Employment Type: Full-time
Working Hours: Approximately 11:00 to 23:00, six days per week. Hours may vary depending on operational requirements. Overtime, weekend work and public-holiday work may be required.
Job Summary
Fresh Bake is looking for a strong, disciplined and hands-on Dispatch & Distribution Manager to take full operational control of our dispatch department.
This is not a desk-based management position. The successful candidate must be present on the dispatch floor, actively managing staff, stock, drivers, orders, loading, crates, damages and system transactions.
The role requires someone who can work long and demanding hours, remain focused under pressure and hold employees accountable. You will be responsible for making sure that the correct stock leaves the bakery, the correct quantities are loaded, drivers depart on time, stock records remain accurate and operational problems are resolved before they affect customers.
We are not looking for a passive supervisor who merely observes problems and reports them afterwards. We need a manager who takes ownership, investigates discrepancies and drives the operation until the work is completed properly.
The original offer letter places particular emphasis on daily stock control, ERP accuracy, FIFO, crate accountability, driver management, same-day dispatch, damaged-product handling and maintaining an organised dispatch area.
Key Responsibilities
1. Dispatch Operations
- Take full responsibility for the daily operation of the dispatch department.
- Plan, coordinate and supervise the picking, sorting, counting, staging and loading of customer orders.
- Make sure all outgoing orders are prepared accurately and dispatched within the required deadlines.
- Drive same-day order fulfilment wherever operationally possible.
- Confirm that the correct products, quantities and delivery documentation are allocated to each route.
- Prevent incorrect products, shortages, overages or damaged products from being loaded.
- Ensure delivery vehicles leave on schedule and avoid unnecessary dispatch delays.
- Monitor outstanding orders and take immediate corrective action where orders are falling behind.
- Coordinate closely with production, slicing, sales, administration and transport teams.
- Conduct final dispatch checks before vehicles leave the premises.
- Maintain clear shift handovers and ensure unresolved matters are formally communicated.
2. Stock Control and Inventory Accuracy
- Take full accountability for stock held within all dispatch-related locations.
- Accurately count and record stock moving between production, dispatch, route, damage, return and other internal locations.
- Conduct and supervise daily stock counts and scheduled full stock takes.
- Compare physical stock against ERP system balances and investigate every material variance.
- Identify the root cause of shortages, overages, incorrect transfers and unrecorded stock movements.
- Prepare written discrepancy reports showing the cause, responsible process and corrective action taken.
- Ensure no stock is moved without the required physical and ERP documentation.
- Maintain accurate records of stock issued to drivers and stock returned by drivers.
- Control stock adjustments and prevent unauthorised changes.
- Enforce FIFO stock rotation to maintain product freshness and reduce waste.
- Identify slow-moving, ageing or at-risk stock and escalate it before it becomes unsellable.
- Monitor stock losses, damages, shortages and returns against agreed operational targets.
3. ERP and Administrative Control
- Become fully competent in the company’s ERP system.
- Ensure stock transfers, route allocations, dispatch movements, returns and damages are processed correctly and on time.
- Match physical movements to system movements throughout the shift.
- Prevent transactions from being postponed until the following day.
- Review open, incomplete or incorrect ERP transactions before the shift ends.
- Produce daily dispatch, stock-variance, damage, return and crate-control reports.
- Maintain accurate supporting records for internal audits and management review.
- Train relevant dispatch employees to use the ERP system correctly.
- Escalate recurring system or process failures to management.
4. Driver and Route Management
- Manage drivers and dispatch assistants firmly and professionally.
- Allocate drivers and vehicles according to route requirements and operational priorities.
- Confirm that drivers receive the correct orders, paperwork, crates and route instructions.
- Ensure drivers understand their delivery responsibilities before departure.
- Monitor driver readiness, punctuality and adherence to departure deadlines.
- Coordinate replacement or spare drivers when employees are absent or unavailable.
- Manage route changes, urgent deliveries and operational disruptions.
- Review returned stock, damaged stock, rejected deliveries and customer discrepancies when vehicles return.
- Hold drivers accountable for unexplained shortages, excess stock, missing crates and incomplete documentation.
- Escalate misconduct, repeated errors or poor performance through the appropriate disciplinary process.
- Support investigations involving delivery disputes, shortages or customer complaints.
5. Crate and Equipment Control
- Implement and maintain a reliable crate-accountability system.
- Record crates issued to and returned by each vehicle, route, driver and customer where applicable.
- Investigate missing, damaged or incorrectly allocated crates.
- Maintain sufficient crate availability for production and dispatch requirements.
- Ensure crates, wheels, trolleys and other dispatch equipment are stacked safely and stored in designated areas.
- Prevent unauthorised removal or misuse of company property.
- Report damaged equipment and arrange for repair or replacement.
6. Product Quality and Damage Control
- Inspect bread and other bakery products before loading.
- Identify crushed, damaged, incorrectly sliced, incorrectly packed or otherwise unsuitable products.
- Remove damaged products from saleable stock immediately.
- Ensure damaged products are classified and transferred to the correct damage location.
- Prevent damaged stock from being mixed with saleable stock.
- Record damage quantities accurately and investigate unusual levels of waste.
- Coordinate the slicing sequence with production and loading requirements.
- Ensure products are handled carefully to avoid unnecessary damage during sorting and loading.
- Escalate recurring product-quality or packaging problems to production management.
7. Team Leadership and Performance Management
- Lead dispatch staff with clear instructions, firm supervision and consistent standards.
- Allocate duties at the beginning of each shift and monitor completion throughout the shift.
- Ensure adequate staffing is available for picking, sorting, counting and loading.
- Train employees on stock control, hygiene, loading procedures and system requirements.
- Conduct performance discussions where standards are not being met.
- Address poor timekeeping, absenteeism, negligence and failure to follow procedures.
- Build a culture of accountability in which every stock movement has an identified responsible person.
- Maintain discipline during busy and high-pressure periods.
- Ensure staff do not leave until their allocated work, stock counts and handovers are complete.
- Report serious employee or operational issues to senior management promptly.
8. Food Safety, Hygiene and Housekeeping
- Maintain a clean, organised and safe dispatch department.
- Enforce company hygiene, food-safety and product-handling procedures.
- Ensure crates, floors, loading areas, equipment and workstations are kept clean.
- Keep walkways, loading areas and emergency access points unobstructed.
- Prevent products from being placed directly on dirty floors or exposed to contamination.
- Ensure staff wear the required protective clothing.
- Report pest-control, contamination, safety or maintenance concerns immediately.
- Support internal food-safety, hygiene and operational audits.
9. Customer Service and Problem Resolution
- Ensure dispatch operations support accurate and on-time customer deliveries.
- Investigate complaints involving missing products, incorrect quantities, poor quality or delayed deliveries.
- Provide management with factual information based on dispatch records and ERP transactions.
- Take corrective action to prevent repeated complaints.
- Prioritise urgent customer orders without losing control of normal dispatch activities.
- Communicate operational risks early rather than waiting for a delivery failure.
10. Security and Loss Prevention
- Control access to dispatch stock and restricted operational areas.
- Monitor unusual stock movements or suspicious activity.
- Prevent unauthorised stock removal.
- Ensure loading and returns take place under proper supervision.
- Report suspected theft, fraud, negligence or manipulation of stock records immediately.
- Cooperate with stock-loss investigations and disciplinary processes.
- Protect company stock, crates, equipment and documentation.
Daily Reporting Requirements
The Dispatch & Distribution Manager will be expected to report on:
- Opening and closing stock balances.
- Physical stock versus ERP stock.
- Stock shortages and overages.
- Damaged and returned stock.
- Orders dispatched, delayed or carried over.
- Vehicle and driver departure times.
- Crates issued, returned, damaged or missing.
- Driver and employee attendance.
- Operational incidents and customer complaints.
- Corrective actions taken.
- Outstanding issues requiring management intervention.
Performance Measures
Performance will be assessed against measurable operational outcomes, including:
- Stock-count accuracy.
- Reduction in unexplained stock variances.
- Accuracy of customer orders.
- On-time vehicle departures.
- Same-day order fulfilment.
- Reduction in damaged and wasted stock.
- ERP transaction accuracy and completion.
- Crate recovery and accountability.
- Department cleanliness and audit compliance.
- Driver and dispatch-team productivity.
- Reduction in repeated customer complaints.
- Quality and timeliness of management reporting.
Minimum Requirements
- Previous experience in a dispatch, warehouse, distribution, logistics or stock-control management position.
- Experience managing drivers and operational employees.
- Strong practical stock-control and inventory-management ability.
- Experience working with an ERP, warehouse-management or stock-management system.
- Ability to investigate and resolve stock discrepancies.
- Strong leadership and staff-management skills.
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Ability to work accurately under pressure.
- Good numerical and basic computer skills.
- Clear verbal and written communication.
- Knowledge of FIFO, food safety, hygiene and warehouse procedures.
- Willingness and ability to work long hours, weekends, overtime and public holidays.
- Reliable transport to and from work, particularly for late finishing times.
Preferred Experience
- Experience in a bakery, food-manufacturing or FMCG environment.
- Experience managing perishable or short-shelf-life products.
- Experience with route-based distribution.
- Experience with crates, returns and driver stock reconciliation.
- Experience using an ERP system.
- Experience conducting stock investigations and producing variance reports.
Personal Attributes
The successful candidate must be:
- Firm and confident when managing employees.
- Highly organised and disciplined.
- Honest and trustworthy.
- Hands-on and operationally involved.
- Comfortable making decisions under pressure.
- Able to challenge incorrect information and investigate problems properly.
- Willing to take ownership instead of blaming other departments.
- Capable of managing conflict professionally.
- Consistent in enforcing procedures.
- Physically and mentally able to manage a demanding shift.
Important Notice to Applicants
This is a high-responsibility, long-hours operational position. It is suitable for someone who enjoys a fast-moving environment and is prepared to remain on duty until dispatch, stock reconciliation and shift handover requirements have been completed.
Applicants seeking a standard office-hours position, a mainly administrative role or a position with limited staff accountability should not apply.
Please apply with a detailed CV setting out your dispatch, stock-control, warehouse and driver-management experience. References may be contacted, and shortlisted applicants may be required to complete a practical stock-control or ERP assessment.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: R8 000,00 - R10 000,00 per month
Work Location: In person
