Inventory Manager

Metro Inc.; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 62,000 - 86,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible schedule

Hybrid telecommuting

Group insurance from day one

Competitive pension plan

Generous holiday policy

Personal days

Employee Assistance Program

Free parking

Professional development

Job summary

METRO is seeking an Inventory Manager in Toronto to oversee grocery replenishment for multiple banners. The role manages inventory valued around $280,000,000 annually and ensures service levels and inventory turns across several distribution centres.

The incumbent will forecast demand, issue purchase orders, monitor stock, and collaborate with vendors to optimize logistics and costs. A strong background in SAP and Power BI is preferred, with 1–3 years in grocery retail.

Qualifications

• Post Secondary Education, preferably specializing in Supply Chain.
• 1-3 years of grocery retail experience or grocery replenishment experience.
• Strong time management and organizational skills.
• Ability to respond quickly to unplanned events and adjust plans.

Responsibilities

• Forecast product requirements using system recommendations and stock on hand.
• Construct orders to maximize distribution-centre efficiency and supplier allowances.
• Monitor inventory levels and movements in SAP and other systems.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Vendor relations

Forecasting

Inventory optimization

Education

Post-secondary education in Supply Chain

Tools

SAP

Excel

Power BI

Outlook

Job description

Position Title

Inventory Manager

Job Requisition ID

50372

Banner

Metro

Employment Type

Permanent

The typical salary range for this position is $62 400.00 - $85 800.00 annually. The base salary offered will be determined based on the candidate’s job-related knowledge, skills, education, experience, and internal equity considerations.

This posting is for an existing permanent full-time vacancy.

Joining our team has its advantages!

• Flexible schedule to promote work/life balance
• Telecommuting in hybrid mode
• Group insurance from the first day
• Very competitive pension plan
• Generous holiday policy
• Personal days
• Employee Assistance Program
• Free parking
• Opportunity for professional development

Summary

The Inventory Manager controls the Grocery replenishment function for all banners for a selected group of vendors and is responsible for managing inventory valued at an average of $280,000,000 annually. The incumbent is accountable for meeting service level and inventory turn objectives in multiple distribution centres. The incumbent is responsible for managing a large portfolio of products through multiple week timelines to satisfy the needs of several diverse merchandising programs and must have the ability to control inventory and maintain an acceptable service level to the stores in multiple distribution centres.

Specific Responsibilities

• Analyzes and forecasts product requirements using system recommendations, promotions, and stock on hand.
• Constructs orders to maximize the Distribution Centre efficiency and supplier distribution allowances (for full truck, full pallet, full layer).
• Ensures all data management pertaining to forecasts, product and vendor attributes are maintained
• Monitors inventory levels and inventory movement using system or manual inventory tracking and anticipates or reacts to shortages and overstocks immediately.
• Analyzes warehouse in-stock to determine actions needed to improve in-stock levels
• Anticipates and reacts to emergency product shortages with vendors and Distribution Centres
• Schedules product deliveries into the Distribution Centre with vendor and Distribution Centre personnel.
• Expedites orders to ensure that product is received when it is scheduled.
• Analyzes data to anticipate future needs
• Tracks promotions by analyzing customer information and formulates recommendation to improve processes for the next activity
• Maintains ordering criteria such as consumption, MRP and forecast profiles, supplier lead times, rounding profiles, etc. in SAP
• Identifies product overstocks to Category Managers and jointly develops plans to eliminate.
• Works with vendors to continually improve the logistics process in order to reduce distribution costs and/or inventory levels.
• Investigates inventory management incidents in order to verify and resolve complaints
• Identifies issues and maximizes data availability (SAP/EXE/Witron/BW) to make recommendations that will benefit both our internal and external customers
• Works with Distribution, Transportation and Vendors to co-ordinate flow of goods through the network

Qualifications

• Post Secondary Education, preferably specializing in Supply Chain
• 1-3 years of grocery retail experience or grocery replenishment experience
• Superior time management, priority management and organizational skills
• Possess a great sense of urgency
• Ability to think and respond quickly, and adjust schedules and operating plans in response to unplanned events
• Attention to detail
• High stress tolerance
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Self motivated
• Ability to build strong vendor partnerships and drive high order fill rates through effective collaboration and strategic communication, ensuring on-time delivery
• Merchandising and/or food store experience is an asset
• Knowledge of SAP an asset
• Excellent computer skills in Excel, Word, Outlook
• Power BI experience is an asset

Complexities

The Grocery Replenishment Department is under significant pressure to perform and meet expectations in an extremely stressful environment. Managing a large buying portfolio is very demanding. The use of tools offered in the system to effectively manage the workload within required timelines is necessary to ensure all daily processes have been completed. This role requires the incumbent to have a superior ability to plan, organize, direct, manage, and evaluate inventory and implement the inventory management policies of the organization. Job functions must be completed within an often hectic and ever-changing complex environment. Task completion in a timely fashion is imperative despite numerous interruptions caused by phone and/or other inquiries. The Inventory Manager must scrutinize information received from Merchandising on a daily basis. Promotional history used for forecasting in SAP is corrupt in many instances and as a result Inventory Managers must use their overall knowledge of the products and portfolio to manually devise a forecast outside of the automated system capabilities. The job requires a superior ability to manage a large portfolio of products in multiple distribution centres through multiple week timelines to satisfy the needs of multiple diverse merchandising programs.

Relationships

Provides results to and receives direction from Grocery Replenishment Specialist, Senior Inventory Manager and Director. Communicates verbally and through correspondence on a regular basis with Category Management, Merchandising, Distribution Centre, Store Services and Private Brands personnel across all banners. Communicates verbally and through correspondence on a regular basis with vendors.

The responsibilities and relationships assigned to this role may change as is necessary to achieve Metro's business objectives.

Disclosure on Use of Artifical Intelligence in Recruitment

At METRO, we are commited to transparency and fairness in our hiring practices. In compliance with Ontario's Employment Standards Act (Bill 149), we disclose that METRO and certain third-party job boards we use incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) technology to assist in screening, assessing, or selecting applicants for positions. The use of AI helps us efficiently review the large volume of applications we receive, ensuring that every candidate’s profile is considered promptly and consistently. This technology supports our goal of providing an equitable and streamlined recruitment experience for all applicants. While AI tools support our recruitment procedures, all decisions throughout the process are made exclusively by METRO's Talent Acquisition team or METRO employees. At no stage does AI determine recruitment outcomes.

METRO is committed to providing an inclusive work environment that reflects the communities we serve. The company values, respects and relies on the diversity of backgrounds, experiences, and points of view because it allows us to innovate, make better decisions and better understand our customers. We will consider qualified applications from all walks of life to build the best team.

We encourage you to let us know if your current condition requires accommodation in the recruitment process so that we can accommodate you.

Please note that we will only contact those whose applications are selected.

We respectfully request that agencies do not contact us or send us unsolicited applications.