Reverse Logistics & 3PL Manager

Reverse Logistics & 3PL Manager

Department: Supply Chain

FLSA: Exempt

Employment Type: Regular, Full-time

Reports to: CEO

Prepared: September 2026

Position Overview

The Reverse Logistics & 3PL Manager is responsible for the management and continuous improvement of Ingomar Packing Company's third-party warehouse network and reverse-logistics processes, with particular responsibility for reusable bins and other returnable assets.

This position provides clear ownership for product and reusable assets located outside Ingomar facilities. The role is responsible for developing visibility, accountability, cost control, and consistent operating processes across Ingomar's external warehouse network and reusable-asset lifecycle.

The manager works closely with Order Fulfillment, Transportation, Sales, Supply Chain, Shipping, Finance, customers, carriers, and third-party logistics providers to ensure inventory and assets are properly controlled and efficiently moved through the network.

As Ingomar's supply-chain organization develops, this position is expected to help build the systems, processes, metrics, and external-provider relationships necessary to support a more integrated and scalable supply-chain organization.

Essential Functions

3PL & External Warehouse Management

• Serve as the primary relationship owner for designated third-party and external warehouse providers.
• Establish clear operating expectations, service requirements, communication protocols, and accountability for each 3PL partner.
• Manage warehouse performance related to receiving, storage, inventory control, handling, transfers, and shipment execution.
• Work with the Order Fulfillment function to ensure external warehouses can effectively execute customer requirements without duplicating ownership of customer orders.
• Monitor 3PL service levels and resolve warehouse-related service failures, inventory discrepancies, damage, delays, and operational issues.
• Conduct regular performance reviews with 3PL partners.
• Develop and maintain appropriate service-level expectations and performance metrics.
• Evaluate warehouse capacity, utilization, service performance, and cost.
• Identify opportunities to improve the external warehouse network, including consolidation, location strategy, inventory positioning, and provider performance.
• Support the evaluation, negotiation, and selection of external warehouse providers.

External Inventory Control

• Maintain visibility to Ingomar inventory stored at external locations.
• Ensure external physical inventory and Ingomar system inventory are routinely reconciled.
• Establish disciplined processes for investigating and resolving inventory discrepancies.
• Coordinate physical inventories and cycle counts at external locations as appropriate.
• Monitor aged, slow-moving, held, damaged, or otherwise restricted inventory located at external warehouses.
• Ensure inventory movements involving external warehouses are accurately and timely reflected in Ingomar's systems.
• Identify recurring inventory-control problems and lead corrective actions with the appropriate internal teams and external providers.
• Provide regular reporting on external inventory levels, discrepancies, aging, risks, and corrective actions.

Reverse Logistics & Reusable Asset Management

• Own Ingomar's reverse-logistics process for reusable bins and other designated returnable assets.
• Maintain end-to-end visibility of reusable assets throughout their lifecycle, including assets at Ingomar facilities, external warehouses, customer locations, in transit, and awaiting return.
• Establish accurate tracking of outstanding bins by customer, location, quantity, type, and age.
• Develop systematic processes for recovering reusable assets from customers and other external locations.
• Coordinate with customers, Sales, Transportation, carriers, warehouses, and internal teams to facilitate timely and efficient returns.
• Establish return expectations and escalation procedures for overdue or excessively aged assets.
• Investigate lost, damaged, unreturned, or otherwise unaccounted-for bins.
• Improve reusable-asset utilization by reducing dwell time and accelerating the return of assets into available inventory.
• Develop processes to identify where additional bins are required versus where existing assets can be recovered and redeployed.
• Coordinate with Sales and Finance when customer communication, commercial resolution, or charges associated with lost or unreturned assets may be appropriate.

Reverse Transportation & Network Coordination

• Coordinate transportation associated with reusable-asset recovery and designated external warehouse movements.
• Work closely with the Transportation function to plan movements efficiently while maintaining clear functional ownership.
• Identify opportunities to combine returns, transfers, and other movements to reduce empty miles and unnecessary freight expense.
• Evaluate transportation patterns associated with 3PLs and reverse logistics to identify cost and service improvements.
• Develop better visibility to assets and inventory in transit between Ingomar, external warehouses, and customers.

Cost & Vendor Management

• Monitor external warehouse storage, handling, transfer, and related service expenses.
• Review 3PL charges and investigate unusual, incorrect, or avoidable costs.
• Develop visibility to the total cost of Ingomar's external warehouse network.
• Identify opportunities to reduce storage costs, handling charges, unnecessary transfers, detention, and freight expense.
• Monitor the financial impact of lost, damaged, or excessively aged reusable assets.
• Support budgeting and forecasting for external warehousing and reverse-logistics activities.
• Participate in negotiations with 3PL providers and support development of appropriate commercial terms and service expectations.

Systems, Data & Process Improvement

• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures for 3PL management, external inventory control, reusable-asset tracking, and reverse logistics.
• Establish clear ownership and escalation processes across internal functions and external partners.
• Improve the use of ERP and other systems to provide timely visibility to inventory and reusable assets.
• Evaluate opportunities to use barcode, RFID, automation, or other technologies to improve asset tracking and control.
• Develop exception-based reporting that identifies problems requiring action rather than relying on manual follow-up.
• Lead root-cause analysis of recurring warehouse, inventory, and reverse-logistics problems.
• Implement sustainable corrective actions and measure whether improvements are effective.
• Support Ingomar's broader digital-transformation and supply-chain improvement initiatives.

Inside Sales / Ad Hoc Commercial Support

As the supply-chain organization develops, this position may provide support for designated low-volume or transactional business that does not require traditional account-management coverage.

Responsibilities may include:

• Coordinate designated low-volume and ad hoc sales opportunities.
• Respond to transactional customer inquiries in coordination with Sales.
• Work with Sales and Supply Chain to identify available inventory that may support opportunistic business.
• Ensure commercial activities remain within established pricing, product, inventory, and approval guidelines.
• Transition strategic or developing customer opportunities to the appropriate Sales resource.

This responsibility is intended as a supporting component of the position and is secondary to the role's primary accountability for 3PL management and reverse logistics.

Key Performance Indicators

Performance measures should include:

• External warehouse inventory accuracy.
• Inventory reconciliation discrepancies and aging.
• 3PL service-level performance.
• External warehouse cost and cost trends.
• Storage and handling cost per appropriate unit of activity.
• Number and value of reusable assets outstanding.
• Average bin cycle time.
• Percentage of bins returned within established targets.
• Lost and damaged reusable-asset rates.
• Value of lost or unaccounted-for reusable assets.
• Reverse-logistics freight cost.
• Reduction in unnecessary transfers and handling.
• 3PL corrective-action closure and recurrence rates.

Leadership Expectations

The Reverse Logistics & 3PL Manager is expected to:

• Take ownership of Ingomar inventory and reusable assets once they move outside Ingomar's direct physical control.
• Establish accountability with third-party providers while maintaining productive working relationships.
• Work effectively across organizational boundaries without creating duplicate ownership.
• Use data and facts to identify problems and drive decisions.
• Anticipate problems and act before inventory, asset, or service issues become urgent.
• Balance service requirements with cost, inventory control, and asset utilization.
• Challenge inefficient historical practices and develop better ways of working.
• Build processes that are documented, measurable, scalable, and sustainable.
• Communicate risks and exceptions clearly and escalate significant issues appropriately.
• Contribute to the development of a more integrated and capable Ingomar supply-chain organization.