Overview
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Hatfield (Hybrid working – 3 days in the office)
Working hours per week: 40 hours
Level: Manager
Application Closing Date: Thursday 18th September 2025
About Us
Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value. We’re Ocado Retail, a market-leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world’s largest dedicated online supermarket, ocado.com. Not only is Ocado.com the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it’s also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We’re also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service.
About The Team And The Role
We're looking for a highly organized and results-driven Capacity and Vendor Management Specialist to play a vital role in driving the next stage of growth for our business. In this critical role, your primary responsibility will be to ensure we have the operational capacity needed to meet our business goals. You'll work closely with key suppliers and internal stakeholders to manage capacity forecasts, secure necessary resources, and monitor performance against our contractual agreements. This is a high-impact, high-stakes role with direct accountability for a significant portion of our operational expenditure. You will be directly responsible for managing relationships and performance tied to an annual spend of over £200 million.
What You’ll Do
Capacity Management & Forecasting
* Capacity Forecasting: Take ownership of both short-term (3-month) and long-term capacity forecasts. You will be responsible for translating business needs into clear capacity requests for our vendors.
* Supplier Capacity Management: Act as the primary point of contact for key suppliers to secure and confirm the capacity we need. Your top priority is to ensure we achieve our capacity targets.
* Performance Monitoring: Continuously monitor and report on capacity achievement against contractual agreements. You'll be responsible for identifying and addressing issues where targets fall short.
Vendor Management
* Relationship Management: Manage relationships with a diverse range of third-party vendors, including key partners like Ocado Group.
* Performance and Productivity: Monitor the performance, productivity, and efficiency of vendor-provided equipment (MHE) and technologies. This includes evaluating the achievement of business case goals for new technology deployed in our warehouses.
* Contract Management: Ensure agreements are in place to secure the capacity guarantees we need. You will also be responsible for monitoring the performance of other critical contracts, including build contracts, infrastructure providers, landlords, billing authorities, and van finance contracts.
* Issue Resolution: Proactively identify and resolve performance issues with vendors to ensure they consistently meet and exceed their contractual obligations.
Who You Are
* MCIPS or CIPS qualification
* Proven experience in vendor management, procurement, supply chain, or a related role.
* Strong understanding of capacity planning and forecasting principles.
* Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills.
* Ability to analyse performance data and identify trends.
* Highly organized with strong attention to detail.
* Experience in the logistics, e-commerce, or technology sector is a plus.
What’s In It For You
By joining Ocado Retail, you’ll have the chance to experience life at the world’s largest online retailer, work with an amazing team who challenge what’s possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail.
If that’s not enough to tempt you, you’ll also get access to loads of great benefits. Here’s a taste of what we offer:
* Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market-leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more.
* Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme, and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.
* Never miss the moments that matter: Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities.
Our Hiring Process
Lucky for us, we get loads of great applications, and we really appreciate that so many people put the time and effort into applying. To recognise that, we treat all applications respectfully and fairly. So, if yours stands out, you’ll follow our standard hiring process – one of our Talent Partners will talk you through this in an initial call.
Everyone’s welcome
We’re an equal opportunity employer. That means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.
Seniority level
* Mid-Senior level
Employment type
* Full-time
Job function
* Management and Manufacturing
Industries
* Retail
#J-18808-Ljbffr