Warehouse Stock Controller

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Fairoils EPZ is the production hub of the Fairoils' Group and was established to process ethically farmed crops within Eastern and Southern Africa.

We are looking for someone to bring their knowledge of warehouse management to our company and develop the systems required to effectively manage inventory and logistics through the entire lifecycle from inbound to export. This will require instituting policies, drafting SOPs, developing systems, building a team, taking charge of the warehouse and getting things on the right track. There aren't currently good systems in place, so this isn't just a "step in and execute existing procedures" role.

It's a position that will require someone who already knows how a warehouse should work and has the attitude and personality to take ownership and initiate change with the support of management.

Role:

The Warehouse Stock Controller is the primary custodian of all company inventory, carrying total accountability for the accuracy and efficient management of all materials, including raw materials, finished products, consumables, and other operational materials.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

A. Warehouse

Resource Planning: Design the daily offloading plan, determining the exact requirements for labor headcount (internal vs. 3rd party), equipment allocation (forklifts), and active offloading bays.

Volume Forecasting: Align the offloading and receiving plan with expected inbound transit schedules to prevent port/dock bottlenecks and ensure efficient asset turnaround.

Zone Optimization: Pre-assign specific warehouse zones or bins for incoming lots to maximize space utilization, ensure batch segregation, and safely isolate specialty or regulated materials.

Process Standardization: Establish the "Standard Operating Speed" for receiving and material movement, ensuring Drivers and Clerks are trained to enforce these productivity and safety benchmarks.

Performance Intervention: Review real-time performance; intervene immediately when offloading rates drop or resource shortages occur, or the daily plan isn’t being respected.

B. Oversight

Asset & Operator Management: Direct the daily deployment, maintenance tracking, and scheduling of the company vehicles, forklift fleet, and drivers. Coordinate and prioritize forklift and vehicle allocation across various plant departments to ensure optimal operational flow.

Supervision: Directly manage the team to ensure they are being held accountable to the required planning, duties, and standards

Problem Resolution: Act as the first point of escalation for discrepancies, equipment failures, or space constraints, or personnel issues for the team - providing immediate tactical solutions.

C. Inventory Integrity

Main Stock Accuracy: Maintain 100% accurate records for all raw materials, finished goods, consumables, or other material within the warehouse or stores.

Ownership of Stock: Hold ultimate accountability for the management of all materials handled, including:

Ensuring the maintenance of accurate inventory records for all materials and operational supplies, including movements and levels.

Initiating, reviewing and approving purchase requests to prevent stock-outs.

Verifying that the warehouse and stores are organized and compliant with safety/audit standards.

Ensure the accountability, distribution, and management of PPE and other stocked items.

Discrepancy Investigation: Immediately report any variances identified between physical stock and documentation to a Director and Finance team. Participate in the formal investigation process as directed.

Reconciliation: Perform weekly and monthly physical stock counts across the entire facility and reconcile against the internal stock management system and ERP system.

D. Systems Infrastructure

Digital Inventory Management: Develop and maintain a centralized digital tracking environment (hosted on Google Shared Drive) that provides real-time stock reference, movement history, and automated data analysis for all product lines.

Process Engineering: Evaluate existing inventory tools and workflows to identify gaps in transparency; design and implement technical or procedural improvements to ensure 100% traceability.

SOP Architecture: Author and propose Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for all warehouse and stores functions. Ensure all developed procedures are aligned with and formally processed through the company’s Food Safety, Quality Management, and Compliance frameworks.

Continuous Improvement: Proactively propose enhancements to physical storage solutions and digital systems to increase warehouse efficiency and data accuracy.

E. Supply Chain Flow

Inbound & Outbound Oversight: Oversee the end-to-end transit, arrival, and dispatch of all goods to guarantee timely, undamaged delivery. Serve as the primary operational liaison with external freight forwarders, carriers, and vendors to optimize transport efficiency and resolve service issues. This includes overseeing operation of the weighbridge.

Regulatory & Customs Compliance: Ensure all inbound and outbound consignments fully adhere to trade, customs, and legal regulatory frameworks. Oversee the verification of transit documentation, facilitate timely cargo clearance, monitor the lifecycle of temporary custom entries/bonds, and proactively advise management on updates to regulatory requirements.

Regulated Materials Handling: Coordinate the strict management, labeling, and specialized declaration requirements for sensitive or hazardous materials. Collaborate with the finance and administrative teams to maintain adequate stocks of mandatory security seals and regulated classification markers.

Intake Prioritization & Resolution: Review material arrival status and coordinate with the Factory Manager to ensure priority stock moves into production without delay. Intervene immediately to resolve transit bottlenecks, documentation discrepancies, or clearance delays with relevant external parties.

Protocol Establishment: Develop and implement product-specific storage and movement protocols (e.g., FIFO, FEFO, or status-based rotation) tailored to the unique requirements of different materials.

Stock Security & Dispatch: Implement controls to ensure no batches are overlooked, neglected, or left in storage longer than required. Coordinate the secure loading, verification, and final compliance documentation of finished products for dispatch, ensuring outbound loads perfectly match system records.

F. Reporting

Productivity & Fleet Analytics: Prepare weekly reports analyzing offloading efficiency, labor costs, truck turnaround times, and forklift fleet utilization/maintenance schedules.

Transit & Consignment Visibility: Maintain and report on the real-time status of inbound and outbound shipments, monitoring delivery timelines and tracking any logistical bottlenecks or delays.

Compliance & Customs Tracking: Provide routine status updates on customs clearance progress, the utilization and cancellation status of customs bonds, and regulatory documentation audits.

Stock Visibility: Provide daily visibility on material levels (raw, finished, and critical consumables) to the Factory Manager.

Variance & Shipping Discrepancies: Document and explain any material losses, damages, shipping misdeclarations, or documentation errors across all warehouse, store, and transit areas. Communicate all variances to the Finance team.

Cross-System Synchronization: Coordinate with the Inventory Accountant to ensure the regular, manual update of all external corporate databases and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Ensure that official company-wide stock records are perfectly aligned with internal warehouse and shipping logs at all times.

KEY DELIVERABLES

Real-time Digital Stock & Transit Dashboard (Google Shared Drive).

Synchronized ERP, Centralized Inventory, and Inbound/Outbound Shipping Records.

Published SOPs for Warehouse, Store, and Freight/Logistics operations (aligned with Food Safety/Quality/Regulatory standards).

Daily Offloading Plans, Intake Summaries, and Fleet Allocation Schedules.

Weekly Stock Reconciliation & Consignment Status Reports (Raw Material, Finished Goods, Consumables, and Goods-in-Transit).

Verified Batch Traceability, Finished Product Logs, and Customs Clearance/Bond Documentation.