Curious · inferredFractional COOManchester, England, United Kingdom
Full-time COO, Adanola
FULL-TIME COO JOB · RETAIL APPAREL AND FASHION SECTOR · MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
Full-time Chief Operations Officer role at a fast-growing e-commerce fashion brand (Adanola, 51–200 staff). You own four major logistics verticals—fulfilment, final mile, returns, intake—reporting to the Finance & Operations Director. The role demands deep hands-on leadership: 3PL governance, carrier procurement, process design in NetSuite, cross-border ops (UK/US), and vendor relationship management. Not fractional.
Not explicitly fractional
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Full-time COO — the posting in full
~/original-posting · verbatimsource: fantastic-jobs
What the posting asks · quoted from the listing
- Must-have
Demonstrable experience at a senior level in operations, ideally within a high-growth e-commerce or consumer brand
- Must-have
Experience across more than one ops vertical (inbound logistics, fulfilment, returns, or final mile)
- Must-have
Strong 3PL, freight forwarder, and carrier relationship management — including commercial negotiations
- Must-have
Fluency in NetSuite as a process owner
- Must-have
A track record of building and embedding processes in a fast-moving environment
- Must-have
Cross-border operations experience across UK and US
- Must-have
Familiarity with incoterms, import documentation, and customs processes
- Must-have
You are structured and data-led
- Must-have
You lead and influence effectively without relying on a formal reporting line, communicating with clarity at all levels from partner conversations to internal stakeholders
- Must-have
You take ownership instinctively
Head of Operations
Application Deadline: 30 October 2026
Department: Finance & Operations
Employment Type: Full Time
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
Why Adanola?
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!
Some of the benefits we offer our employees:
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
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The roleWhat it asksA certificationYears askedSkills the listing names
- 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
- Operations management
- Logistics
- Fulfilment
- Supply chain management
- NetSuite
- Carrier management
- Freight forwarding
- Process improvement
- Financial forecasting
- SLA governance
- Reverse logistics
- Data analysis
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