Position Title:
Warehouse Associate (Nights)
Reports To: Warehouse Lead
Direct Reports: None
Hours of Work: Night shift, 9:00 PM to 5:00 AM. Scheduled workdays will be based on operational requirements. Flexibility may be required to support receiving schedules, inventory counts, training, overtime, and peak production periods.
Salary: $21 - $23/hour plus an additional $2.00 per hour night-shift premium.
Benefits: Comprehensive Health & Dental Benefits including LTD, Life Insurance, AD&D, Health Care Spending Account (HCSA), and Employee & Family Assistance Program (EFAP).
Vacation: 2 weeks' vacation per year plus 5 Wellness Days.
The Role
As a Warehouse Associate (Nights), you will support the safe, accurate, and efficient flow of food, ingredients, packaging, supplies, and equipment through Wholesome Kids Catering's warehouse during the night shift. Reporting to the Warehouse Lead, you will receive and inspect incoming shipments, verify products against purchase orders, maintain inventory accuracy and traceability, stage materials for production, prepare and load outgoing requirements, and complete all required records. You will safely operate authorized material-handling equipment and work closely with Warehouse, Production, Logistics, Purchasing, and Food Safety & Quality Assurance to ensure the right products are available in the right place at the right time.
Key Responsibilities
As a Warehouse Associate (Nights), you will:
Receiving & Night Warehouse Operations
- Prepare the receiving dock, warehouse aisles, staging areas, and required equipment before incoming deliveries or internal transfers arrive.
- Receive ingredients, food products, packaging, supplies, equipment, and other materials from approved vendors and internal locations.
- Match incoming products and quantities against purchase orders, bills of lading, packing slips, transfer documents, and other receiving records.
- Inspect each shipment for correct item, quantity, lot code, expiry or best-before date, temperature, packaging integrity, cleanliness, damage, infestation, contamination, and overall saleable condition.
- Verify that allergy-controlled or allergy-free products are correctly identified, sealed, approved, and handled according to established segregation requirements.
- Identify shortages, overages, substitutions, damaged products, missing paperwork, delivery discrepancies, or unacceptable code dating and report them immediately to the Warehouse Lead and appropriate internal contact.
- Place questionable or non-conforming product in the designated hold area, maintain clear identification, and follow instructions from Food Safety & Quality Assurance or the Warehouse Lead before release or disposition.
- Unload, sort, label, and distribute accepted shipments to the correct storage or staging area while maintaining product protection and traceability.
- Keep receiving doors, docks, aisles, exits, and work areas secure, clear, and organized throughout the night shift.
Inventory Control & Product Traceability
- Accurately record received, moved, issued, returned, held, transferred, damaged, and disposed inventory in the assigned ERP, SAP, warehouse, or manual tracking system.
- Apply or verify internal labels, lot codes, date codes, item numbers, quantities, storage locations, and status identification before products are stored or released.
- Store products in the correct dry, refrigerated, frozen, allergen-controlled, chemical, or packaging location and maintain required separation from incompatible materials.
- Follow FIFO (First-In, First-Out), FEFO (First-Expired, First-Out), shelf-life, stock-rotation, and product-dating requirements when receiving, storing, picking, and staging inventory.
- Maintain accurate bin locations and ensure products are physically organized so inventory can be safely located, counted, and retrieved.
- Perform scheduled cycle counts, monthly inventory counts, spot checks, and recounts accurately and within the required timelines.
- Investigate and document inventory variances, misplaced products, unexplained usage, damaged stock, or system discrepancies and promptly report findings to the Warehouse Lead.
- Protect product traceability by keeping labels and records legible and by never combining, relabelling, moving, or substituting inventory without authorization.
Material Handling & Equipment Operation
- Safely operate forklifts, electric pallet jacks, manual pallet jacks, carts, dock equipment, and other authorized material-handling equipment after completing required training and certification.
- Complete required pre-use equipment inspections and immediately report damage, malfunction, missing safety equipment, low battery, fluid leaks, or unsafe conditions.
- Move, stack, retrieve, rotate, and stage pallets, racks, bins, ingredients, packaging, and equipment without damaging products, storage systems, doors, walls, or other property.
- Follow posted speed limits, pedestrian-right-of-way rules, load-capacity requirements, stacking limits, aisle controls, dock procedures, and all equipment safety requirements.
- Ensure loads are stable, balanced, secured, and within the equipment's rated capacity before lifting or moving them.
- Park, lower, charge, and secure equipment in designated locations at the end of use and keep access to fire equipment, exits, electrical panels, and emergency routes clear.
- Use safe manual-lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, and team-lifting practices when handling products weighing up to 60 lbs.
- Do not operate equipment that is unsafe or beyond your training and authorization; stop work and obtain direction when conditions are unclear.
Production Staging, Picking & Replenishment
- Review production schedules, pick lists, requisitions, transfer requests, and priority instructions for the night shift.
- Pick the correct ingredient, packaging material, item number, lot code, quantity, and unit of measure according to approved documents and system information.
- Stage materials accurately, safely, and on time for Production Assistants, Cooks, Allergy Kitchen, Packing, and other operational teams.
- Maintain required allergen separation and protect ingredients and packaging from contamination, damage, temperature abuse, or mix-ups during picking and staging.
- Replenish production and warehouse locations as assigned and promptly communicate shortages or competing priorities that could affect the production schedule.
- Return unused or excess materials to the correct storage location with accurate identification and system documentation.
- Confirm that all picked and staged items are complete before handover and clearly communicate any substitution, hold, short pick, back order, or incomplete request.
- Support urgent or last-minute production needs while continuing to follow inventory, allergen, food safety, and authorization controls.
Shipping, Loading & Internal Transfers
- Prepare outgoing products, supplies, equipment, and internal transfers according to shipping documents, route requirements, and operational priorities.
- Verify item descriptions, quantities, labels, destinations, conditions, temperatures, and documentation before products are loaded or transferred.
- Oversee or assist with the secure and accurate loading and unloading of vehicles, ensuring products and equipment are protected from shifting, damage, contamination, or temperature loss.
- Follow dock safety, vehicle-restraint, trailer-entry, pedestrian, and communication procedures during all loading and unloading activities.
- Sort and distribute incoming mail, parcels, supplies, and internal transfers to the correct department or authorized recipient.
- Complete supplier pick-ups or operational transfers using a Company vehicle when assigned and authorized, following all driving, documentation, and vehicle-safety requirements.
Food Safety, Quality & Warehouse Standards
- Follow all Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), HACCP requirements, allergen-control procedures, sanitation standards, and Company food safety policies.
- Confirm that refrigerated and frozen deliveries meet required temperature standards and accurately complete temperature checks and receiving logs.
- Maintain cold-chain requirements and minimize the time temperature-sensitive food remains outside approved storage conditions.
- Prevent cross-contact and contamination by maintaining required separation between food, allergens, chemicals, waste, returned items, damaged products, and personal belongings.
- Keep all food and food-contact packaging protected, covered, off the floor, correctly stored, and free from water, condensation, pests, dust, or other contamination hazards.
- Monitor warehouse conditions and immediately report pest activity, damaged racking, temperature deviations, leaks, spills, damaged packaging, or food safety concerns.
- Support product holds, recalls, traceability checks, inspections, audits, corrective actions, and investigations by locating inventory and providing accurate records.
- Use only approved cleaning and sanitation products and never apply an unapproved chemical or method near food, packaging, equipment, or storage areas.
Documentation, Systems & Shift Handover
- Complete receiving records, inspection forms, temperature logs, inventory transactions, count sheets, pick lists, hold records, damage reports, equipment inspections, and other required documentation accurately and on time.
- Enter information into assigned ERP, SAP, inventory, email, or communication systems using the correct item, quantity, lot, location, date, and transaction type.
- Maintain organized and retrievable records and provide supporting documents when requested by the Warehouse Lead, Purchasing, Food Safety & Quality Assurance, or other authorized team members.
- Clearly document and communicate incomplete work, outstanding deliveries, inventory discrepancies, held products, equipment concerns, shortages, and priority actions during shift handover.
- Protect confidential Company, vendor, product, pricing, inventory, and operational information and share it only with authorized persons.
- Escalate missing documents, system errors, unclear instructions, or unresolved discrepancies rather than guessing or processing an unsupported transaction.
Teamwork & Continuous Improvement
- Work collaboratively with the Warehouse Lead, Warehouse, Logistics, Purchasing, Production, Allergy Kitchen, Sanitation, and Food Safety & Quality Assurance teams.
- Communicate priorities, progress, shortages, delays, discrepancies, equipment issues, and safety or food-quality concerns clearly and promptly.
- Support co-workers with receiving, picking, staging, loading, counting, housekeeping, and other warehouse responsibilities when operational needs require.
- Participate in training, safety talks, inventory reviews, audits, shift meetings, process improvements, and performance discussions.
- Maintain a dependable, respectful, accountable, and team-oriented approach consistent with Wholesome Kids Catering's values and One Team, One Dream culture.
Health, Safety & Housekeeping
- Comply with all workplace health and safety legislation, Company policies, safe-work procedures, WHMIS requirements, and required personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Maintain clean, organized, and hazard-free docks, aisles, racks, coolers, freezers, staging locations, battery-charging areas, and workstations throughout the shift.
- Clean spills promptly using approved procedures, isolate unsafe areas, and report water, ice, broken packaging, damaged pallets, blocked access, or other hazards.
- Use caution around moving equipment, loading docks, trailers, racking, blind corners, cold rooms, freezers, wet floors, and changing temperatures.
- Immediately report injuries, near misses, unsafe conditions, property damage, equipment incidents, chemical concerns, or workplace hazards to the Warehouse Lead.
- Perform every duty in a manner that protects co-workers, visitors, products, equipment, Company property, and the safe continuity of night operations.
Other Duties
- Support emergency orders, special projects, supplier returns, seasonal requirements, warehouse reorganization, and operational initiatives as assigned.
- Attend required meetings, training sessions, equipment recertification, food safety programs, safety talks, and inventory reviews.
- Perform additional duties as assigned to support the Warehouse Department and Wholesome Kids Catering's operational objectives.
