The Industrial Engineer - Distribution Operations is an early-career professional role designed for candidates with 0-5 years of experience, including recent Industrial Engineering graduates and professionals with 2-5 years of relevant experience seeking to advance their careers in distribution, warehouse operations, productivity management, labor planning, customer compliance, training, Next Level program ownership, and continuous improvement. This position has a steep learning curve and broad exposure to all areas of Distribution Center operations. The Industrial Engineer will learn customer-specific operating requirements, compliance areas, RF system functionality, labor standards, productivity measurement, labor forecasting, workforce planning, skill acquisition tracking, and operational leadership routines. The role owns training warehouse teammates on RF processes, customer requirements, Next Level skill acquisition, and standard work; develops and maintains productivity standards; measures performance against expectations; supports labor forecasting and management; and improves overall productivity. This position is expected to work directly on the warehouse floor, build credibility with hourly teammates and leaders, and translate data, training documentation, and process observations into practical operational improvements. Principal ResponsibilitiesCustomer Requirements & ComplianceLearn and become the facility owner for customer-specific operating requirements, compliance expectations, and execution standards.Maintain customer work instructions, standard operating procedures, packaging requirements, labeling standards, routing requirements, quality expectations, and service commitments.Ensure customer requirements are incorporated into new hire training, refresher training, RF training, and standard operating procedures.Conduct operational audits to verify compliance with customer requirements and identify execution gaps.Support investigations involving customer complaints, chargebacks, compliance failures, quality issues, and service failures.Partner with Operations, Quality, Customer Service, Inventory Control, Transportation, Program Management, and Sales to implement corrective actions and improve customer execution.RF Systems & Operational TrainingDevelop into the facility subject matter expert for RF equipment, warehouse system transactions, and system-directed work execution.Train new hires, existing teammates, leads, supervisors, and managers on RF processes, customer requirements, and operational procedures.Audit RF utilization, transaction accuracy, and adherence to required warehouse processes.Identify training gaps and coordinate retraining when teammates are not following RF, customer, quality, safety, or productivity requirements.Maintain training records, process documentation, certifications, and work instructions to ensure requirements remain current and accessible.Next Level Program Ownership & Skill AcquisitionOwn facility-level Next Level program execution in partnership with Distribution Center leadership, Training, Operations, and HR.Document teammate skill acquisition, training status, proficiency, and advancement readiness using the approved skills matrix, training records, and program tracking tools.Ensure teammates are progressing through the Next Level program by identifying required skills, cross-training opportunities, and gaps that may limit advancement.Use Next Level skill acquisition data to support productivity improvement, workforce flexibility, internal promotion readiness, and teammate retention.Partner with supervisors and managers to confirm proficiency before skill sign-off and ensure training is based on demonstrated capability, not just exposure to the task.Review Next Level progress with DC leaders and recommend actions to improve skill depth, reduce turnover, and build a stronger internal pipeline of trained teammates.Connect Next Level training outcomes to operational needs including RF compliance, customer requirements, safety, quality, productivity, attendance, and labor flexibility.Productivity Standards & Labor ManagementLearn and apply Industrial Engineering principles to warehouse work measurement, labor standards, and productivity management.Conduct process observations, time studies, work sampling, and workflow analysis to understand warehouse functions and establish practical productivity expectations.Assist in developing, validating, maintaining, and improving labor standards for receiving, putaway, replenishment, inventory control, picking, packing, loading, and value-added services.Measure teammate, department, shift, and facility performance against established productivity standards.Work with supervisors and managers to ensure teammates understand the standard, are coached to the standard, and are held accountable to the standard.Analyze productivity trends, identify performance gaps, and recommend actions to improve labor utilization and operational efficiency.Labor Forecasting & Workforce PlanningSupport labor forecasting using volume, productivity, staffing, attendance, and operational demand data.Assist Distribution Center leadership with daily, weekly, monthly, and budget labor planning activities.Analyze labor requirements by department and shift to support staffing decisions and workforce allocation.Monitor actual labor utilization against plan and identify opportunities to improve labor management discipline.Prepare reporting that connects volume, standard hours, actual hours, productivity, and labor cost performance.Continuous Improvement & Leadership SupportIdentify waste, bottlenecks, unnecessary travel, process variation, and non-value-added activity within warehouse operations.Participate in continuous improvement projects, kaizen events, layout reviews, slotting improvements, and workflow redesign activities.Provide data, observations, and recommendations to Distribution Center leadership to improve productivity, quality, compliance, service, retention, and teammate progression.Participate in daily operational reviews and leadership meetings to support fact-based decision making.Build working relationships with hourly teammates, leads, supervisors, managers, and support functions while learning the fundamentals of Distribution Center leadership.
