Location: Hybrid role with an opportunity to work from home; you must be able to work from the office at least three days a week. We are looking for someone living within 50 minutes of our Theale office (RG7 5AW).
Key Responsibilities & Characteristics
Due to good growth in 2024 and an exciting pipeline for continued growth in 2025, we are looking for a strategic, commercially minded, and hands‑on leader to own operational & logistics performance excellence across Cotswold Fayre. The successful candidate will drive transformational improvements in service levels, process efficiency, and help us achieve “best in class”, ensuring that our operational capabilities match our strong growth trajectory.
The ideal candidate will:
* Be a proven senior operations leader (Director or C‑suite level) within FMCG, wholesale, or logistics‑led businesses.
* Demonstrate a track record of improving service levels and operational KPIs in fast‑growing organisations.
* Have extensive experience in outsourced logistics and third‑party distribution management, including performance oversight and contractual negotiation.
* Be highly skilled in demand planning and Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) to ensure alignment between commercial forecasts, inventory, and operational capacity.
* Be adept at process design and systems optimisation, able to identify inefficiencies, implement scalable systems, and drive continuous improvement across departments.
* Bring a strategic mindset with the ability to balance long‑term vision and immediate delivery.
* Possess strong analytical and data‑driven decision‑making skills.
* Be a collaborative, influential leader who can unite teams around operational excellence and customer focus.
* Have experience working as part of a Senior Leadership Team, contributing to company‑wide strategy and growth.
* Be comfortable in a values‑led, entrepreneurial culture that prizes partnership, sustainability, and innovation.
* Exhibit exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills, able to engage effectively with internal teams, external logistics partners, and customers.
* Be very keen to introduce new IT systems and AI into the business to improve efficiency in processes and operational excellence without losing the human touch.
Career Experience Required:
* Minimum 10 years’ experience in operations, supply chain, or process leadership roles.
* Previous responsibility for logistics operations, ideally with outsourced fulfilment and transport providers.
* Demonstrable success in leading demand planning and S&OP processes to balance supply, service, and cost.
* Proven experience in process improvement or transformation initiatives with measurable results, preferably also with some experience of delivering AI projects.
* Strong record of leading multi‑functional teams and influencing at board or executive level.
* Experience in scaling operations within a business experiencing double‑digit growth.
* Experience in tri‑temperature FMCG, food and drink distribution, or other wholesale sector experience strongly preferred.
Within the first 12–18 months, success in this role will mean:
* Service levels have significantly improved, meeting or exceeding customer expectations.
* Operational processes across the business are streamlined and consistent, creating clarity, accountability, and efficiency.
* The company has a robust S&OP framework in place, enabling smarter decisions around stock, supply, and demand.
* The relationship with our outsourced logistics partners is operating at a high level of collaboration, reliability, and performance.
* Operational KPIs are driving measurable improvements in on‑time delivery, accuracy, and customer satisfaction.
* The Operations function is seen as a key enabler of continued growth and innovation, fully aligned with the wider business strategy.
Why Join Us:
This is more than an operational leadership role, it’s an opportunity to shape how a purpose‑driven business grows with integrity and impact. As one of the UK’s founding B Corporations, Cotswold Fayre is built on the belief that business should be a force for good. You’ll be joining a leadership team committed to putting people, planet first and seeing the profit follow, creating lasting positive change for our customers, communities, and the food and drink industry as a whole.
About Cotswold Fayre
Cotswold Fayre is an award‑winning business, having won 10 awards over the past few years: including being named in 2023 as the Elite Business No. 1 SME in the UK, The Lloyds Bank Purpose Before Profit Business of the Year and also in 2023 a coveted Grocer Gold Award.
We are a speciality & fine food wholesale distributor, leading the way by offering a consolidation service to supply retailers with premium food and drink products, both ambient and chilled, sourced from the best producers in the UK and across the globe.
We aim to inspire, delight, and make a difference to people’s lives and to the planet through our shared passion for food.
We are proud to be a certified B‑Corporation! This accreditation is increasingly recognised as a label which highlights companies with exceptional environmental and social standards. Using a business as a force for good to benefit both people and planet. We are pleased to be a member of the Living Wage Foundation and since August 2019 all our business activities have been Carbon Neutral.
We are constantly seeking ways in which to minimise the impact of our supply chain on the planet and seek to encourage delivery consolidation as part of the process. We differ from other wholesalers by working in close partnership with our suppliers, many of whom we count as friends, not just suppliers! This means that customers are ‘close’ to the people making the food and drink they are selling.
We have an experienced, diverse team that collectively provides extensive market knowledge and offers retailers an appropriate delivery solution that benefits both their business, local community, and the planet.
Interested? We offer an attractive package including:
* Generous benefits package.
We are looking for a person who, like us, believes business should be a force for good and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and with all levels of ability. Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of what we stand for. We want our people to grow and develop their confidence and responsibilities treating our customers with kindness and care; all within an atmosphere of fun and rewarding hard work.
Job details
* Seniority level: Executive
* Employment type: Full‑time
* Job function: Management and Manufacturing
* Industries: Food and Beverage Services
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