Amazon posts three $100K+ Tri-Cities manager jobs. Hundreds more openings coming soon

Wendy Culverwell
·4 min read

After a faltering start in Pasco, Amazon Inc. is poised to become one of the area’s largest corporate employers this year.

The Seattle e-commerce giant advertised three Pasco-based management jobs on its web site in February as it moves to open facilities that will require 1,650 workers.

The jobs were posted at the same time Amazon confirmed it would open one of its two massive buildings near Sacajawea State Park as an “Inbound Cross Dock” or IXD and would lease a smaller delivery station off Highway 395 to enable two-day deliveries in the Tri-Cities.

In recent weeks, the city of Pasco issued building permits worth about $22 million to support Amazon’s plans - $10 million to convert the warehouse at 1351 S. Road 40 E into an IXD receiving center and $12 million to construct the delivery station next to Reser’s Fine Foods in the Port of Pasco’s PIC 395 industrial park.

Amazon will begin operating both buildings this summer.

A spokeswoman told the Tri-City Herald it will employ 1,500 at the IXD and 150 at the delivery station.

Amazon is nearing completion on building two massive fulfillment distribution warehouse centers across from each other in Pasco.
Amazon is nearing completion on building two massive fulfillment distribution warehouse centers across from each other in Pasco.

Jobs go live

Amazon posted the three management positions related to its fulfillment center operations in Pasco at amazon.jobs.

The roles include a senior HR manager (base pay $119,700-$222,700), a fulfillment center operations manager (base pay $72,800-$150,100) and a fulfillment center area manager II (base pay $61,400-$100,000).

All three require college degrees and experience.

While it hasn’t yet posted warehouse-level jobs, the spokeswoman said jobs in the Amazon operations network include “stowing, picking, packing, sorting, shipping customer orders, and more.”

Pay begins at $17 to $28 per hour, depending on the position and the location in the U.S. — pay is higher in markets where the cost of living is higher. Amazon provides job training, including safety training as well as health, retirement and other benefits that begin on the first day of employment.

The company calculates it has created 90,000 direct jobs in Washington which in turn support an additional 487,000 jobs statewide, with a combined impact of $205 billion on the state economy.

Amazon Inc. has advertised three management jobs in Pasco as it works to open two warehouses that will make it one of the area’s largest private employers.
Amazon Inc. has advertised three management jobs in Pasco as it works to open two warehouses that will make it one of the area’s largest private employers.

The Washington Employment Security Department’s WorkSource system confirmed it will support Amazon’s hiring efforts, but said Amazon will be in the lead. Amazon previously told the Herald that legitimate Amazon jobs for the Pasco warehouses will be posted to their website, and workers should verify job listings they see elsewhere.

At 1,650 jobs, Amazon would be one of the largest private sector employers in the Tri-Cities, according to employment data compiled by the Tri-City Development Council.

The current largest private employers that are not connected to the Department of Energy are Kadlec Regional Medical Center (3,800), Lamb Weston (3,000) and First Fruits Farms (2,200).

Amazon Inc. has advertised three management jobs in Pasco as it works to open two warehouses that will make it one of the area’s largest private employers.
Amazon Inc. has advertised three management jobs in Pasco as it works to open two warehouses that will make it one of the area’s largest private employers.

Building boom

Ryan Companies US, an Amazon development partner, built two fulfillment centers in Pasco, dubbed Project Oyster and Project Pearl between 2021 and 2022.

The centers, each more than 1 million square feet with some office space, were part of a pandemic-era building boom that doubled the company’s logistics footprint.

As billed, they would have employed about 1,500 together and were supposed to open by 2023.

But Amazon paused its expansion, leaving both buildings unused. Tumbleweeds continue to collect in their metal fences.

Projects Oyster and Pearl were constructed at a cost of about $260 million. That figure includes the $10 million it will cost to convert Project Oyster, 1351 S. Road 40 E, into a receiving center or IXD.

The city also recently authorized a $12 million construction project for the last-mile delivery station at 5802 N. Capitol Ave. (previously listed as 5700). The 87,750-square-foot building will enable two-day deliveries in the Tri-Cities.

Amazon purchased the 25-acre site from the port in a $3.75 million deal that closed this week.

A SEPA checklist was recently submitted for a site at 5700 N. Capitol Ave. in Pasco for an 87,750 square-foot warehouse building to be used as a delivery station. The proposal also includes site improvements and stormwater management infrastructure. The construction plans called Project Hawk, adjacent to the Reser’s Fine Foods manufacturing plant, appears connected to Amazon.

Randy Hayden, the port’s executive director, signed the papers on Tuesday. Amazon officials did so on Wednesday. Ambrose Property Group, its delivery-station partner, will build the facility, with the full development cost estimated at $25 million.

About “Project Pearl”

Amazon has not publicly commented on its plans for its remaining warehouse in Pasco, Project Pearl. Project Pearl is a near twin of Project Oyster.

But Hayden, the port’s director, confirmed that it will open in 2025 in remarks he gave during the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce’s annual State of the Ports luncheon, held Feb. 28 at the Pasco Red Lion.

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