Role title
Logistics Manager (Procurement and Inventory)
Department
Supply Chain and Fulfilment / Procurement and Inventory
Location
Field-based across Complete Farmer operating territories, with frequent travel to fulfilment centres, farms, aggregation points, warehouses, processors, suppliers and other supply-chain locations
Grade
Manager level; final internal grade and band subject to the approved job-grading framework
Reports to
Supply Chain Director
Direct reports
Inventory Officers, Production Manager/Officer and Procurement Officer; may also supervise temporary site teams, contractors and service providers through approved operating arrangements
Role purpose and strategic context
PRIMARY MANDATE Build and run a controlled, scalable procurement and inventory system across all fulfilment centres so every approved Complete Farmer trade and cultivation plan has the right materials, crop inventory, processing capacity and execution discipline to deliver in full, on time and to specification.
Detailed responsibilities
S&OP translation and integrated execution planning
- Translate the approved demand plan, buyer contract, crop calendar and fulfilment schedule into a rolling procurement, inventory, production-capacity and material-readiness plan by SKU, trade, lot, location and required date.
- Maintain a single readiness view covering supply forecast, confirmed crop availability, BOM requirements, stock on hand, open purchase orders, fulfilment-centre capacity, QA requirements, transport handover dates, constraints, owners and recovery actions.
- Validate planned orders against confirmed demand, buyer specification, crop availability, supplier capacity, inventory position, production throughput, storage, cash-flow and delivery lead time before the business makes an execution commitment.
- Run the procurement and inventory inputs to the S&OP and day-to-day trade-execution cadences, clearly separating committed, probable, at-risk and unavailable supply.
- Apply forecast-freeze, change-control and order-priority rules; quantify the cost, inventory, service and capacity effect of late changes and obtain required approvals before execution.
- Escalate any material mismatch between buyer demand, grower supply, BOM availability, inventory, processing capacity or delivery timeline with evidence, options and a recommended decision.
Procurement leadership and strategic partnerships
- Lead the Procurement Officer in building and executing category and sourcing plans for cultivation inputs, planting materials, packaging, processing materials, fulfilment consumables and other approved requirements.
- Ensure every active SKU and cultivation programme has a current controlled BOM, item specification, approved supplier options, lead time, minimum order quantity, price, delivery point and continuity position.
- Approve sourcing strategies and award recommendations within delegated authority and ensure competition, due diligence, conflict-of-interest, technical approval and segregation-of-duty requirements are followed.
- Build strategic partnerships with manufacturers, distributors, packaging converters, processors and service providers that can reserve capacity, deliver across locations and improve cost, availability, quality and lead time.
- Negotiate or oversee framework agreements, call-off arrangements, delivery SLAs, warranties, replacement terms, service remedies and continuity support without creating uncontrolled supplier dependency.
- Review supplier performance and market intelligence, intervene in critical shortages or failures, and authorize approved contingency sourcing without changing specifications or bypassing Finance and QA controls.
Multi-site inventory governance and custody
- Establish and enforce common inventory SOPs for receiving, inspection handover, weighing, identification, lot/batch creation, put-away, storage, reservation, issue, transfer, processing, return, reconciliation and disposal.
- Ensure every movement is supported by an approved source document and recorded promptly in the ERP, WMS or controlled system using the correct item, lot, owner, quantity, unit, condition, location and transaction type.
- Set cycle-count and wall-to-wall count programmes based on value, risk, seasonality and movement; review variances, approve adjustments within authority and ensure root causes and corrective actions are closed.
- Maintain separation of company-owned, grower-owned, buyer-owned, supplier-owned, quarantined, rejected, damaged, returned and consignment stock; prevent commingling or use without authorization.
- Set crop- and category-specific storage, stacking, ventilation, pest-control, temperature, humidity, security, shelf-life and handling requirements with Agronomy, Production and QA.
- Monitor ageing, shrinkage, damage, contamination, expiry, slow-moving and obsolete stock and act early through redeployment, return, rework, sale or approved write-off before value is lost.
- Design site layouts, capacity plans, bin/location structures and material-flow controls that reduce handling, congestion, cross-contamination, search time and unrecorded movement.
Fulfilment-centre production and process performance
- Lead the Production Manager/Officer in developing capacity, shift, machine, labour, packaging and maintenance plans for grading, sorting, processing, packing, labelling and other order-preparation activities.
- Ensure equipment selection, commissioning, preventive maintenance, spare-parts readiness and operator training support the required crop specifications, throughput and buyer timelines across fulfilment centres.
- Approve production schedules that sequence lots and orders according to buyer priority, crop condition, QA requirements, machine constraints, packaging availability, transport handover and changeover risk.
- Monitor uptime, OEE, cycle time, yield, process loss, rework, labour productivity and plan adherence; lead recovery when a site or machine is unlikely to meet its service level.
- Prevent throughput pressure from driving unsafe operation, deferred maintenance, undocumented rework, lot mixing, unapproved specification changes or release of nonconforming produce.
- Standardize high-performing processes and equipment settings across sites while adapting implementation to local infrastructure and crop realities through controlled changes.
Trade readiness and order execution
- Create a readiness gate for each trade covering confirmed source volume, crop condition, inventory status, procurement/BOM completion, processing capacity, packaging, documentation, QA inspection and transport/port handover time.
- Assign clear lot, site and activity ownership to Inventory Officers and coordinate pickups, receipts, transfers, processing and dispatch staging against the approved execution plan.
- Hold daily execution reviews during critical trade windows and ensure exceptions have quantified impact, named owners, deadlines, escalation and an approved recovery route.
- Coordinate with the Logistics Manager (Fleet and Ports Operations) on pickup requirements, vehicle capacity, route and dispatch windows, container or port cut-offs, handover documentation and proof of delivery.
- Ensure no crop or finished lot is shipped without complete quantity, traceability, processing, packaging and QA-release evidence; report any attempted bypass immediately.
- Conduct post-trade reviews comparing plan to actual volume, loss, cost, cycle time, service, buyer outcome and root causes, and convert lessons into updated standards and controls.
Grower-input readiness and last-mile interface
- Convert approved grower production plans into input procurement, stock-positioning and issue schedules by crop, grower/cooperative, location and required agronomic date.
- Ensure input batches, expiry, quantity, ownership, storage condition and recipient records are controlled from supplier receipt through fulfilment-centre custody and authorized handover.
- Coordinate distribution requirements with Field Operations and Fleet teams so the correct inputs reach verified recipients within the agronomic window and delivery evidence is returned for reconciliation.
- Reconcile planned, issued, delivered, returned, damaged and remaining inputs and investigate diversion, substitution, unexplained loss or mismatch promptly.
- Make input shortages, supplier delays, cash constraints and late grower-plan changes visible early enough for Agronomy, Commercial and Operations to re-plan responsibly.
Quality, food safety and certification interface
- Implement the operational controls, approved SOPs and recordkeeping required by buyer specifications, company certifications, traceability standards and applicable food-safety requirements across procurement, storage and processing.
- Ensure suppliers and fulfilment centres provide the samples, certificates, batch records, cleaning records, calibration evidence, process data and traceability documentation required for QA decisions.
- Maintain physical and system quarantine controls so rejected, suspect, expired, damaged or nonconforming material cannot be issued, processed or shipped without documented authorization.
- Respect the Quality Assurance Manager's independent authority to approve, hold or reject lots and shipments; mobilize containment, rework, replacement and corrective action without pressuring QA to release.
- Support internal, buyer, certification and regulatory audits and ensure assigned operational findings and corrective actions are closed and verified within agreed deadlines.
Cost, working-capital and commercial control
- Manage procurement commitments and inventory within approved budgets, cash-flow limits, safety-stock policies, shelf-life constraints and storage capacity while protecting service continuity.
- Review purchase price, landed cost, handling cost, process loss, packaging use, inventory days, ageing, write-offs and cost-to-fulfil by crop, SKU, site and trade with Finance.
- Prevent overbuying, early buying, duplicate commitments, stockpiling, hidden local purchases, unauthorized substitutions and retrospective approvals from being used to improve apparent service performance.
- Ensure supplier commitments, goods receipts, stock movements, invoices, returns and claims reconcile before payment approval and investigate material exceptions using source evidence.
- Identify and implement sustainable cost improvements through demand consolidation, standardization, yield improvement, layout, cycle time, supplier development, packaging optimization and reduced loss without weakening quality.
Systems, data, reporting and control
- Own the accuracy and timeliness of procurement, item, supplier, inventory, lot, location, production and exception data within the approved ERP, WMS, procurement and operational systems.
- Publish the agreed daily trade-readiness view, weekly supply-chain execution report and monthly procurement/inventory dashboard, including decisions, risks, owners and recovery dates.
- Maintain controlled master data, transaction cut-offs, approval workflows, role-based access, document retention and audit trails; review overrides and manual transactions for misuse or process weakness.
- Reconcile system and physical stock at defined frequencies and ensure no material variance is carried forward without investigation, approved treatment and preventive action.
- Use data to identify recurring shortages, supplier failures, stock discrepancies, bottlenecks, downtime, ageing, loss and site-performance gaps and lead corrective improvement.
- Report suspected theft, diversion, collusion, counterfeit inputs, document manipulation, bribery, conflict of interest, unsafe practice or deliberate misstatement immediately through the approved channel.
Team leadership, capability and site discipline
- Set clear outcome scorecards, work plans, decision boundaries and reporting cadences for Inventory Officers, the Production Manager/Officer and the Procurement Officer across all locations.
- Build site-level capacity through structured onboarding, SOP training, observation, competency assessment, coaching, certification where required and documented retraining after control or quality failures.
- Create adequate role coverage and succession for critical receiving, inventory, production and procurement activities so leave, turnover or site expansion does not weaken control.
- Conduct regular site visits and remote operating reviews using evidence from systems, physical checks, customer outcomes and audits rather than narrative updates alone.
- Address missed standards promptly through clarification, coaching, process correction and formal performance management in partnership with People, while recognizing strong ownership and continuous improvement.
- Model Complete Farmer's leadership standards of Clarity, Ownership and People-First leadership while maintaining firm accountability for safety, integrity, quality and truthful reporting.
Risk, continuity, safety and scalable operations
- Maintain an integrated risk register for critical suppliers, crop availability, storage, equipment, power, system outages, security, fire, contamination, weather, infrastructure, cash constraints and staffing gaps.
- Define early-warning thresholds, contingency stock or capacity logic, alternate suppliers/sites, emergency escalation and recovery procedures proportionate to the risk and economics of each crop and trade.
- Ensure fulfilment-centre activities follow approved occupational health, machine-safety, fire, chemical, sanitation, food-safety, environmental and incident-reporting requirements.
- Lead incident containment and business recovery for material inventory, processing or procurement failures and ensure root-cause analysis and preventive actions are completed.
- Develop standard site blueprints, minimum-control requirements, staffing/capacity models and implementation checklists that allow new fulfilment centres and territories to scale without reinventing the operating system.
- Support due diligence, audits, certification, insurance and management reviews with accurate records and transparent reporting of unresolved risks.
Required experience, qualifications and technical capabilities
Required experience and non-negotiables
- At least five to seven years of progressive experience in agricultural supply-chain operations, export logistics, postharvest handling or agricultural value-chain management, including meaningful accountability for results across multiple locations.
- Demonstrated hands-on experience leading procurement, inventory/warehouse and agricultural processing or fulfilment activities rather than managing only one of those disciplines in isolation.
- Proven experience executing agricultural export or large buyer orders from supply planning and farm-gate/aggregation receipt through grading, sorting, packaging, QA handover and dispatch or port handover.
- Evidence of improving measurable service, inventory accuracy, supplier performance, throughput, loss, cost or working-capital outcomes across dispersed operations.
- Experience managing and building the capability of supply-chain teams in different locations, including setting standards, reviewing evidence remotely, visiting sites and addressing persistent performance gaps.
- Practical experience translating S&OP, demand forecasts, crop plans and buyer specifications into procurement, BOM, inventory and production-capacity plans.
- Strong experience in competitive sourcing, supplier due diligence, negotiation, contract/SLA management and strategic partnership development for agricultural inputs, packaging, processing materials or similar categories.
- Demonstrated integrity in environments exposed to stock loss, diversion, supplier influence, emergency buying, document manipulation and pressure to ship nonconforming products.
- Ability and willingness to travel frequently, work from field and fulfilment-centre locations, and support critical trade windows outside standard office hours when required by the approved operating plan.
Qualifications and professional requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Procurement, Operations Management, Agribusiness, Agriculture, Industrial/Mechanical Engineering, Food Science or a closely related discipline; a relevant master's degree is advantageous.
- A recognized supply-chain, procurement, inventory or logistics qualification such as CIPS, ASCM/CSCP, CLTD, CPIM or an equivalent professional certification is strongly preferred.
- Working knowledge of agricultural export requirements, postharvest quality, food safety, traceability, packaging, storage, occupational safety and certification controls relevant to Complete Farmer's crop portfolio.
- Strong written and spoken English. French and relevant Ghanaian or regional language capability are advantageous for cross-border supplier, grower and site management.
- A valid driver's licence and ability to travel safely to remote operating locations are strongly preferred, subject to local policy and reasonable accommodation.
