The hire you are worried about

Service levels slipped, the retailer noticed before you did, and the chargebacks started arriving.

Or the business has grown across more DCs than the original operating model was built for, and nobody senior has stepped back to redesign it because everyone is busy running it.

Either way the conversation usually starts with a number that has been going the wrong way for two quarters.

Why FMCG and distribution is different

You are being scored continuously by customers who publish the scorecard. OTIF is not a KPI you report internally, it is a compliance regime with money attached, and the penalty structures at the big retailers are unforgiving of explanations.

The leverage sits in places that do not look strategic. Slotting, pick paths, carrier mix, how you handle a short. A leader who only thinks at network-design level and cannot get into the detail will not move the number.

Forecasting here is harder than in manufacturing because you carry someone else's demand signal and someone else's promotional calendar. You are absorbing volatility you did not create.

And the labour model matters more than it does in a plant. Warehouse turnover is high, seasonal peaks are real, and a leader who has never built a peak plan that survived contact with reality is a risk.

What I screen for

I want the specific number. What was service level when they arrived, what was it when they left, and what did they actually change to move it.

I want to know how they handle a retailer relationship that has gone bad, because everyone has a good one to talk about and the bad one is more informative.

For network roles I want evidence they have opened or closed a site, not just modelled one. Those are different skills and only one of them is tested under pressure.

Where I draw the line

I will not move a manufacturing supply chain leader into a pure distribution role and pretend the experience transfers cleanly. It sometimes does. More often the rhythm of the job defeats them, and I would rather say so at the briefing.

Roles I run

Director to C-suite. Supply chain, logistics and distribution, operations, commercial, finance, procurement, general management.

How the search runs

I do every step myself, from the briefing to the first ninety days after the offer, because there is nobody else here. More about how I work.

Tell me what you are trying to hire

I will tell you straight whether I am the right person for it. Book a 30 minute call, or email scott@williams-recruitment.com.