Outbound Lead Wasoko

About us

Wasoko (“people of the market” in Swahili) is transforming communities across Africa by revolutionizing access to essential goods and services. We are East Africa’s biggest digitized retail distribution platform powered by our own in-house logistics network. Tens of thousands of informal retailers across six countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Zambia) use Wasoko to order everyday essential goods and receive working capital financing.

The informal retailers of Africa today are the primary if not the only channel used by consumers to purchase essential goods worth over $600 billion per year. The fragmented infrastructure across large land mass, distributed but diverse population and rather a smaller basket size spend does not yet lend themselves to big basket retail or mass consumer ecommerce. Instead, the informal retail ecosystem is THE channel for building the plumbing for digital and consumer
commerce across Africa.

This is Wasoko’s opportunity. Wasoko with its brand, scale and logistics network is best positioned to build the technology-leveraged rails to serve the 1+ billion African consumers through informal retailers. We are building a digital-first operating system for informal retailers, focusing initially on B2B distribution but quickly incorporating a host of other tools and services to help communities across Africa get more for less.

Role: Outbound Lead, Lusaka

Location: Zambia, Lusaka

Role:

Fulfilment at Wasoko is a fun, fast-paced, agile and people-focused business. We believe in the motto ‘We win through our people.’

You will support and manage the Logistics team members in a branch, ensuring they have everything they need to achieve and maintain their optimal level of performance. At the same time, you will ensure that operational activities are in line with profit and cost targets, SOP and company policies.

This is a challenging role where you will have the opportunity to grow your career and be part of a strong team.

You must enjoy being part of a dedicated team working together to make a difference in the lives of our customers and employees in relevant and memorable ways.

If you are looking for a change and ready to make a difference … we are looking for you.

Reporting into: FC Supervisor, (Lusaka)

Direct Reports: Picking, Sortation and QA/QC team(s)

If this sounds like a team you would like to join… Keep reading.

Requirements:

• Ability to communicate well
• You are able to work in a challenging environment
• Ability to work effectively with peers and supervisors to accomplish tasks
• An exceptional level of resourcefulness, creativity, ingenuity, and empathy
• A good understanding of outbound inventory procedures (Picking, Packing, Reverse Logistics etc.)
• Ability to stand and walk for prolonged periods of time, and be comfortable squatting, kneeling, and crouching
• Working Hours – Shift work when required. Candidates must be flexible to work weekends, public holidays and/or overtime regularly.

Responsibilities:

• Effective leadership and direction for the team through involvement and communication to deliver on the relevant key business drivers
• Overall management and coordination of all outbound functions i.e. picking, sortation and quality checks
• Develop continuous improvement initiatives for efficient outbound tasks by identifying, implementing and managing optimal processes and procedures, to minimize costs and maximize output according to changing needs
• Manage and resolve any operational issues in regards to all the instructions / pick lists issued to pickers
• The flow of outbound orders is planned efficiently by maximizing the capacity of planned resources – pickers, forklifts etc.
• Support the line associate in the accurate planning of outbound workload in line with the agreed delivery schedule and site capacity
• Warehouse Management System is updated accurately and timely in order to meet all productivity and efficiency targets
• Manage the customer liaison process and ensure that reasons for failed deliveries affected by outbound processes are resolved in a timely manner and exception trends are addressed
• Products are accurately picked according to the pick list and staged at the sortation area according to routes
• Wrong, missing or damaged items are replaced according to order and route
• Perform quality check on the items in the warehouse from Inbound receiving to sortation that prepare for delivery to customers, and also the reverse logistics for undelivered items or Customer request for returns
• Management reporting in terms of operational performance, productivity, stock control and budgets
• Provide closed-loop feedback and action items for continuous improvement projects/initiatives within the established timeframe.

Qualifications:

• Strong communications skills
• Ability to motivate and inspire others a must
• Ability to lead, coach and train employees
• Exceptional organizational and analytical skills
• Ability to work independently and handle multiple projects
• Goal-oriented, assertive and a practical problem solver
• Relevant tertiary education i.e. HND or B.Sc. in Supply Chain, Logistics, Procurement, Business Development, Statistics or Engineering
• 2+ years’ experience in directly and indirectly managing people to deliver continuous improvement. Preferred e -commerce / ERP systems experience
• You have in-depth knowledge of last mile logistics (fulfilment center best practices and processes – prior experience working with Manhattan or Pulpo or equivalent highly desirable).