Logistics Manager

A hands-on senior role that sets the strategic direction for Tala's omnichannel logistics across the UK, EU and US, and builds the systems and team that run it.

About Tala

Tala is a British lighting company, founded in 2015 by three friends from Edinburgh University and now headquartered in London. We design premium LED bulbs, fixtures and lamps in London and make them with long-standing manufacturing partners. We're a certified B Corp.

Our mission: to create lighting of enduring quality, rooted in British design excellence and made for healthier living.

We're omnichannel: our own websites in the UK, Europe and the US; Tala Pro, our trade programme for designers and architects; major retailers in the UK and US; and bespoke partnership projects. Growing B2B (trade, retail and partnerships) is a priority. We have 400+ products and three 3PL warehouses in Milton Keynes, the Netherlands and Charlotte, North Carolina.

We're a small team that builds systems before adding people. Our stack is NetSuite, Shopify, Celigo, SPS Commerce (EDI), Gorgias and Claude, and we use AI every day.

The role

Logistics is the part of Tala we most need to scale. We're omnichannel and pushing hard on B2B, with volume growing across three regions and three warehouses. Every channel (web, trade, retail, dropship and partnership projects) has its own rules, deadlines and costs. You'll be the senior leader who sets the logistics strategy, runs the warehouse and carrier relationships, and builds the systems that let a small team handle that growth without adding people at the same rate.

• Reports to: Head of Operations
• You lead: the logistics team
• You work closely with: supply chain (inbound and stock planning), customer service, sales, finance and our systems partners
• Location: UK, hybrid, ideally 2 days a week in our London office
• Hours: 40 hours per week, 9am to 6pm UK time

How you'll work

• Hands-on and strategic. You set the strategic direction for logistics and make the big calls, and you do the work yourself. You'll be in the data, the systems and the warehouse issues, not managing from a distance.
• A builder. You build systems before you add people. You're at home in our systems every day and technical enough to work in code at a high level: SQL, APIs, scripts and integrations, using AI to build and fix things.
• The AI strategy is yours. You own the AI strategy for logistics: where agents and automation take on the work, how they're built and run, and the efficiency they deliver.

What you'll own

Strategic direction

• Own the strategic direction for logistics and set the 12 to 24-month plan for the UK, EU and US: where stock sits, which warehouse serves which orders, and when the network should change.

Omnichannel and B2B

• Run logistics as one omnichannel operation across web, Tala Pro trade, retail, dropship and partnership projects, with the right rules for each channel.
• Build the logistics that drive B2B growth: fast retailer onboarding and compliance, reliable wholesale and project deliveries, and lead times our sales team can promise.

Warehouse and carrier relationships

• Own our 3PL partner across all three sites, day to day and commercially: SLAs, rate cards, contracts, business reviews and escalations.
• Manage carriers, freight forwarders and customs brokers, and negotiate better rates as volume grows.

Order to delivery

• Maximise orders shipped and delivered on time, and drive exceptions down, across web, trade, retail and dropship.
• Own dispatch performance against our SLAs for every channel.
• Keep retailer compliance clean (EDI, advance shipping notices, packing slips, labelling and routing guides) so we avoid chargebacks.
• Make sure customers hear about a delay before they need to chase us.

Inbound, stock and returns

• Own receiving, stock accuracy between the warehouses and NetSuite, cycle counts and returns processing.
• Run stock transfers between regions with the right customs paperwork.

Cost to serve

• Review warehouse and freight bills every month, know our cost per order by channel and region, and bring it down.

AI strategy and systems

• Own the AI strategy for logistics: decide where agents and automation take on the work, then build and run them yourself.
• Build and improve the systems behind logistics: NetSuite workflows and saved searches, Celigo integrations, warehouse APIs, EDI and dashboards.
• Use AI tools such as Claude every day to automate manual work, analyse data and build tools, so people only handle the exceptions.

The team

• Lead and develop the logistics team, set clear standards and weekly KPIs, run the weekly logistics meeting, and train the team to use the systems and AI you build.

Your first 30 days

We move fast. In your first 30 days we expect you to:

• Meet the warehouse, carrier and broker teams at each site, and review every open issue.
• Reset the baseline for dispatch SLA, on-time delivery, exceptions, stock accuracy, cost per order and chargebacks.
• Get every order that can ship out of the door on time, across every channel, and cut the exceptions that need a person to step in.
• Set the strategic direction: a 12-month logistics plan covering stock placement, cost to serve and warehouse performance, plus an AI and automation roadmap.
• Have your first automations live, for example stock reconciliation or returns receipting.
• Put a weekly KPI pack in front of the business that it trusts.

What you'll bring

• 3+ years as a logistics manager or in a similar role, including running 3PL relationships for an omnichannel consumer brand that sells online, to trade and to retailers.
• You've set a logistics strategy and delivered it yourself, hands-on.
• Experience across the UK, EU and US, including customs after Brexit.
• You've negotiated warehouse and carrier contracts, and you can read a 3PL bill line by line.
• You're a builder. You've built tools, automations or integrations yourself, not just specified them, and you can show us one.
• Technical and at home in systems: an ERP (NetSuite ideally), an integration tool (Celigo or similar) and EDI. Comfortable with SQL or SuiteQL, APIs and scripting, and you can read and write code at a high level with AI.
• You use AI every day, and you've used it to take real manual work out of a process.
• You write down how things work, communicate clearly and directly, and stay calm with partners when things go wrong.

Nice to have: retailer EDI compliance (856, 940, 945), dangerous goods shipping (lithium batteries), lighting, homeware or furniture, Shopify, and leading a logistics function through fast growth.

How we'll measure success

• Orders dispatched within SLA, by channel and by site.
• Exceptions per 100 orders, trending down.
• On-time, in-full delivery for trade, retail and partnership orders, and the chargebacks we avoid.
• Stock accuracy between the warehouses and NetSuite.
• Cost per order, and freight cost as a share of revenue.
• Returns receipted within 5 working days.
• Customers chasing us about delivery.
• The share of logistics work handled by automation and AI rather than by people, and the hours it saves.

Our ethos

• Take risks. Bold ideas shape the future of lighting, safe ones don't.
• Innovate. Use technology for real benefit, not for novelty.
• Best idea wins. Decisions backed by insight, not ego, regardless of department or seniority.
• Love it. Led by instinct and authenticity. If we love the idea, it will resonate.
• Build + learn. If a challenge calls for it, learn the skill and go for it, creative or technical.

Process

A 15-minute intro call, a 1-hour formal interview including a task based on a real Tala logistics problem, then a final 30-minute culture interview.

Salary and benefits

• £40,000 to £55,000 per year, depending on experience
• 25 days holiday plus one wellness day
• Welcome Tala gift and generous staff discounts
• Career progression within a high-growth start-up
• Work within a passionate team dedicated to design and sustainability
• Opportunity to represent a leading brand in the lighting industry
• Join a Certified B Corporation®