DC Strategy Manager

Takealot.com, a leading South African online retailer, is looking for a highly talented DC Development Strategy Manager to join our team in Cape Town.

We are a young, dynamic, hyper growth company looking for smart, young, creative, hardworking people to join our team. We offer market related benefits, a great work environment and a promise that you won't be bored if you are prepared for a challenge and want to build something great.

The position reports to the Manager: Strategy & Automation

Your responsibilities will include:

• Partnering with senior leadership to define and drive the tactical- and long-term supply chain strategy to support Takealot Group's business growth.
• Project managing key strategy and optimization initiatives from inception to execution through effective collaboration across teams and divisions.
• Supporting the supply chain department in delivering medium to long term budgeted productivity improvements through engineering and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Assisting with Distribution Centre design and detailing building specifications to suit operational needs.
• Developing and maintaining blueprint designs for Distribution Centre infrastructure and processes according to business and operational requirements.
• Collaborate across the broader organization to prepare financial reviews and budgets.
• Interpret and communicate insights from analyses and feasibility modelling to guide decision-making that allow step change improvements.
• Tracking market developments and benchmarking best practices to identify opportunities and risks.
• Business case creation & simulation: Building & evaluating business cases and ROI estimates for new initiatives.
• Understand material handling solution (conveyors, AMRs and Sorters), have the ability to do assessment identify bottleneck and scope optimal throughput for those solutions.
• Providing direction and purpose for and driving change management activities.
• Provide ongoing thought support to senior leadership.
• Negotiating and drafting contracts.

Skills required:

• Excellent problem-solving skills
• Understanding of Distribution Centre purpose, function, and operations at a detail level
• Respond to changing market conditions and the macro landscape (i.e. changing situations)
• Works well under pressure
• Innovative and Logical thinker
• Strong attention to detail with proven ability in analysis
• Good interpersonal skills - works well with others, able to motivate a complex team with diverse skills
• Focused, self-motivated and target driven; determined to succeed
• Self-starter able to initiate new projects
• Strong communication skills
• Strong ability in data analysis
• Excellent project management skills, both planning and document control
• Proven ability to conceptualize, scope and design both operational infrastructure and process solutions
• Contract negotiation and drafting

Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Industrial, Mechanical, Mechatronic) or similar related degree

Preferred

• MBA or Masters in Engineering Management

Work Experience:

• At least 5 years' experience in a project environment in distribution centres / warehousing or similar on a large scale with complex operations
• Minimum of 3+ years of strategy and project management in a consultative role or environment
• Minimum of 5+ years of experience in supply chain or logistics

Preferred:

• Minimum 3+ years in managing people / teams to deliver results
• Minimum 3+ years of working experience in facilities design and involvement in construction management
• Knowledge of and experience in digital and e-commerce strongly preferred

The Environment:

• takealot.com employees are entrepreneurial and dynamic, smart, customer-centric, fun and have the shared ambition of takealot.com being the leading e-commerce company in Africa.
• We have fun, work hard, take ownership, work in teams to create solutions, and are always open to direct feedback/new ideas on where we can improve.
• We are short on ego and high on output.
• We are doers and not only thinkers, it's all in the execution after all.
• We love what we do and what we are creating.

We seek to Employ an Extra Ordinary Mind who:

• is forthright but respectful
• is an expert at doing, who can not only design but also execute
• is analytical, able to use data to make decisions
• is competitive, self-directed and strive to be the BEST (GREAT requires a lot of work and does not only happen during business hours
• is passionate about the potential of e-commerce and delivering a world-class customer experience
• is entrepreneurial, thrives under change and accepts it is a constant and always looks for solutions to do something better and faster
• is able to think about problems from a business perspective using technical and product input
• is curious and challenge the status quo
• is innovative and enjoys iteration
• is collaborative
• will be at the cutting edge of developing new concepts for takealot.com.
• thinks like an owner of the business.
• is SMART, has INTEGRITY and is HARDWORKING

If you meet the above you are an Extraordinary Mind so come and join us!

Takealot is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants from the previously disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities will be given preference.