Hovis Bakeries
Despatch Manager
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About Us
Welcome to Hovis. We are the proud guardians of over 130 years of baking experience that make up our iconic and much-loved brand. We produce bread and bakery products created with Hovis goodness at the heart of each. We deliver around 1.3 million loaves, every day of the week throughout the UK and Ireland, where we also make Mothers Pride and Ormo products.
We are 2,800 people working within 8 bakeries, 1 flour mill, and 2 regional distribution centres across the UK. Our success is a result of the hard work of our people; they are experts in their field whether it’s baking, manufacturing, logistics, engineering, or the many departments within the central functions team based in our head office in High Wycombe. We are a values-led business and expect our colleagues to live, breathe, and embed Quality, Accountability, and Trust into their ways of working.
Purpose
You will safely lead, motivate and develop the Despatch team to ensure that customers are delivered a quality product on time and in full. You will build and maintain effective working relationships with transport, scheduling, manufacturing, customer services, maintenance, 3rd party suppliers and sister sites to ensure optimum efficiency at your site.
Key Accountabilities & Responsibilities
- Drive a safety culture by improving and maintaining a safe working environment, ensuring all team members are aware and complying with Health and Safety standards, legal and company requirements.
- Effective leadership, development and motivation of the Despatch team to ensure all despatch KPI’s are met and/or exceeded.
- Ensuring all dispatched goods meet customer expectations and quality standards and comply with internal and external audits.
- Ensuring that all information gained from the WMS system is analysed and utilised by the Despatch Management team to make informed decisions on productivity, stock control, product flow, resource allocation, planning and scheduling and people management.
- Continually reviewing practices within the despatch team, and involving the team to identify and implement any required changes to deliver cost savings and service improvements.
- Identify, drive and deliver site/regional PDP’s.
- Build and develop effective relationships with the management team on site to ensure cross functional working and with the wider AMB Despatch teams to ensure best practice is shared and the optimal performance of the function.
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Essential Criteria
- Proven experience managing a despatch, warehouse, or logistics operation preferably within a FMCG environment.
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to inspire and develop teams.
- Excellent organisational and planning abilities.
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
- Experience using warehouse management systems.
- Analytical skills with the ability to prepare & present reports to the senior management team.
Competencies, Skills and Behaviours
- A team player with excellent leadership skills.
- A quick thinker, capable of making logical decisions and operating effectively in a fast paced environment.
- Results and customer focused with drive, resilience and energy.
- An open, honest and confident communicator.
- Demonstrates a wider business understanding.
Key Leadership Competencies
- Customer Focus
- Drive for results
- Inspirational Leadership
- Leading Change
- Building Capability
- KPI’s
- Leadership and development of the transport team to meet the agreed customer service standards.
- To ensure all KPI’s relating to the transport team are met.
- To ensure that the site transport budget is met periodically and annually in terms of fuel usage, driver costs, schedule adherence, on time deliveries, vehicle damage, sales expenses.
- Health and safety and Legal compliance – ensuring the transport team meet all H&S standards, legal and audit requirements.
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Why Work For Us And Our Benefits
At Hovis Bakeries, we understand the importance of looking after our colleagues, so we provide a variety of benefits in addition to their salaries. The benefits we provide are as varied as the people who receive them but they are offered with the intention of creating value to them personally over and above their salaries.
There is a range of colleague benefits available, which individuals can select based on their needs.
Our benefits scheme is called Hovis Choice, which offers a variety of savings and cashback offers on day to day living and much more including eyecare vouchers, and a healthcare scheme to suit everyone. It also includes our Cycle to Work scheme where you can obtain a brand new bike at a significant saving.
We offer enhanced annual leave and maternity/paternity leave, and flexibility where possible in order to create a healthy work-life balance.
We celebrate loyalty with our generous long service and colleague recognition schemes.
Hovis values diversity and is committed to promoting equal opportunities in the workplace. Every job applicant, employee or worker will be treated fairly and equally with dignity and respect regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, social class, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religious belief, union membership, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic.
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