The posting
Company Description
Who are Culina?
Culina is the UK’s leading independent specialist supply chain partner, trusted by some of the nation’s best recognised food, fast-moving consumer goods (FMGC) and retail brands. We're proud to employ over 22,000 colleagues across 100+ locations nationwide, supported by a fleet of more than 5,500 trucks and trailers delivering every day.
We currently have an exciting opportunity in our Chilled & Fresh division – from supplier to shelf, we make fresh supply chains simpler. Our expertise in temperature-controlled logistics ensures products are delivered safely, efficiently and on time, helping customers maximise availability and minimise waste.
Job Description
Life in this role
As part of our, Chilled & Fresh division, we have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Warehouse Operations Manager to lead our Haverhill warehouse operation.
Reporting into the site leadership team, you will be accountable for the safe, efficient and high-performing operation of the warehouse, leading through Shift Managers and First Line Managers. You will drive performance across Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery and People, while building an engaged team and embedding a strong continuous improvement culture.
You will balance day-to-day operational delivery with longer-term improvement, ensuring the warehouse is well prepared for changing customer, volume and resource requirements.
Contract: Permanent, full-time
Working pattern: Monday–Friday, predominantly days, with flexibility to support the operation across all shifts
Hours: 40 contracted hours per week, excluding breaks
Key accountabilities:
Safety
- Champion a proactive health and safety culture, ensuring all activity is carried out safely and in line with legislation and company standards.
- Drive proactive risk management through safety observations, near-miss reporting and colleague engagement in safe working practices.
- Lead incident investigations and ensure robust corrective and preventative actions are completed.
Quality
- Ensure compliance with food safety, legality, quality and site audit requirements, maintaining audit readiness and closing improvement actions within agreed timescales.
- Drive compliance with customer specifications, product integrity standards and internal quality checks.
- Implement and monitor processes that minimise errors, damages and customer complaints.
Cost
- Manage warehouse expenditure, labour budgets and agency requirements within agreed budgets, reviewing variances and implementing corrective action without compromising safety, quality or service.
- Develop labour and resource plans that balance customer service with productivity and cost efficiency.
- Reduce waste across labour, energy, MHE usage and consumables while maintaining service standards.
Delivery
- Lead safe, on-time and in-full warehouse delivery, deploying resources effectively for volume peaks and changing customer demand.
- Deliver internal KPIs and customer SLAs, with clear performance reporting and ownership of corrective actions.
- Maintain stock control and operational discipline, improving stock integrity, pick accuracy, turnaround times and shift handovers.
- Work with the General Manager, site leadership, transport, systems and SHEQ teams to deliver end-to-end operational effectiveness.
- Maintain and test contingency plans for volume surges, labour and skills shortages, and system downtime.
People
- Lead, coach and develop Shift Managers, First Line Managers and colleagues, strengthening leadership capability, succession planning, talent development and retention.
- Build an engaged, accountable and inclusive team with clear priorities, regular communication, recognition and a strong focus on wellbeing and safety.
- Own warehouse headcount and skills planning, aligning recruitment, holiday cover, absence management and training with forecast demand.
- Ensure training matrices remain current and colleagues are competent for their assigned duties.
Continuous Improvement
- Lead improvement initiatives that increase productivity, reduce waste and improve service.
- Translate operational performance into clear, measurable actions using KPI dashboards, structured problem solving and root cause analysis.
- Lead cross-functional lean, automation and digitalisation projects, share best practice and support site growth plans.
Qualifications
What you’ll need
Essential experience and capability
- Significant experience leading a large-scale FMCG, food or temperature-controlled warehouse operation.
- Proven experience leading managers through managers, with accountability for multi-level operational teams.
- Strong knowledge of labour planning, productivity, agency management and warehouse cost control.
- A demonstrable record of delivering safety, quality, service and cost KPIs.
- Experience of audit readiness, food safety compliance and customer service delivery.
- Strong WMS and operational systems capability.
- Evidence of delivering measurable continuous improvement and productivity gains.
- Confident communication, coaching, decision-making, problem-solving and influencing skills.
Desirable
- A recognised Lean or continuous improvement qualification.
- IOSH, NEBOSH or an equivalent health and safety qualification.
- Experience implementing warehouse automation, digital tools or operational technology.
Additional Information
What is in it for you?
If you're looking for a role where you can make an impact, develop your career, and be part of a team that works as one to achieve great results, we'd love to hear from you.
- Company Bonus - we achieve more when we work together, that’s why we celebrate our shared success through our bonus scheme.
- Private Medical Cover - enjoy peace of mind with access to Bupa's healthcare services.
- Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme - our salary sacrifice scheme offers a cost-effective way to drive an electric vehicle, with payments taken directly from your salary. Eligibility and salary thresholds apply.
- Wellbeing Support – your wellbeing matters to us. Through our Employee Assistance Programme, you'll have 24/7 access to confidential counselling and legal support, whenever you need it.
- Eye Care Vouchers – free eye tests and discounts on prescription glasses.
- Reward & Recognition – we love celebrating great work, we recognise those who go above and beyond.
- Everyday Discounts – our benefits platform gives you access to discounts from over 50 leading retailers, helping your money go further every day.
You may have seen that we're on an exciting journey as we bring our businesses closer together and build an even stronger future as one team. As part of this transformation, our businesses have united under a single brand: Culina.
Over time, our well-known legacy brands, including IPS, Stobart, Great Bear, Fowler Welch, Warrens, CML, Stobart Europe, IRF and iForce, will transition to the Culina brand. During this period, you may still see these names displayed at some of our sites.
So, if you've applied for a role with Culina but see one of our legacy brands when you arrive for an interview or site visit, don't worry, you're in exactly the right place.
