Logistics Operations Manager

About Zespri

Zespri is the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit with over 800 people in New Zealand and throughout Asia, Europe and the Americas.

We help people, communities and the environment thrive through the goodness of kiwifruit. We sit at the heart of an interconnected industry working with 2,800 growers in New Zealand and 1,500 growers in Italy, France, Greece, South Korea and Japan. We supply the world’s healthiest little superfruits to people in more than 50 countries. We are fruit on a mission.

Our values are at the heart of everything we do. We commit to guardianship; putting people, the community, and the environment first. We are results-driven, challenging ourselves to grow and deliver better value. We cultivate personal connections, listening and acting with empathy and humility – and treating each other better for it.

We are growing quickly, driven by our success in engaging more and more consumers and by offering the world’s best kiwifruit 12 months of the year. We have bold ambitions and aim to grow sales from approximately $3 billion in 2018 to $4.5 billion by 2025.

To achieve our goals, we’re empowering our people to achieve their goals, designing our work for wellbeing, through flexible work practices and self-leadership.

We have bold ambitions for the future and we want all of our people to live and perform at their best.

About The Role

The Operations Logistics Manager leads the team and operational activities of the Zespri 3PL (Third Party Logistics) hubs within Europe.

Reporting to the Head of Supply Chain, Europe the role leads the three hubs in Zeebrugge, Tarragona and Vado (with potentially more to come) to ensure that the cool store and production operations in the hub runs consistently, transparently and efficiently. Ultimately the Operations Logistics Manager strives to ensure the Zespri European Supply Chain is best in class and seamlessly moves our kiwifruit to our customers and consumers at the right quality and cost.

Accountabilities

Lead the Zespri Europe Operations & Logistics team

• Lead the Zespri Europe Operations & Logistics team acting as a guardian of the vision and mission of the team. Leading and coaching a team of 7
• Be a positive mentor and role model for the team, to ensure that they are empowered to performs their duties and to provide an agile, resilient and effective supply chain, ultimately delivering quality NZ and EU fruit to our customers and consumers at the right operational costs.
• Build a sustainable, embedded health and safety culture across the European hubs.
• Responsible for building a strong collaborative relationship with our 3PL partners in such a way that it drives continuous improvement and ensure the activities executed by our 3rd party logistic partners in our European hubs are performed as per agreed specifications & service levels and in the best interest of Zespri.
• Manage and oversee the operational costs of all European hubs to ensure effective operational cost management, delivering the right cost of quality to Zespri’s consumers.
• Drive fruit optimization in collaboration with the Fruit Optimization Inventory Manager. This is ultimately measured through the operational cost, fruit loss and fruit quality claims
• Manage and coach the Quality Lead to ensure quality sits at the heart of the teams decision making.
• Manage and coach the Production Lead to ensure the Zeebrugge packhouse maintains and improves the agreed service levels and in the most effective way balancing sales, customer requirements and cost.
• Drive performance management, route cause analysis and continuous improvement.
• Provide monthly structured reporting, that ultimately drives informed and proactive decision making.
• In partnership with the Procurement Manager drive the Procurement Sourcing Process for the European hubs.
• Lead the supplier relationship management meetings with Zespri’s 3PL partners.

Play a senior leadership role within the European Supply Chain team

• Provide leadership and positively influence, including making decisions, relating to the operational, strategic and people aspects of the Operations & Logistics team.
• Contribute openly as a member of the European Supply Chain team, and provide support at a Senior Level to the Head of Supply Chain, Europe for operational, strategic and people related matters through engagement, decision making, and communication.
• Be a driver of continuous improvement and Best Practices across the Zespri Europe 3PL hubs, as applicable.
• Grow, develop, and empower the Operations & Logistics team, ensuring that foundational Industry knowledge is cemented in the team while also providing a culture of challenging the norm and seeking new and better ways of working.
• Responsible for people management aspects including performance management/reviews, coaching, development, fair allocation of work, leave management, delegation, establishing team communication process, recruitment etc.
• Lead by example and create a sense of team/develop a team culture that is aligned with the “way we work behaviours” and will contribute positively to the wider Supply Chain Team.

Qualifications & Experience

• Master’s degree in Supply Chain/Logistics, Business Management, Finance.
• Minimum 10 years of experience within the Supply Chain environment with experience managing diverse teams and achieving outstanding results.
• Excellent leadership skills, with previous experience leading a diverse team of experts and operators.
• Proven experience managing warehouse operations and working in a production environment.
• Proven experience in Stakeholder Management.
• Good Supply Chain financial acumen (able to track trends, see opportunities and think in terms of added value).
• Sound analytical skills coupled with good judgment and decision-making.
• Strong process management and a continuous improvement mindset.
• Experience or a qualification in Lean Six Sigma.
• Sound knowledge of end-to-end supply chain systems.
• Excellent in oral and written English and preferable Dutch.
• Excellent presentation skills and interpersonal skills.

What’s In It For You

• Competitive overall remuneration package, including a Short-Term Incentive scheme opportunity.
• FlexWELL flexible work ethos
• Additional paid annual leave day per year (Zespri Day).
• Additional paid volunteer day to volunteer within your community (Volunteer Time).
• Global Life and Permanent Disability Insurance.
• Group Medical Insurance benefits.

Agency

Zespri will not accept applications or contact from any temporary staffing agency, placement service or professional recruiter for this vacancy (“Agency”).

Where Zespri requires the support of an agency to fulfil a vacancy, we will proactively seek this support from our network of Agencies. We respectfully ask that you do not contact Zespri or any of its affiliates/employees regarding vacancies, and reserve the right not to reply.

Zespri will not be responsible for, and will not pay, any fees, commissions or other payments related to such unsolicited resumes.