oversee international chemical production activities (BCI), ensuring alignment with global standards and close coordination with commercial teams.
• Own and continuously improve WMS/TMS/DMS and Tecsys systems to support operational scalability, data integrity, and future systems integration.

Leadership et couverture multisites

• Assurer le leadership opérationnel, le soutien et la couverture de plusieurs entrepôts et sites de distribution, selon les besoins.
• Standardiser les processus, les indicateurs clés de performance et les meilleures pratiques sur tous les sites afin de favoriser la cohérence, l'évolutivité et la résilience opérationnelle.
• Collaborer avec les responsables des sites et les équipes de l'entreprise pour la planification des capacités, l'optimisation de l'empreinte et les initiatives de croissance.

Esprit stratégique et sens des affaires

• Traduire les objectifs commerciaux et opérationnels en plans d'exécution clairs, en priorités et en résultats mesurables.
• Développer, analyser et présenter des tableaux de bord opérationnels et des indicateurs clés de performance ; identifier les tendances, les risques et les opportunités d'amélioration afin de permettre la prise de décisions fondées sur des données.
• Contribuer à la budgétisation, aux initiatives de contrôle des coûts, à la stratégie d'inventaire et à l'optimisation du transport.
• Évaluer les performances des distributeurs et des transporteurs à l'aide de tableaux de bord ; mener des actions d'amélioration afin d'améliorer les niveaux de service et de réduire les rétrofacturations.

Leadership et gestion d'équipe

• Diriger, encadrer et développer une organisation d'entreposage et de production hautement performante.
• Instaurer une culture de sécurité, de responsabilité, d'amélioration continue et d'appropriation opérationnelle.
• Gérer le recrutement, l'intégration, la formation, la gestion des performances, la planification de la relève et les relations avec les employés.
• Maintenir une approche de leadership pratique, en fournissant un soutien sur le terrain si nécessaire pour assurer le succès opérationnel.

Knowledge, skills and abilities:

• Proven experience leading warehouse and distribution operations, ideally across multiple sites.
• Strong understanding of production-support environments, distribution, transportation, and inventory management.
• Demonstrated strategic mindset and business acumen, with the ability to link operations to financial, customer, and service outcomes.
• Advanced leadership and people management skills, with experience building and motivating teams.
• Strong analytical skills with comfort using KPIs, dashboards, and operational reporting.
• Proficiency with warehouse management systems (WMS), ERP (Tecsys experience an asset), distribution, and transportation management systems 
• Experience with RF scanning technology.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Operations Management, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
•  10+ years of progressive experience in warehouse, distribution, and/or production operations.
• Demonstrated success managing teams in fast-paced, operational environments.
• Experience with warehouse setup, layout optimization, and facility improvements.
• Strong knowledge of WHMIS and safety management systems.
• Forklift and warehouse equipment certification preferred.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for meetings, training, and multi-site support.
• Fluent in both English and French written & spoken due to interactions with multi site internal & external customers.