Depot Operations Manager

Apetito; Wellingborough; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 33,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Living Wage employer

33 days holiday per year

Discretionary annual bonus

Pension scheme - matched contributions

Life assurance

Free turkey/voucher at Christmas

apetito perks scheme

Job summary

Wiltshire Farm Foods is recruiting a Depot Operations Manager for its Northamptonshire/Nr Wellingborough depot. You will lead the depot alongside the RSOM, directing the office-based Customer Service team and delivery drivers to meet KPI targets and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Responsibilities include safeguarding HSE, stock control, route optimisation, and ensuring adherence to apetito procedures.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership and coaching to improve engagement
• Experience leading depot operations and delivery teams
• Strong administration and stock control skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication abilities
• Ability to understand and translate P&L accounts

Responsibilities

• Manage the driving team and ensure vehicle maintenance is kept up to date
• Enforce Health & Safety, Hygiene and Food Safety procedures at all times
• Maintain adequate resource levels to meet customer demand
• Monitor stock levels and ensure availability for orders
• Work with staff to deliver profitability and service standards
• Deputise for the RSOM in their absence and support route optimisation

Skills

Leadership

People management

Stock control

Administration

Communication

Driving licence

Tools

Navision (eMeal)

Job description

• Location: UK-Northamptonshire-Nr Wellingborough |
• Contract type: Permanent (Full-Time) |

Overview

The Depot Operations Manager works along side the Retail Sales & Operations Manager (RSOM) to deliver an outstanding service to our customers at Wiltshire Farm Foods, Northants/Leicester depot.

You will be responsible for the day to day running of the depot, ensuring we hit all of our financial and operational targets and being proactive through exceptional leadership to build plans for any KPI's that are off track.

With the Depot Operations Supervisor, you will manage the office based Customer Service team and our fleet of delivery drivers to ensure our customers get an exceptional customer experience and all health and safety policies and delivery procedures are adhered to.

40 hours per week, working any 5 in 6 days, including some Saturdays and bank holidays.

Start times will vary, depending on business needs, from 6.00am to 9.00am.

Salary circa £32,000 - £33,000 per annum + Bonus + Benefits

Who we are

Wiltshire Farm Foods, part of the apetito group, is the UK’s largest ready-meal supplier, cooking and delivering over 330 different delicious frozen ready meals across the UK primarily to the elderly, their family members and healthcare professionals.

We're dedicated to making a real difference to our customers' lives, by bringing sunshine to their doors through our commitment to provide good old-fashioned service.

Our intense pride drives us to continuously innovate and improve, ensuring our products and service exceed our customers' needs.

This is all whilst being an ethical and sustainable organisation that believes in doing the right thing.

Responsibilities

Operations

• Managing the driving team and ensuring vehicle maintenanceis kept on top of.
• Ensure Health & Safety, Hygiene and Food Safety procedures & practices are adhered to and followed at all times
• Ensure adequate, cost effective resource levels are in place
• Maintaining stock levels to meet our customer demands
• Work with and support staff on a day-to-day basis to deliver profitability and service standards.
• Ensure all behaviours are in line with apetito’s Code of Conduct
• Maintain excellent operational standards throughout the Contract
• Adherenceto all apetito procedures and deadlines
• Ensure all company vehicles are maintained as appropriate
• Be a key link between the teams onsite
• Deputise for the RSOM in their absence
• Maintaining route optimisation processes included routing
• Responsible for delivery of retail standards within the depot
• From time to time, you will visit our Trowbridge head office and other depots & locations for meetings, training etc which may require overnight stays.

Financials

• Support the RSOM to deliver company and client business objectives
• Agree contract KPIs, monitor performance against KPIs and drive/manage performance and profitability to ensure achievement
• Achieve budgeted sales and profitability, influence key P&L drivers and accurately forecast future financial performance

People

• Demonstrable leadership and coaching/ support provided to employees on a day-to-day basis to increase engagement and motivation
• Recruit, induct, develop, appraise and review contracted employees as appropriate to ensure successful sign-off probationary
• Develop training structures to ensure growth within the depot
• Identify and manage training and development needs of staff

Customer

• Champion and oversee excellent service standards
• Ensure all processes are communicated and followed by all personnel
• Promote and instillbelief in customer service ensuring customer expectations are met and where opportunities arise, exceeded
• Ensure all new literature is delivery by the teamto customers

Communications

• Maintain excellent communications with client employees ensuring quality information is exchanged when appropriate ie feedback from Leadership Conference
• Deliver all client and company administration and reporting requirements
• Abide by client, company and legislative policies and procedures ensuring consistent compliance
• Maintain quality and standards of overall presentation, ensuring adherence to company and agreed contract standards
• Champion Employee Forums – promote attendance/engagement by Employee Representatives
• Create excellent inter-company relationships within departments (ie HR, Finance etc., ) and divisions
• Build and maintain a relationship with the larger team across the UK and Ireland, sharing best practice

About you

Essential:

• Demonstrate passion for customer service and experience delivering a high standard of customer care
• Confident phone skills: manage calls effectively and professionally
• Administration experience
• Experience in stock control
• Excellent communicator, able to engage with people on 1-1 and in teams.
• Able to motivate the team and foster a culture of continuous improvement
• Motivated to achieve, a pro-active approach and “can do” attitude
• Flexible, resilient and calm under pressure
• Confident in people management activities e..g. recruitment, sickness absence, performance management and disciplinary procedures
• Able to understand and translate P&L accounts
• Able to prioritise own workload and meet deadlines
• Computer skills: confident users of all Microsoft Office Suite (Intermediate level or above)
• Full UK driving licence for at least 2 years

Desirable:

• Transport & Logistics background
• eMeal (Navision) knowledge
• Contract Catering experience
• Fleet management experience
• Level 3 Food Hygiene Certificate

You must have held a UK manual driving licence for at least 2 years.

All offers of employment are subject to a Driving Assessment, Driving Licence checks and basic DBS checks.

As this role involves working with elderly and vulnerable customers, it is exempt from The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

The amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020) provides that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’. This means that they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account.

Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website.

This role is not eligible for sponsorship under the skilled worker route as it does not meet the minimumrequirements set out under the UK Immigration Rules.

Company Benefits

• Competitive salary – accredited Living Wage employer
• 33 days holiday per year, including bank holidays (which are considered a normal working day)
• Option to purchase up to 5 additional days holiday per year
• Discretionary annual bonus scheme
• Pension scheme - employer matched contributions up to 4%
• Life assurance scheme worth at least 1x annual salary
• Free turkey or voucher at Christmas
• apetito perks scheme including salary sacrifice options and retail discounts

Our Values

As a family-owned business, we take great pride in being a company that makes a real difference and is dedicated to creating outstanding meals to be proud of.

We develop a range of products designed to enhance health and well-being for all our customers.

We are driven by a passion for service and dedicated to feeding some of the UK’s most vulnerable people.

We proudly support British food and farming, focusing on using the best ethical and sustainable produce in alignment with our goal to reach Net Zero by 2040.

Our ethical standards are recognised by the ETI and we are an accredited Living Wage employer.
Learn more about apetito’s commitment to a more sustainable future .

We embrace inclusion, empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Our commitment to making a real difference extends to customers, communities, and staff and we're on a mission to build an inclusive workplace where everyone reaches their full potential.