Senior Warehouse Operations Manager

About CookUnity:

Food has lost its soul to modern convenience. And with it, it has lost the power to nourish, inspire, and connect us. So in 2018, CookUnity was founded as the first-of-its-kind platform that connects the world with the source of truly great food: chefs. Today, CookUnity delivers 50 million meals a year from the industry’s best chefs to homes all over the country. Fresh. Ready-to-eat. And crafted with the passion that nourishes body and soul.

Unwilling to stop there, CookUnity is expanding beyond delivery to become an ever-innovating marketplace focused on our singular mission: empower Chefs to nourish the world.

If that mission has you hungry in more ways than one, you’ve found the right job posting.

The Role

As the Sr Warehouse Operations Manager for CookUnity Chicago, you will lead all aspects of warehouse operations at our most dynamic and high-volume facilities. You’ll be responsible for both day-to-day operational excellence and the strategic development of systems and processes that drive scalability, efficiency, and food safety.

This role demands a strong leader who can own and optimize core functions such as receiving, inventory control, ingredient distribution, and order staging. You'll also serve as a critical cross-functional partner to teams across Culinary, Fulfillment, Procurement, and Technology to ensure materials and ingredients flow smoothly into production and finished goods move efficiently into last-mile distribution.

This is a high-impact role for someone passionate about building systems, developing people, and driving continuous improvement across warehouse and supply chain operations.

Responsibilities

• • Oversee all warehouse operations at our Chicago, IL facility, including receiving, storage, inventory management, ingredient picking, and distribution to chef and Operations teams.
  • Manage a team of salaried and hourly associates and leaders (25+ direct and indirect reports)
  • Serve as the WMS and ERP system lead for the Chicago site, ensuring alignment between software tools and operational workflows.
  • Develop and execute warehouse layouts, racking strategies, and inventory zoning to maximize space and improve material flow.
  • Lead a team of Managers, Supervisors, Leads, and Associates, fostering a culture of accountability, safety, and high performance.
  • Own KPIs such as inventory accuracy, order cycle time, spoilage, and labor utilization; develop and implement strategies to improve these metrics.
  • Partner with Culinary and Fulfillment to align on ingredient readiness, finished goods hand-off, and quality standards.
  • Manage warehouse labor planning and the site’s operational budget; ensure labor productivity is continuously optimized.
  • Drive continuous improvement initiatives using Lean or Six Sigma methodologies targeting material handling, storage optimization, and data accuracy.
  • Ensure compliance with food safety protocols (e.g., HACCP), sanitation practices, and warehouse safety standards.
  • Provide warehouse input into S&OP and site capacity planning processes.
  • Travel occasionally (5–10%) to support company-wide initiatives and collaborate with peers at other CookUnity sites.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management, or related field; or equivalent operational experience in fast-paced warehouse settings.
• Minimum of 8 years of experience in warehouse, inventory, or supply chain operations, including at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Demonstrated success managing warehouse teams in food production, manufacturing, or high-volume fulfillment environments.
• Strong understanding of HACCP, warehouse safety protocols, and food handling requirements.
• Experience with ERP, WMS, and MRP platforms (e.g., NetSuite, SAP, Infor) and the ability to lead system optimization or rollouts.
• Proven ability to manage site budgets, labor plans, and operational metrics.
• Skilled in continuous improvement practices and structured problem-solving.
• Bilingual English/Spanish strongly preferred due to the makeup of our team.
• Ability to thrive in a hands-on leadership role within a dynamic, scaling environment.

Benefits

• 🩺 Health Insurance coverage
• ⛱ PTO policy and paid sick days
• 📈 We grow, you grow: Stock Options Plan granted on Day 1.
• 🌟 Eligible for bi-annual performance bonus
• 🐣 Family leave fully paid
• 🕯 Compassionate Leave: 3-5 days each time the need arises
• 🥘 A generous amount of CookUnity credits to enjoy our amazing meals, added to your account, monthly
• 🧘🏽‍♀️ Wellness perks: access to fitness subsidies to build a healthy lifestyle
• 👩🏾‍🏫 Personalized Spanish coach
• 🌟 Awesome opportunity to join a company that is looking to change how we eat and how chefs work!
• 🗓️ 5- year Sabbatical: After 5 years with CookUnity, you get a 4-week paid sabbatical

Compensation

All final pay rates will be determined by candidates experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the applicant, internal equity, and alignment with market data.

Pay Range for this position

$110,000—$125,000 USD

If you’re interested in this role, please submit your application, and if we think you might be a fit, we'll get in touch with you. Thank you for your time!

CookUnity is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are dedicated to creating a community of inclusion and an environment free from discrimination or harassment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, protected veteran status, genetic information, or physical or mental disability.

A quick note for all candidatesWe’ve recently seen an increase in recruitment scams across the industry, and we want to make sure you (and your data) stay safe while applying to CookUnity. We also want you to know that we take this seriously — sometimes, as part of our process, we may ask for a brief “proof of humanity” to confirm that we’re connecting with a real person, not an impersonator. Here are a few tips to help you protect yourself and know what to expect from us:

• Apply only through our official channels. All open roles are listed on our official careers page: careers.cookunity.com
• Our recruiters are real people — and easy to verify. You can always find them on LinkedIn with verified profiles. If you’re unsure, feel free to reach out to us on our official LinkedIn Company Page.
• We only communicate through official CookUnity channels. That means emails ending in @cookunity.com and interviews held through official company platforms (Google Meet or Zoom) — never WhatsApp, Telegram, or SMS.
• We’ll never ask for payment or personal financial details. If anyone does, please don’t share any information and let us know right away.

If something ever feels off or you’re unsure about a message, we’d much rather you double-check with us. You can always contact us directly through any of our social media channels. We appreciate your interest in joining CookUnity — and we care about keeping your experience (and safety) as genuine as possible.