
Associate Director Warehouse Operation
- Wuxi, Jiangsu
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Ensure all warehouse activities comply with local, national, and corporate SHE regulations and standards, including those specific to the handling and storage of pharmaceutical materials.
- Conduct routine safety audits, inspections, and risk assessments, addressing hazards immediately and ensuring corrective actions are implemented.
- Lead root cause investigations and reporting for SHE incidents or near-misses, and actively participate in incident review boards.
- Champion and drive safety culture by organizing regular safety briefings, toolbox talks, and training for all warehouse staff and contractors.
- Manage the storage and disposal of hazardous and pharmaceutical waste according to SHE and environmental policies.
- Monitor and report SHE performance through KPI tracking and continual improvement actions.
- Ensure strict adherence to cGMP, GDP, and all applicable pharma quality standards in all warehouse processes.
- Maintain validated status and calibration records of temperature/humidity monitoring equipment, and ensure proper segregation by status (quarantine, released, rejected, returned).
- Oversee accurate and timely recordings of all warehouse transactions in the WMS/ERP, to support traceability.
- Lead warehouse preparation and participation in internal/external audits (regulatory, customer, corporate) and deliver on time corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) for audit findings.
- Review and approve standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and batch records for warehouse activities; ensure documentation is up to date and compliant with data integrity standards (ALCOA+).
- Work closely with the Quality Assurance (QA) function to release or reject materials, manage deviations, investigations, and change controls as they relate to warehouse processes.
- Oversee inbound receiving, proper storage, picking, kitting, and outbound dispatch of materials and finished goods, maintaining inventory accuracy and order fulfilment.
- Manage and optimize space utilization in the warehouse, including storage racking, controlled drug cages, cold rooms and hazardous material areas.
- Ensure accurate picking, staging, and timely delivery of materials to manufacturing lines and return from lines in compliance with production requirements.
- Oversee management and disposition of obsolete, expired, or rejected materials, coordinating with QA for destruction and documentation.
- Prepare, analyze, and report key warehouse operational metrics such as stock accuracy, service to lines etc, and implement corrective actions if targets are not met.
- Drive process improvements such as lean methodologies, 5S, automation initiatives, and digitalization projects to increase warehouse efficiency and reduce costs.
- Coordinate closely with planning, production, quality, procurement, and shipping to ensure seamless material flow through all processes.
- Responsible for reviewing service contracts to make sure AZ could get quality service and maximize privilege (3PL Warehouse , Forwarding agents, system and hardware maintenance, etc.)
- Management of Carriers, Forwarding agents and 3PL warehouse: SHE Quality Compliance, service level
- Plans and implement annual manpower budget, investment budget and overhead cost budget for assigned area of responsibility in line with site goals.
- Accountable the warehouse organization is being built and developed in accordance with site strategy.
- Set individual and departmental objectives, monitor progress, conduct regular performance reviews, and build professional development plans for team members.
- Hire, train, develop, and manage a diverse team of warehouse staff, fostering a culture of accountability, performance, and continuous improvement.
- Ensure clear communication of work instructions, expectations, SHE and quality requirements to all employees and relevant third parties (contractors, logistics providers).
- Organize and deliver induction, technical, SHE, and quality training, maintaining accurate training records and re-certifications.
- Maintain appropriate staffing levels, approve shifts and leave, ensure overtime and resource allocation aligns with workload and priorities.
- Recognize and reward exceptional performance and provide coaching or corrective action for underperformance.