PICKING MANAGER

Job Purpose

The Picking Manager is responsible for the end-to-end operational, people, and performance management of the picking department within the designated DC. The role includes leading a multidisciplinary team to achieve daily operational KPIs, managing resource planning, and driving continuous improvement within the picking functions. The Picking Manager will be actively involved in day-to-day warehouse operations when required to ensure strong alignment between daily volume demands and operational realities.

Key performance areas

1. Operational Management

 Oversee daily operations within the assigned picking zones and shifting structures.

 Ensure effective planning and execution of all picking and replenishment activities to meet distribution schedules.

 Manage workforce allocation to support volume fluctuations, operational demand, and retail service requirements.

 Monitor and optimise picking, put-away, replenishment, staging, and order consolidation processes.

 Implement and enforce operational SOPs, compliance standards, and warehousing best practices.

2. Performance & KPI Management

 Track, analyse, and report on operational performance KPIs.

 Drive corrective actions to meet or exceed operational targets.

 Ensure shrinkage, stock damage, and pick-face write-offs are controlled and reduced.

3. People Leadership

 Lead, coach, mentor, and develop Supervisors, Team Leaders, and operational floor staff.

 Manage performance, conduct, absenteeism, and labour planning in close collaboration with HR.

 Promote a positive, high-performance culture with strong employee engagement on the floor.

 Oversee training and multiskilling to support operational requirements.

4. Health, Safety, and Compliance

 Ensure the picking department is fully compliant with OHS, food safety, hygiene, and cold-chain requirements where

applicable.

 Maintain audit readiness for internal and external inspections across all picking aisles.

 Drive a safety-first culture specifically regarding Material Handling Equipment (MHE) floor operations.

5. Inventory & Quality Control

 Oversee inventory accuracy, pick slot cycle counts, pick-denial investigations, and root-cause analysis.

 Ensure strict adherence to FIFO/FEFO principles during product selection to protect stock integrity.

 Ensure product quality standards are maintained during the picking, checking, and staging phases.

6. Continuous Improvement

 Identify operational inefficiencies in travel paths, slotting layouts, or workflows and implement improvement

initiatives.

 Optimise processes and resource utilisation across pick-faces in coordination with the CI team.

7. Stakeholder Engagement

 Liaise with Shed Managers, Inbound Managers, Inventory Teams, and Systems Specialists.

 Support change management activities to ensure floor teams successfully adopt optimized process paths.

 Maintain clear communication and alignment across all affected logistics and dispatch stakeholders.