Founded over 20 years ago by three entrepreneurial women with a passion for beautiful, practical and comfortable homes, OKA is more than a furniture and homeware retailer: it is a love affair with living well.
We inspire people to confidently create a home that reflects their personality, a space where nothing should be too precious or perfect to be enjoyed with family and friends. British-born, today we have 13 stores across the UK, an established Interior Design and Trade business, a mail-order service and a thriving website.
We are currently looking to recruit a full-time Warehouse Contract Manager, based at our Didcot headquarters, with weekly travel for in-person collaboration with our 3PL warehouse team at their premises in Swindon.
ABOUT US
We know the best work is done by people who enjoy their jobs, so we create a fun and nurturing environment where everyone feels valued and is able to thrive. We are looking for an agile and proactive Warehouse Contract Manager with a positive attitude and entrepreneurial spirit who can help us nurture this company culture.
Reporting to the CFO, as a Warehouse Contract Manager you will be responsible for managing and maintaining the relationship between OKA, our client, and our 3PL warehouse partner. This crucial role ensures the efficient storage, inventory management, and distribution of our furniture and homewares products, all while adhering to service-level agreements (SLAs). You will monitor the performance of the 3PL warehouse, resolve operational challenges, and drive continuous improvements to meet OKA's expectations and business objectives.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Transition Oversight:
1. Work with the Interim GM - Operations to oversee and manage the transition from in-house warehouse operations to the 3PL warehouse partner, ensuring a smooth and efficient handover and minimal impact on service delivery.
2. Collaborate with internal teams to prepare for the transition, identifying key operational requirements, timelines, and resource allocation, ensuring alignment with performance goals.
3. Monitor and address challenges during the transition, ensuring disruption-free operations, and successfully supporting IT developments to integrate systems seamlessly.
4. Provide training support to the 3PL warehouse team on OKA-specific procedures, systems, and service expectations to meet all performance metrics and SLAs.
Performance Management:
1. Analyse ongoing 3PL performance metrics and evaluate operational data to ensure all metrics within 3PL agreements are consistently met, driving improvements in service and cost efficiency.
2. Implement root cause failure analysis and action plans to address performance issues identified during audits or monitoring, with a focus on continuous improvement on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
3. Regularly audit KPI performance, driving operational efficiency through the analysis of trends to ensure performance aligns with business and operational goals.
Operational Oversight:
1. Collaborate with 3PL Leadership to ensure operational resources are optimised to meet forecast requirements, proactively addressing any capacity or resource gaps.
2. Communicate resource and storage plans to internal stakeholders, ensuring that storage capacity and operations align with forecasted business needs, maintaining seamless business performance and cost optimisation.
3. Work collaboratively with the Distribution & Transportation Contract Manager to jointly oversee and ensure the overall effectiveness of our operational and distribution teams, prioritising both customer and business needs while managing contracts to deliver seamless performance.
Inventory & Storage Management:
1. Monitor storage utilisation and inventory accuracy across the 3PL, ensuring alignment with business forecasts and implementing system hygiene to reduce discrepancies and losses.
2. Drive inventory integrity improvements, including cycle counts, PI counts, and the reconciliation of discrepancies, ensuring stock accuracy and proper storage conditions.
3. Oversee the validation and reconciliation of 3PL invoices to ensure that all operational activities are accurately billed, with no discrepancies in cost.
Cost Optimisation & Improvement Initiatives:
1. Partner with the 3PL to identify and implement cost reduction initiatives, focusing on optimising operating costs per case and improving overall cost-efficiency.
2. Implement continuous process improvements and cost-saving initiatives, driving waste reduction and higher operational efficiency.
3. Conduct regular reviews of 3PL service contracts, renegotiating or improving terms where necessary to lower overall costs and improve service levels.
Compliance & Documentation:
1. Ensure that all 3PL service reporting is issued within agreed timescales and aligns with contractual SLAs, ensuring transparency and consistency in performance reporting.
2. Regularly audit 3PL Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure compliance with OKA's operational standards, identifying and correcting any non-compliance or inefficiency.
3. Support and lead IT developments involving the 3PL, ensuring integration with OKA's business systems and alignment with operational and performance goals.
Collaboration & Relationship Management:
1. Foster a strong and collaborative relationship with the 3PL partner, ensuring clear communication, goal alignment, and timely escalation of issues to senior management as needed.
2. Coordinate cross-functional collaboration with internal teams, including Procurement, Logistics, and Product Development, to ensure smooth operations and service delivery.
3. Act as the main point of contact for the 3PL partner regarding operational and service-related issues, ensuring that all concerns are resolved promptly.
Risk Management:
1. Identify potential operational risks, such as inventory discrepancies, bottlenecks, or storage issues, and develop mitigation strategies to avoid disruption to service delivery.
2. Oversee regular risk assessments to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations, taking corrective actions where necessary to ensure a safe and compliant working environment.
Reporting & Analysis:
1. Provide regular updates on 3PL performance, inventory status, and operational performance, ensuring senior management is informed of progress, issues, and achievements.
2. Analyse operational trends and performance data to uncover areas for improvement, identifying opportunities for service enhancements, cost reductions, and process optimisation.
ABOUT YOU
1. Proven track record of leading teams in a logistical environment and working in a fast-paced environment where continuous innovation is desired.
2. Extensive experience in managing 3PL contracts, including overseeing, negotiating, and optimising third-party logistics agreements to ensure adherence to service level agreements (SLAs), performance metrics, and operational goals.
3. Strong relationship management skills, with a demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective, strategic partnerships with external 3PL providers, ensuring alignment of goals, collaborative problem-solving, and proactive issue resolution.
4. Commitment to learning and expanding professional and technical knowledge.
5. Seasoned analytical and quantitative skills and ability to use hard data and metrics to back up assumptions and develop business cases.
6. Ability to clearly communicate data insights to others.
7. Willingness to be hands-on with workload.
8. Ability to dive deep in understanding the product, our business, and the competitive landscape.
9. A creative, problem-solving spirit.
10. Passion for the OKA brand.
OUR BENEFITS PACKAGE
1. 33 days holiday (including bank holiday entitlement), plus Length of Service increases.
2. Day off for your birthday.
3. Health Cash Plan.
4. Generous staff discount.
5. Enhanced Maternity Pay.
6. Employee Assistance Programme.
7. Eligibility for a discretionary company Bonus Scheme.
8. Plus a suite of additional employee benefits including Company pension scheme, life assurance cover, free eye tests, cycle to work scheme, interest-free travel loans, social events, online wellbeing centre and more.
If successful you will become part of the OKA family, a fast-paced and dynamic business. If you would like to apply for this position, please send your CV and details of your salary expectations, notice period and right to work information via the link provided.
#J-18808-Ljbffr