Material Handler (Simms)

Job Description:

Job: Material Handler

Segment: Mars Petcare (Greenies)

Location: North Kansas City, MO

Shift: Day Shift (6:00 AM – 6:30 PM) on a 2-2-3 Schedule

Job Type: Full-Time, Permanent

Join Our Greenies Team in North Kansas City

At Mars Petcare, we are passionate about pets. Our Greenies brand is dedicated to keeping pets healthy and happy, and we manufacture our world-renowned products right here in our highly desirable, fully climate-controlled North Kansas City facility.

Being a Mars Associate is all about opportunity. The opportunity to do the kind of challenging, interesting work that shapes the world’s best-loved brands. To work with real purpose, supported by talented, friendly people from all sorts of different backgrounds.

Whether you are an experienced warehouse professional, a skilled forklift operator looking for a stable day-shift position, or a transitioning military Veteran, Reservist, or National Guard member, we welcome your unique talents! We highly value the dedication, safety-first mindset, and structured teamwork developed in the military and look forward to helping you build a successful civilian career.

Job Summary

The Material Handler is responsible for the end-to-end logistics flow within our plant. This dual-focus role handles all incoming packaging and raw ingredients, manages safe product movement inside the site, loads outbound trailers for shipment, completes all logistics paperwork, and maintains perfect inventory control. This associate works closely with production, purchasing, receiving, shipping, and quality teams to ensure seamless plant operations in a clean, temperature-controlled environment.

Key Responsibilities

Receiving & Inbound Logistics

• Receive and verify all incoming raw materials, ingredients, packaging, and components against purchase orders and shipping manifests.
• Use a forklift to safely unload inbound trucks and transfer materials to their correct designated storage locations.
• Conduct strict quality and food safety checks on incoming materials, including collecting product samples and verifying supplier paperwork.
• Collaborate with external logistics departments and freight carriers to ensure correct and safe delivery of production materials.

Material Handling & Warehouse Operations

• Safely and accurately operate material handling equipment (including forklifts) to transport inventory, raw materials, WIP (work-in-process), and finished goods throughout the facility.
• Support production schedules by ensuring that the correct materials are issued and staged in production areas when needed.
• Stage, build, and load outbound trailers for shipment, ensuring proper cargo weight distribution and trailer utilization.
• Ensure proper labeling, sorting, FIFO (First-In, First-Out) rotation, and general organization of all materials in storage areas.

Inventory, Systems, & Documentation

• Scan and track material movements using warehouse management systems to ensure perfect real-time inventory accountability.
• Perform daily cycle counts, participate in precision monthly inventories, and assist with formal physical audits.
• Investigate inventory discrepancies promptly and report findings to management.
• Generate, review, and complete accurate shipping/receiving paperwork, logging all transactions accurately into the plant database.

Safety, Quality, & Food Safety Culture

• Participate and adhere to all food safety requirements, Quality Management Processes (QMPs), and site safety programs, championing a safety-first culture.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and sanitary warehouse environment in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).
• Promptly report any safety, food safety, or quality concerns to leadership.

Position Requirements

Minimum Qualifications:

• Education: High school diploma, GED, or equivalent civilian/military education.
• Experience: Proven experience in warehouse logistics, receiving, shipping, or material handling roles.
• Equipment: Demonstrated experience operating a forklift safely in an industrial or warehouse environment.
• Physical Ability: Must be in good physical condition with the ability to stand and walk for extended periods, bend, reach, climb, and safely lift up to 40 pounds manually.
• Technical Literacy: Working knowledge of basic computer programs for entering data, record keeping, and maintaining inventory logs.
• Core Skills: Basic math skills, a keen eye for detail, strong organizational skills, and excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
• Teamwork: Demonstrated ability to work in a high-performing team environment with a willingness to learn and be coached.

Military & Veteran Technical Equivalency Guide

At Mars, we recognize that your military service has prepared you to excel in logistical operations. Your training in high-stakes material movement, precision inventory tracking, and supply chain management maps directly to this role. If you served in any of the following specialties, we highly encourage you to apply:

U.S. Army: Automated Logistical Specialist (92A), Unit Supply Specialist (92Y), Cargo Specialist (88H), Motor Transport Operator (88M), Ammunition Specialist (89B). Your experience with warehouse databases, material handling equipment (MHE), and precise property book audits is an excellent fit.

U.S. Navy: Logistics Specialist (LS), Storekeeper, Aviation Storekeeper (AK). Your experience managing inventory, shipboard supply warehouses, and processing shipping manifests maps directly to our material tracking systems.

U.S. Air Force: Materiel Management (2S0X1), Traffic Management (2T0X1), Ground Transportation (2T1X1). Your training in cargo loading, receiving inspections, strict compliance with safety procedures, and inventory precision is an exact match.

U.S. Marine Corps: Warehouse Clerk (3051), Supply Administration & Operations (3043), Logistics/Embarkation Specialist (0431), Motor Vehicle Operator (3531). Your focus on cargo staging, load planning, and material handling equipment matches our shipping and receiving operations.

U.S. Coast Guard: Storekeeper (SK), Marine Science Technician.

What We Offer (Total Rewards & Benefits)

At Mars, being an associate is more than a job—it's an opportunity to build a long-term career. We provide a competitive, industry-leading package starting on your very first day:

• Compensation: Competitive base pay based on experience, shift differentials, and significant overtime (OT) potential.
• Annual Bonus: Eligibility for our annual performance-based company bonus and annual merit increases.
• Health & Wellness: Comprehensive Medical, Vision, and Dental insurance starting on Day One.
• Retirement Planning: An exceptional 401(k) program with up to 6% company match.
• Work-Life Balance: Generous paid vacation time, paid holidays, and predictable rotating 2-2-3 day shifts.
• Family Support: Paid Parental Leave, plus Short-Term and Long-Term Disability.
• Career Growth: Access to top-tier learning and development through Mars University.
• Onsite Perks: Access to our onsite gym.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars is a family-owned business with over a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love. We produce some of the world’s best-loved brands: M&M’s®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, MILKY WAY®, DOVE®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, WHISKAS®, EXTRA®, ORBIT®, 5™, SKITTLES®, BEN’S ORIGINAL®, and COCOAVIA®.

Alongside our consumer brands, we proudly take care of half of the world’s pets through our nutrition, health, and services businesses such as Banfield Pet Hospitals™, BluePearl®, Linnaeus, AniCura, VCA™, and Pet Partners™.

The Mars Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency, and Freedom – inspire our 130,000 Associates to take action every day toward creating the world we want tomorrow.