National General Manager -Distribution Centres

Pedros Chicken; KwaZulu-Natal; On-site; ZAR 2,000,000 - 3,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Pedros Chicken seeks a National General Manager – Distribution Centres to lead the strategic and operational DC network, ensuring reliable, cost-effective and safe supply to stores. The role drives end-to-end performance in Receiving, Warehouse, Inventory, Production and Logistics across the country.

You will shape the DC network to support growth, store openings and new brand expansion, while managing risk, cost and compliance in a fast-paced food distribution environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in SCM, Logistics, IE, Operations or related field.
• 8–10+ years in DC, logistics or supply chain leadership.
• 5+ years in senior leadership (GM/Head of DC Operations or equivalent).
• Experience managing high-volume multi-disciplinary DC operations.
• Experience in food, perishables, FMCG, retail or QSR distribution.
• Experience leading large operational teams across multiple levels.
• Experience with large operating budgets.
• Experience driving DC growth and major transformation initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead national DC strategy, network design and capacity planning.
• Oversee end-to-end DC operations across Receiving, Warehouse, Inventory, Production, Logistics.
• Manage inbound receiving, supplier delivery and goods-in compliance.
• Optimise warehouse layout, slotting and material flow.
• Ensure production performance, yield and product availability for stores.
• Ensure on-time-in-full delivery to stores and manage 3PLs.
• Maintain food safety, quality, regulatory compliance and HACCP.
• Develop leadership across DC functions and succession planning.
• Drive continuous improvement, automation and data analytics.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Continuous improvement

Lean

Data analytics

WMS

Budget management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in SCM or related field

Job description

The National General Manager – Distribution Centres is accountable for the strategic and operational leadership of the Group's Distribution Centre network, ensuring reliable, cost-effective, safe and scalable supply to the Group's corporate and franchise stores.

The role is accountable for end-to-end DC performance across Receiving, Warehouse, Inventory, Production, Logistics, Transport, Food Safety, Quality and operational capability, ensuring that products and operational supplies flow efficiently from supplier receipt through to delivery to stores.

The National General Manager translates Group growth and operational strategy into an efficient, resilient and scalable Distribution Centre network capable of supporting increased store volumes, new store openings, additional brands, product expansion and future DC development.

Responsibilities :

National DC Strategy, Network & Capacity Planning

• Designing and executing the national distribution strategy supporting Group growth.
• Developing DC network design and capacity plans aligned to current and future demand.
• Evaluating DC capacity, infrastructure and geographic distribution requirements.
• Developing the annual DC operational plan and budget.
• Establishing national DC operating models, systems, standards and governance frameworks.
• Partnering with the Managing Executive and Group leadership on distribution strategy.
• Identifying when existing DC capacity is insufficient and recommending expansion, redesign or additional DC facilities.

End-to-End DC Operations & Functional Performance

• Leading high-performing end-to-end DC operations across Receiving, Production, Warehouse, Inventory and Logistics.
• Overseeing inbound receiving, supplier delivery performance and goods-in compliance.
• Overseeing warehouse storage, layout, slotting and material flow optimisation.
• Ensuring Production performance, capacity, yield, quality and product availability support store requirements.
• Ensuring picking productivity, accuracy and order assembly performance.
• Overseeing dispatch, loading and store delivery readiness.
• Ensuring effective cross-functional flow from Receiving through Production, Warehousing, Picking and Logistics.

Inventory, Stock Integrity & Working Capital

• Protecting stock integrity, availability and working capital efficiency.
• Governing inventory accuracy, cycle counts and stock takes.
• Managing days of cover, stock-outs and shrinkage.
• Managing stock allocation during supply constraints or peak demand.
• Managing expiry, damages and wastage across all SKUs.
• Establishing national inventory governance standards across DCs.
• Monitoring stock integrity across raw materials, production stock, finished goods and warehouse inventory.

Logistics, Transport & Store Delivery

• Ensuring reliable and cost-effective delivery to stores.
• Managing fleet performance, route optimisation and transport cost control.
• Ensuring On-Time-In-Full delivery performance to stores.
• Managing third-party logistics partners and service-level agreements.
• Maintaining cold-chain integrity from DC to store.
• Supporting logistics capacity planning for continued store-network growth.

Food Safety, Quality, Compliance & Risk

• Ensuring DC operations meet required food safety, quality and regulatory standards.
• Maintaining HACCP and applicable food safety compliance.
• Overseeing Health & Safety and environmental compliance across DC operations.
• Managing DC audits, regulatory inspections and corrective-action plans.
• Partnering with Technical and Quality Assurance on supplier and DC quality matters.
• Ensuring Production, Receiving, Warehouse and Logistics functions maintain continuous audit readiness.
• Establishing effective national risk identification and escalation processes for supply, operational, food safety and compliance risks.

People Leadership & National DC Capability

• Building a high-performance national DC leadership structure.
• Leading and developing senior DC leadership and management teams.
• Building DC management capability, training and succession planning.
• Driving performance management and accountability across DC operations.
• Ensuring leadership capability is developed across Receiving, Production, Warehouse, Inventory and Logistics.
• Establishing succession pipelines for critical DC leadership positions.

Continuous Improvement, Technology & Innovation

• Modernising DC technology, automation and data-driven operations.
• Optimising WMS and developing the DC technology roadmap.
• Driving process automation, Lean and continuous improvement.
• Developing DC analytics, productivity reporting and management dashboards.
• Supporting Production automation, mechanisation and technology initiatives.
• Driving yield improvement, waste reduction and improved utilisation of operational resources.
• Identifying scalable solutions that reduce manual dependency and improve consistency across the DC network.

Requirements :

• Bachelor's Degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Industrial Engineering, Operations Management or a related field.
• Minimum 8–10 years of progressive experience in Distribution Centre, logistics or supply chain leadership.
• Minimum 5 years in a senior leadership position such as General Manager, Head of Distribution, Head of DC Operations or equivalent.
• Experience managing high-volume, multi-disciplinary DC operations.
• Experience within food, perishables, FMCG, retail or QSR distribution.
• Experience managing large operational workforces through multiple management levels.
• Experience managing significant operating budgets.
• Experience managing DC growth, transformation or major operational improvement initiatives.