Head of Operations in Manchester

Application Deadline

11 August 2026

Department

Finance & Operations

Location

Manchester

Description

This is a senior operations hire at the heart of Adanola’s operational engine. As Head of Operations, you will own four core verticals: Fulfilment, Final Mile, Returns and Intake logistics — setting the operating model for each, and holding accountability for delivery.

You will report into the Finance & Operations Director, who owns the strategic and leadership interface. Your role is to make operations work — reliably, at pace, and with clear standards. You are expected to define how each vertical should run, not just optimise what already exists, and to build a function that scales with the business.

Key Responsibilities

Fulfilment

• Oversee global fulfilment operations through our 3PL partners, including SLA governance and day-to-day performance management
• Partner with commercial and trading teams to anticipate volume and ensure fulfilment capacity is planned ahead of demand
• Drive continuous improvement in outbound accuracy, speed, and cost
• Partner with the Finance & Operations Director on 3PL commercial relationships — including contract performance, rate negotiations, and evaluation of new partners as the business scales

Final mile

• Own carrier spend, rate governance, and financial forecasting for final mile
• Lead carrier procurement, contracting, and rate reviews
• Own structural carrier changes, including new carrier onboarding and carrier mix decisions
• Intervene on service failures where structural or commercial fixes are required, working in close partnership with Customer Experience
• Oversee claims management performance, including regular review of win/loss rates and challenging outcomes where trends indicate process or commercial issues
• Lead quarterly business reviews with carriers; attend monthly performance reviews when commercial or strategic considerations arise

Returns

• Own the returns operating model globally, including carrier and returns-as-a-service provider relationships
• Define and optimise the reverse logistics flow from customer return to restocking or disposal and refund

Intake Logistics

• Own the operational leg of Intake from freight forwarder handover through to goods-in confirmation and receipt to stock
• Maintain full transit visibility across all active shipments, with timely exception escalation when timelines are at risk
• Manage freight forwarder relationships — holding partners to agreed SLAs and leading rate negotiations
• Lead onboarding of new freight forwarders as trade lanes or the supplier base evolve
• Act as the coordination point with the Merchandising team at the handover stage, ensuring clean and timely transitions

Systems & Process & Accountability

• Act as the operations process owner across all four verticals — defining how processes should work and translating requirements for the systems team
• Partner with Systems to ensure NetSuite and associated tooling reflect operational reality and support good data
• Lead process improvement initiatives and ensure changes are embedded, not just designed
• You will set the standards, priorities, and performance expectations for our 3PL account managers, hold them accountable to agreed KPIs, and develop the working relationship so that their teams operate as an extension of Adanola's own standards and team.

About you

• Demonstrable experience at a senior level in operations, ideally within a high-growth e-commerce or consumer brand
• Experience across more than one ops vertical (inbound logistics, fulfilment, returns, or final mile)
• Strong 3PL, freight forwarder, and carrier relationship management — including commercial negotiations
• Fluency in NetSuite as a process owner
• A track record of building and embedding processes in a fast-moving environment
• Cross-border operations experience across UK and US
• Familiarity with incoterms, import documentation, and customs processes
• You are structured and data-led
• You lead and influence effectively without relying on a formal reporting line, communicating with clarity at all levels from partner conversations to internal stakeholders
• You take ownership instinctively

Benefits

We’re on a mission to become the go-to destination to shop your everyday uniform and we’re looking for talented, positive people to work towards this goal. As the company continues to grow at a fast pace, it’s an exciting time to be part of the journey. So, if you’re passionate, driven, and ready to make a real impact, we’d love to hear from you!

• Business-wide bonus structure
• Regular in office wellness events
• Private Medical Insurance
• Flexible workplace (3 days a week in our Manchester office)
• 33 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays)
• Day off on your Birthday
• 50% staff discount