Warehouse Manager – Charity Goods Processing

Job Overview

We are seeking an experienced, highly organised, proactive, and hands-on warehouse manager to oversee our daily warehouse operations and take responsibility for a very busy operation in Washington, County Durham. The warehouse processes large volumes of charity collection bags from households across the Northeast, collected through our long-standing and respected contract with the Great North Air Ambulance Service.

This is a labour-intensive and fast-moving environment that requires strong leadership, excellent organisational skills, and the ability to maintain high-quality standards while overseeing a wide range of stock categories. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing inventory, supervising staff, and ensuring the efficient flow of goods through the supply chain.

This role requires a strong understanding of logistics, warehouse management systems, and process optimisation to support continuous improvement initiatives. The Warehouse Manager will play a pivotal role in maintaining safety standards, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring customer satisfaction.

About the Role

The warehouse handles:

• Charity clothing collection bags
• Bric-a-brac, household goods, books, DVDs, and mixed donated items
• Up to 2 million charity bags held in stock for distribution to collectors nationwide
• Large volumes of clothing bales and boxed items for resale, loaded onto trucks or sea containers
• Goods sold by weight in significant quantities

The successful candidate will be responsible for streamlining processes, improving organisation, and ensuring all items are processed efficiently, safely, and to a high standard of quality.

Key Responsibilities:

Operations & Organisation

• Manage the daily operation of a busy, labour-intensive warehouse.
• Oversee intake, sorting, processing, and storage of mixed donated items.
• Maintain an orderly workflow to ensure items are processed efficiently.
• Use forklift equipment to move bales and heavy stock safely.

Quality Control

• Ensure all goods meet strict quality standards before being sold.
• Implement and maintain quality-checking procedures.
• Prevent damaged or unsuitable items from entering outbound loads.

Stock & Record-Keeping

• Keep accurate stock records, including clothing bales, bric-a-brac, and distribution bags.
• Monitor warehouse inventory levels and report shortages or oversupply.
• Maintain documentation for outbound loads (trucks/sea containers) and weights.

Leadership & Team Management

• Motivate, organise, and supervise the warehouse team.
• Allocate daily tasks and monitor productivity.
• Ensure health & safety standards and warehouse procedures are followed.

Customer & Supplier Coordination

• Liaise with customers, drivers, suppliers, and charity partners as required.
• Ensure timely loading/unloading of high-volume shipments.
• Supervise warehouse staff, providing leadership, training, and performance evaluations to foster a productive team environment.
• Implement process improvements aimed at increasing efficiency, reducing waste, and enhancing safety standards.
• Manage forklift operations and ensure compliance with health and safety regulations.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives by analysing workflows and introducing best practices in logistics and supply chain management.

About You

We are looking for someone who is:

• Experienced in warehouse management within a high-volume or complex environment
• Highly organised, efficient, and able to bring structure to chaotic workflows
• Quality-focused with great attention to detail
• Proactive and intelligent in problem-solving
• Skilled in managing people and creating a productive, positive work environment
• Comfortable using record-keeping systems and maintaining paperwork
• Able to operate or supervise forklift operations (licence a bonus)

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: £35,000.00-£40,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Sick pay

Work Location: In person