Packing & Fulfillment Manager (PM)

Packing & Fulfillment Manager Merzbacher's Bread Bakery Full-time • Salaried • Management Team 4530 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19144 Start date: Around February 1 About Us Merzbacher's is a wholesale bread bakery rooted in Germantown, Philadelphia. We make bread meant to be shared—honest loaves crafted with care, priced so people can actually eat them every day. From our Philly Muffin to our naturally leavened Citywide Sourdough, we blend artisan methods with a creative spirit. Our bread shows up in restaurants, grocery stores, and community spaces across the region. We recently acquired the wholesale bread operations of Metropolitan Bakery, a Philadelphia institution, and brought them under one roof. That move more than doubled our business overnight—more accounts, more volume, more product moving out the door every day. It's an exciting time, and it puts real pressure on our systems. We're building the operation that can carry both names well. We care deeply about what we make—and about building a company that stands the test of time. That means treating people well, running clean systems, and following through on what we say we'll do. The bread matters. So does how we make it. The Job We're hiring a Fulfillment Manager to run the packing and slicing department. You're the person who makes sure orders go out accurately, on time, and without chaos on the floor. We already have strong leads in place for packing and slicing. What we need is a manager who sets direction, keeps standards steady across the full week, coaches people consistently, and makes the department run like a real system—not just a group of people showing up. Here's the real challenge: we more than doubled in size when we took on Metropolitan's wholesale business, and a department built for the old volume is now under strain. We need someone who can stabilize fulfillment at the new scale and build the systems that hold up as we keep growing—not just keep today's orders moving, but make the whole operation more reliable as it gets bigger. One more thing, and it's important: the team you're inheriting knows this work better than you will on day one, and they've earned that. You'll start on the line—packing, slicing, learning how the department actually runs—before you change anything. We're looking for someone secure enough to lead by listening first, who understands why something works the way it does before improving it. There's a lot to improve here. The way you earn the right to improve it is by proving you understand it. This is hands-on work. You'll be on the floor with the team, especially when things get busy or the plan falls apart. You'll earn trust by working alongside people when it matters. What You'll Actually Do Do the work. Pack, slice, stage, and fulfill orders when needed—especially during busy periods, staffing gaps, or when something breaks. Own accuracy. Orders go out packed correctly, labeled clearly, and staged so drivers can't get confused. Mistakes get caught before they ship, not after. Lead people. Set expectations. Coach in real time. Follow through. Praise good work, address problems early, keep the tone respectful and steady. Keep the floor safe. Food safety, sanitation, employee safety. Clear walkways, safe lifting, proper tool use. An organized workspace that doesn't become hazardous under time pressure. Build and maintain standards. Keep packing procedures in plain language. Train new people well. Make sure standards don't drift over time. When something changes—product, packaging, workflow—you roll it out cleanly. With the Metropolitan volume now folded in, a lot of this is building standards fresh, not just maintaining what existed. Support overnight cleaning. Because your shift runs into the night, you'll play a supporting role in keeping the night cleaner on track—checking that the work gets done to standard, flagging issues, and helping the close-out hand off cleanly to the next day. Facilities owns the relationship; you're the steady set of eyes on the floor when they're not there. Make scheduling work. Create schedules that cover the week without burning people out. Adjust in real time when someone calls out or volume spikes. Stay stocked. Labels, bags, boxes, tape—shifts don't collapse into scrambling for supplies. Collaborate across departments. Work with baking, distribution, business operations, and facilities so handoffs are clear and problems get solved at the source. You'll flag issues and provide information for customer communication, but business operations handles the customer-facing side. Team Structure You report to ownership and are part of the management team. You directly manage the Packing Lead and Slicing Lead, and supervise packers through those leads. You also provide day-to-day, on-the-floor support for the night cleaner, in coordination with facilities. The bakery runs seven days a week, so you'll rely on the leads for daily coverage while you provide consistent management, training, and accountability across the whole system. Decision Rights You're trusted to make real calls: adjusting staffing and assignments during a shift, setting and enforcing department standards, stopping an order from shipping if it's wrong or unsafe, initiating write-ups and performance plans. For hiring, you'll interview and recommend candidates and lead onboarding—final decisions are made jointly with ownership. Schedule Five days per week, 2:00pm to close. Close time varies based on volume. Compensation and Benefits Salary starts at $55,000, with room to grow to $62,000 within 12 months based on performance and how fully you own the role. Two weeks paid time off to start, plus one additional week per year up to four weeks total. Additional unpaid time available case-by-case. Medical, dental, 401(k), and other standard benefits. Requirements You've managed people before—not just been the senior person on a shift, but actually held responsibility for performance, scheduling, and follow-through. You're comfortable in a fast-paced production environment. You can be on your feet for long periods and lift up to 50 lbs. You have strong attention to detail and can make clear calls under pressure. You communicate clearly and respectfully, and you follow through. What We're Looking For A steady manager who keeps standards high without creating drama. Someone who can switch between hands-on work and clear leadership, and who makes the team better over time by noticing what's not working and fixing it in a way that sticks. Given how much we've grown, we're especially interested in someone who has helped a team absorb a jump in volume—who can build order out of a fast-changing operation rather than just hold the line. How to Apply Send a current résumé and a brief cover letter explaining why this role interests you and how your experience prepares you to lead a hands-on fulfillment team. We care less about polished language and more about how you think, how you work, and how you've led people in real situations. If you've built systems, stabilized a team, or made a messy operation run better—tell us about it. Applications without both a résumé and cover letter will not be considered.

Pay:

$55,000.00 - $62,500.00 per year

Benefits:

401(k) Dental insurance Health insurance Paid time off Vision insurance

Work Location:

In person