Senior Flow Room Operations & Incident Control Manager

About us

We’re the team behind digital retailer Very. 

Our purpose, helping families get more out of life, powers everything we do. 

And we want our people to get more out of life too! If you’re high-performing, ambitious and make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear from you. In return, you’ll enjoy heaps of flexibility, great perks and benefits, and the freedom to be yourself, keep learning and take your career wherever you want it to go. 

If you love making a difference, you’ll love making it sparkle for millions of Very customers. ✨ 

About the role

We're looking for a Senior Flow Room Operations & Incident Control Manager to lead one of the most critical functions within our automated fulfilment operation. 

This is a highly visible leadership role, responsible for keeping stock flowing, systems performing and customers happy. You'll lead our Flow Room operation, oversee inventory performance across more than 7 million units of stock, and act as the senior point of control during operational incidents. You'll also own the strategic relationship with our automation partner KNAPP, ensuring our systems operate efficiently, reliably and at scale. 

Leading a team of Shift Managers, Inventory leaders, Testers and operational colleagues across a 24/7 operation, you'll create the conditions for exceptional performance, high system availability and continuous improvement. 

If you love solving complex operational challenges, leading high-performing teams and using data to drive decisions, this could be the perfect next step. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the Flow Room operation across a 24/7 automated fulfilment centre, ensuring the effective movement of inbound and outbound stock to deliver against customer promise and operational performance targets.  

• Own system performance, availability and throughput, using data, insight and continuous improvement to maximise reliability and efficiency across the automated operation.  

• Take end-to-end responsibility for the site's inventory proposition, ensuring exceptional stock accuracy, compliance and availability across more than 7 million units of stock.  

• Lead and develop high-performing operational teams, including Shift Managers, Inventory leaders and Testers, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.  

• Own the strategic relationship with KNAPP, holding partners accountable for service delivery, maintenance performance, system optimisation and agreed SLA and KPI outcomes.  

• Act as the senior lead for incident control and operational escalation, ensuring issues are managed quickly and effectively, with clear communication and minimal disruption to customers and operations. 

About you

We're looking for someone who combines exceptional operational leadership with strong technical understanding and stakeholder management skills. 

You'll have: 

• Significant experience managing Flow Room or Control Room operations within a highly automated fulfilment or distribution environment. 

• Strong knowledge of warehouse automation systems, ideally KNAPP and KiSoft. 

• Experience working with Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) and Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). 

• A proven track record of leading large-scale inventory operations and delivering high levels of stock accuracy and compliance. 

• Experience managing software releases, integration testing and system change implementation. 

• Strong commercial awareness with experience managing third-party suppliers and holding partners accountable to performance measures. 

• Proven experience leading and developing teams within a fast-paced 24/7 operational environment. 

• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence, challenge and engage stakeholders at all levels. 

• A resilient and calm approach when managing incidents, operational challenges and competing priorities. 

• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data and turn insight into action. 
• A passion for continuous improvement and delivering better outcomes for customers, colleagues and the business.

Some of our benefits 

• Inclusive culture and environment, check out our Glassdoor reviews
• 30 days holiday + bank holidays
• LinkedIn learning access.
• Bonus potential (performance and business-related)
• Up to 25% discount on Very.co.uk
• Matched pension up to 6%
• More benefits can be found on our career site

How to apply 

Please note that the talent acquisition team are managing this vacancy directly, and if successful in securing this role, you will be required to undertake a credit, CIFAS, Right to Work checks and if a specific requirement of your role a DBS (criminal records) check. Should your application progress we require you to let the team know if there is anything you need to disclose in relation to any of these checks prior to them being undertaken, including any unspent criminal convictions.  

What happens next? 

Our talent acquisition team will be in touch if you’re successful so keep an eye on your emails! We’ll arrange a short call to learn more about you, as well as answer any questions you have. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll share your CV with the hiring manager to review. Our interview process is tailored to each role and can be in-person or held remotely.  

You can expect a two-stage interview process for this position:  

1st stage - An informal 30-minute video call with the hiring team to discuss your skills and relevant experience. This is a fantastic opportunity to find out more about the role and to ask any questions you may have.

2nd Stage – A one-hour formal on-site interview where you can expect both competency and technical questions. This will be held onsite.

As an inclusive employer please do let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.  

If you'd like to know more about our interviews, you can find out here. 

Diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities

We’re building a culture of everyday inclusion, and welcome applications from anyone who believes they can do the job. We don’t discriminate based on age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We want our recruitment process to be accessible to everyone. If you need reasonable adjustments to apply, interview, or perform a role, let us know via talentacquisition@theverygroup.com. We’ll be happy to support you.

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer and have nine brilliant colleague networks - including DAWN (Disability Awareness at Very) and Think (Neurodiversity at Very) - that are helping us make Very an even more inclusive place to work.