Head of Warehouse

About Us

Hawes & Curtis is a quintessentially British heritage brand with a legacy in luxury shirting, fine tailoring, and stylish casualwear. With a strong reputation for quality and timeless design, we are proud to dress the modern gentleman and woman with impeccable craftsmanship and style.

The Role

Hawes & Curtis is looking for an experienced and commercially minded Head of Warehouse Operations & Fulfilment to lead our multi-brand warehouse operation. We are looking for someone who can critically assess how the operation currently works, identify inefficiencies and implement a more productive, technology-led and scalable operating model. You will take full ownership of warehouse operations across ecommerce fulfilment, retail store replenishment, goods-in, inventory, picking and packing, dispatch and returns.

Key Responsibilities

Warehouse Operations

• Establish daily, weekly and monthly warehouse performance reporting.
• Take full accountability for inbound, receiving, QC, put-away, replenishment, picking, packing and dispatch.
• Analyse ecommerce orders, store replenishment requirements, deliveries, returns and seasonal peaks to determine required staffing levels.
• Ensure warehouse management has clear visibility of workload, available hours and expected output each day.
• Introduce structured daily planning and warehouse management meetings.
• Plan inbound deliveries with suppliers and Merchandising, including booking slots, handling container and hanging deliveries, and hitting dock-to-stock targets.
• Design and maintain efficient layouts and slotting strategies that reflect sales velocity, seasonality and GOH versus boxed storage.
• Manage wave and batch picking to meet carrier cut-offs and same-day dispatch promises.
• Set up clear escalation and prioritisation for event-critical orders (for example, orders with a wedding date within 7 days).
• Run the daily operational rhythm, including shift briefings, performance huddles and end-of-day reviews.

Warehouse Transformation

• Conduct a complete review of the existing warehouse operation, including processes, staffing, management structure, systems and warehouse layout.
• Identify inefficiencies, processes, duplicated responsibilities and opportunities to simplify the operation.
• Develop and implement a new warehouse operating structure with clearly defined roles, responsibilities and new technology
• Introduce improved working practices designed to increase output while controlling costs.
• Build an operation that can support significantly greater sales volumes

Technology, Systems, & Automations

• Identify opportunities to improve warehouse efficiency through technology, automation and better use of data.
• Assess WMS functionality, handheld scanners, barcode processes, picking technology, inventory management, replenishment systems, carrier integrations, automated packing and labelling, workforce management software and warehouse reporting.
• Develop business cases for technology or automation investments where they can demonstrably improve productivity, accuracy or labour efficiency.
• Work closely with IT, ecommerce, merchandising and other departments to ensure warehouse systems integrate effectively with the wider business.

Ecommerce Fulfilment

• Take responsibility for delivering a fast, accurate and cost-effective ecommerce fulfilment operation.
• Ensure customer orders are picked, packed and dispatched within agreed service levels.
• Improve warehouse processes to support increased ecommerce volumes and peak trading periods.
• Work with carriers and internal teams to improve delivery performance and reduce fulfilment costs.
• Run a fast, accurate returns process to protect margin and stock availability in a category with high returns rates.
• Manage international returns and duties reclaim where relevant.

Retail Store Replenishment

• Ensure stores receive the correct stock accurately and efficiently.
• Improve store replenishment processes and communication between the warehouse, merchandising and retail teams.
• Ensure stock transfers, replenishment and store requirements are processed within agreed timelines.
• Deliver store replenishment accurately and on schedule, including new season launches, transfers and size-run top-ups.
• Work with Merchandising and Retail Operations on allocation logic, delivery schedules and floor-ready presentation (tagged, hung, security-tagged).
• Manage inter-store transfers and stock recalls for markdown, seasonal changeover or quality issues.

Inventory & Stock Accuracy

• Take ownership of warehouse inventory accuracy.
• Introduce robust cycle-counting and stock-control procedures.
• Investigate stock discrepancies and implement preventative measures.
• Improve stock location management, replenishment and put-away processes.
• Reduce lost, damaged and incorrectly located stock.
• Analyse returns data by reason, product, size and supplier, and share insights with Buying, Product and E-commerce to reduce preventable returns.

Essential Requirements

• Significant warehouse and fulfilment leadership experience.
• Experience within fashion, apparel, retail, ecommerce or another high-volume consumer business.
• Experience managing an omnichannel warehouse supporting both ecommerce and retail stores.
• Demonstrable experience restructuring warehouse operations.
• Strong workforce planning experience.
• Experience with warehouse KPIs and productivity measurement.
• Strong knowledge of Warehouse Management Systems.
• Experience implementing new warehouse technology or automation.
• Strong inventory and stock-control knowledge.
• Experience managing significant warehouse teams.
• Experience managing seasonal and peak trading periods.
• Strong commercial understanding of warehouse costs and cost-per-order economics.

Skills & Attributes

• Strategic thinker, able to look beyond day-to-day operations and plan for long-term growth.
• Ability to streamline operations and make changes where necessary, with the confidence to challenge established ways of working.
• Proven track record of people management and of delivering measurable efficiency improvements.
• Able to work under pressure and consistently deliver the brand's objectives.
• Strong understanding of warehouse and distribution management systems.
• Awareness of AI solutions and the judgement to apply them where they add value to the operation.

*Please note this role is based on-site in our warehouse in Enfield, England