Introduction
Sauce Shop doesn't do average. We make seriously good sauces — the kind people rave about, hoard, and refuse to share. Now we need someone to run the show on the fulfilment floor and make sure every single bottle goes out the door exactly as good as we made it.
This isn't a job for clock-watchers. We want a maverick — someone who leads from the floor, fixes problems before they're problems, and treats "good enough" like a dirty word. You'll fit right in if you believe in doing things properly, backing your team, and never settling for mediocre.
Come build something with us. Come make sauce history.
You will own end-to-end delivery of Sauce Shop's fulfilment operation: lead the phased migration from our current setup through to a fully live, sole fulfilment site with a new logistics partner, then run it day to day.
In the first phase, that means planning and executing three cutover stages (mixed pallet wholesale, then Shopify wholesale, then the D2C store) alongside a project manager, without disrupting existing orders. Ensure the systems and processes are in place that need to operate at our standard. Build a team, blending our new logistics partner's permanent, flexed and temp staff, capable of hitting our KPIs from day one.
Once live, the role shifts to steady-state ownership: running a fragile, high-mix pick and pack operation to a zero-error bar, managing cost and headcount against demand as volume moves through peaks and troughs. Acting as Sauce Shop's main point of contact and quality control on a site we don't own or directly staff. Success looks like a smooth, on-schedule migration, KPIs hit consistently once live, and a genuinely productive working relationship with our new partner's site management.
Development opportunities include widening the scope of the role into full ownership of contract commercially, moving from tracking spend against the agreed model to actually negotiating it, taking a lead role in future rate reviews, contract renewals, and any renegotiation with logistics partners as volume and their D2C capability mature.
Whilst the main Sauce Shop factory is located in Nottingham, the role will be based on our logistics partner site based in Coalville, therefore daily travel to the site is required with instances of a requirement to visit the Nottingham site
Key Tasks
· Migration and setup: plan and run the cutover for each stage (mixed pallet wholesale, then Shopify wholesale, then the D2C store); sign off the logistics partner fit-out against spec; adapt Sauce Shop's SOPs for the new site and train logistics partner staff on them before each stage goes live; test and sign off systems integrations (Shopify, Supply Lens, shipping/label printing, pick-and-pack scanning) ahead of each cutover.
· Daily operations: oversee pick, pack and dispatch to hit cut-off times; manage stock accuracy and investigate discrepancies; handle exceptions (damaged stock, mis-picks, late carrier collections); walk the floor daily to check standards, particularly fragile glass handling.
· People and staffing: forecast daily/weekly headcount against order volume and place requests with logstics partner for flex or temp staff; manage and develop the Deputy Fulfilment Manager, building them up to run the site solo; oversee the permanent Sauceshop-account operatives; escalate any staffing shortfalls early enough to avoid missed dispatches.
· Commercial and reporting: track spend weekly against the agreed cost model (open-book hours and rent, or unit rate) and flag variances; reconcile flex/temp staff hours billed by logistics partner; report KPIs (pick accuracy, on-time dispatch, cost per order) weekly to the Ops Director; join monthly reviews with logistics partner management.
· Relationship management: act as the day-to-day point of contact with logistics partner's site management; escalate operational or commercial issues promptly rather than letting them sit; maintain the working relationship that the whole model depends on.
· Compliance and risk: own health & safety for Sauceshop's operation on site; own stock security and loss prevention; keep the SOP library current as processes change.
Skills and Knowledge
Knowledge
Understand how a pick, pack and dispatch operation runs day to day, including inventory accuracy and exception handling; WMS and barcode/scanning systems; health & safety and manual handling standards, particularly for fragile glass product; how e-commerce and wholesale order flows; KPI and SLA frameworks.
Skills
Demonstrable people management skills, covering both directly employed staff and third-party flexed/temp labour; stakeholder management.
Writing and delivering SOP training that sticks; calm, methodical problem-solving under pressure when exceptions hit; numerical and analytical skills for tracking cost, KPIs and headcount forecasting; clear reporting, both upward and sideways.
Must be computer literate and familiar with logistics related systems
Experience
In depth experience of running or managing a warehouse, fulfilment or operations function, ideally in a fast-moving consumer goods or e-commerce environment; managing labour through peak and trough demand, including flexed or temporary staff; handling fragile or high-mix product where error rates matter; involvement in systems integration or testing (WMS, e-commerce platforms, shipping/label printing) is a plus; line management experience, having managed at least one direct report, given the deputy relationship built into this role.
Pay: £40,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Bereavement leave
- Casual dress
- Company events
- Company pension
- Employee discount
- Employee mentoring programme
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
- Store discount
Experience:
- Order fulfilment: 3 years (required)
- Warehouse management: 3 years (required)
Licence/Certification:
- driving licence and have access to your own transport (required)
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
