Freight and Distribution Manager
Abbott Laboratories · Australia
About Abbott
Abbott is a global healthcare leader, creating breakthrough science to improve people’s health. We’re always looking towards the future, anticipating changes in medical science and technology.
Working at Abbott
At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. You will have access to:
- Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
- A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
- A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.
The Opportunity
We are currently looking for an experienced Freight and Distribution Manager to join our team based in Macquarie Park. In this role you will be responsible for leading, developing, implementing and continuously improving a best-in-class freight and distribution organisation for our medical devices business across Australia and New Zealand.
Overall responsibilities include managing projects and activities relating to import/export, order to delivery, supervising and managing warehouse operations and third-party vendors in an efficient and cost-effective manner following all levels of compliance
What You’ll Do
- Fully responsible for the logistics and warehouse operations in the country.
- Acts as a primary interface between field customers and other key internal stake holders.
- Redefines systems, processes and organisational structures in order to achieve warehouse efficiencies and financial savings.
- Develop strategies for improving operation efficiencies while improving service levels and optimising inventory levels as well as operation costs.
- Cooperate with local management for all initiatives implementation in the country.
- Collaborate with other functions such as sales/marketing, finance, RA/QA and IT to intergrade business process and develop solutions.
- Establish key performance metrics and benchmarks relating to logistics and warehousing processes/operations, measure actual performance against goals on regular basis and present results to senior management.
- Achieve financial objectives by preparing an annual budget, scheduling expenditures, analyzing variances, and initiating corrective actions.
- Develop and implement freight and distribution policies, procedures/SOPs and ensure 100% compliance.
- Apply continuous improvement tools to identify and eliminate the root causes of issues that may arise within the warehouse including managing corrective action.
- Ensure adherence to all relevant Quality Management System requirements, including ISO and internal Abbott Quality policies.
- Partner with QA to maintain validated processes for storage, transport, and product handling, ensuring full traceability and compliance across all freight and warehouse activities.
- Manage and audit 3PL and transport partners to verify compliance with contractual, safety, and quality standards. Lead, develop and manage an effective, engaged and motivated team.
- Coordinate and oversee employee training and development and equipping with the resources available at Abbott to support their career.
What we are looking for
- Extensive experience working in highly regulated warehousing environment
- Bachelor's degree in supply chain or a related field, or equivalent preferred
- 3PL / Vendor / Service Provider Management experience
- ERP usage experience / ERP-WMS interfacing experience
- Proficient in SAP, Excel and reporting tools
- Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making skills
- Proven ability to lead and motivate a team, with a focus on continuous improvement and employee development
- Effective communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to liaise with cross-functional teams
- Familiarity with relevant industry regulations and safety standards
- Adaptable and flexible, with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment