Supply Chain Assistant
Finnmark Sauna
Department: Supply Chain (Purchasing / Logistics / Stock Control)
Reports To: Supply Chain Manager
Location: Full-Time, On-Site – Spennymoor, Durham
Salary: £30,000
Role Overview
The Supply Chain Assistant makes sure stock gets from our suppliers to our warehouse and out to customers on time. Most of what we sell is manufactured in Finland, Estonia and elsewhere in Northern Europe and as such the job is mainly dealing with purchase orders, freight bookings, import paperwork and stock control.
The role is hands-on and involves a lot of detail. You will handle the day-to-day purchasing and inbound shipments and support the Supply Chain Manager on planning and supplier performance. You need to be organised, able to keep track of a lot of open orders at once, and willing to chase suppliers and carriers for firm answers. The role can develop into buying or demand planning as the business grows.
Key Responsibilities (Purchase Orders & Supplier Coordination)
- Raise, issue and track purchase orders with European manufacturers and UK suppliers.
- Chase order confirmations, production slots and dispatch dates, and escalate delays early.
- Maintain accurate supplier records, including lead times, minimum order quantities, pricing, and pallet and packaging specifications.
- Support the Supply Chain Manager and Trading Manager on supplier pricing reviews, cost comparisons and order consolidation.
- Keep product and specification changes documented and communicated to the sales teams, the technical department, marketing and e-commerce.
Inbound Logistics & Freight
- Book and track inbound shipments, from single pallets to full loads.
- Liaise with freight forwarders, hauliers and suppliers on collection and delivery windows.
- Reconcile freight and duty invoices against quotations and query discrepancies.
- Track landed cost per unit and report it for pricing decisions.
- Coordinate with the warehouse team so inbound deliveries are expected, resourced and booked in correctly.
Import Compliance & Customs
- Prepare and check import documentation, including commercial invoices, packing lists and certificates of origin.
- Apply and check HS commodity codes on UK and EU declarations, and flag possible misclassifications.
- Keep classification records consistent so the same product is always declared the same way.
- Keep up to date with import requirements affecting our product categories, particularly timber and electrical goods.
Stock Control & Inventory Accuracy
- Maintain accurate stock levels across the combined retail and trade warehouse.
- Investigate and resolve stock discrepancies with the warehouse team, and identify the causes.
- Support stock takes and help improve how goods-in is recorded.
- Manage stock allocation between the retail channel, the trade channel and bespoke installation projects.
Demand Planning & Forecasting
- Use Shopify and trade sales history to build and refine reorder recommendations.
- Produce weekly reporting on stock cover, slow-moving lines and stock-out risk.
- Report on understocked best sellers and on stock held in lines that are not selling.
- Support seasonal planning so stock is in place ahead of demand.
Cross-Department Collaboration
- Act as the link between purchasing and the rest of the business, including:
◦ Warehouse & Stock.
◦ Logistics & Delivery.
◦ Sales, Trade & Projects.
◦ Customer Success & Technical Support.
◦ E-Commerce & Marketing.
- Provide the sales and customer service teams with accurate, current lead times to quote from.
- Support the trade channel with stock availability, allocation and delivery scheduling.
- Flag inbound delays to the relevant teams as soon as they are known.
Reporting & Performance Tracking
- Produce weekly and monthly reporting for managers and board meetings on:
◦ Stock position, cover and stock-out risk.
◦ Inbound order status and supplier on-time performance.
◦ Landed cost movement and freight spend.
◦ Supplier quality issues, shortages and damages by supplier.
- Use the reporting to inform purchasing decisions and identify recurring problems.
Systems & Data Management
- Maintain accurate, consistent product and stock data across our systems.
- Keep purchasing costs accurate within our supply chain systems.
- Help implement and improve purchasing, stock and reporting tools.
- Keep supplier and product documentation organised and accessible to the wider team.
- Document purchasing and inbound processes and keep the documentation current.
Hands-On Support
- Support the resolution of damaged, missing or incorrect deliveries, including claims against carriers and suppliers.
- Assist with warranty and spare part replacements where these require a supplier order.
- Assist with delivery coordination for large items during busy periods.
- Support the warehouse and customer service teams on stock and inbound queries.
What We're Looking For
You will be handling a large number of orders at any one time, each at a different stage with a different supplier, and you will be the person the sales and customer service teams come to when they need a delivery date. We are looking for someone who follows up without being reminded, checks paperwork properly before it goes out, and tells us early when an order is going to be late. Experience of dealing with suppliers and import documentation directly matters more to us here than time served in a warehouse or stock room.
Essential Experience & Skills
- 1–3 years' experience in a supply chain, purchasing, logistics, import or stock control role.
- Strong Excel skills, including lookups, pivot tables and multi-tab workbooks.
- Experience raising and chasing purchase orders and managing supplier communication end to end.
- Experience of inbound freight, including booking shipments and dealing with forwarders or hauliers.
- High attention to detail with numbers, dates and documentation, and the discipline to check your own work.
- Strong written and verbal communication, including with overseas suppliers where English is a second language.
- Ability to manage multiple open orders and deadlines at the same time.
- Confident chasing and escalating when dates slip or paperwork is incorrect.
- Data-literate, and comfortable using stock cover, lead times and sales history to inform recommendations.
- Ability to work cross-functionally with warehouse, logistics, sales and customer service teams.
Desirable Experience & Skills
- Experience with UK imports, including customs declarations, commodity codes, duty and VAT.
- Experience dealing directly with overseas manufacturers, particularly in Europe.
- Familiarity with Shopify, or with any ERP, stock or inventory management system (CCP is our current stock system).
- Experience of supplying both retail and trade/wholesale channels.
- Experience with bulky, high-value or specialist-delivery goods.
- A second European language, particularly German, Finnish or Estonian.
- Exposure to landed cost analysis or pricing work.
- Experience using AI or automation tools to reduce manual admin.
Benefits
- Work with an industry-leading luxury sauna provider, experiencing consistent year-over-year growth.
- Continuous training and coaching opportunities.
- Join a skilled, energetic, and dedicated team.
- 28 days of annual leave, including public and bank holidays.
- Option to purchase up to 10 additional holiday days via salary sacrifice.
- Free on-site parking.
- Company pension.
How to Apply
To apply, please send your CV and a short cover letter via Indeed. Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to all candidates. Please ensure you meet the essential experience requirements before applying, as applications without relevant experience will not be considered and will not hear back from us.
Application Question
- You acknowledge this is a full-time office-based role at our HQ in Spennymoor, Durham.
Work Location: In person
Art der Stelle: Vollzeit
Gehalt: £30.000,00 pro Jahr
Arbeitsort: Vor Ort
