End-to-End Logistics Manager for SMB

How to hire a Logistics Manager for your SMB

Before you write the job posting, settle three framing questions. They determine which profile you actually need and help you avoid the most common scope errors at German SMBs. From 30 staff in warehousing, shipping and transport onward, the Logistics Manager is a standalone function at an SMB, and the hire structures the company’s supply chain and compliance responsibility for at least 5 years.

Question 1:
Logistics Manager, Warehouse Manager or Supply Chain Manager? The three roles overlap in part but are not equivalent. The Warehouse Manager steers the operational running of the warehouse (goods receipt, putaway, picking, packing, dispatch) and is deep in people and process leadership inside the warehouse. The Logistics Manager steers the site’s end-to-end responsibility (warehousing plus shipping plus transport plus inventory plus carrier steering plus compliance) and is anchored commercially and cross-functionally.

The Supply Chain Manager role extends the scope strategically and usually across a corporate group to demand planning, sourcing strategy, network design and S&OP across several sites. Blending the three in one ad produces a scope mismatch and attracts heterogeneous applications. Pin the function down in the title itself:
Logistikleiter:in (m/w/d), not a versatile warehouse-and-shipping profile, which says nothing.

Question 2:
What site size and what logistics mix? At an SMB the perimeter of a Logistics Manager varies considerably with site size and business model. Pure e-commerce dispatch with 4,500 parcels per month demands different instincts than B2B groupage shipping with 600 shipments per month or production logistics with just-in-time line supply. List the site size (staff, warehouse space), the shipment mix (parcel vs.

groupage vs. direct transport) and the business model (trade, industry, consumer goods, mechanical engineering, pharma) explicitly in the ad. A profile with an e-commerce background does not have the same instincts as a profile with an industrial-logistics background (just-in-time, sequencing, supplier integration); recruiting without a clear description attracts applications that do not match the operational profile.

Question 3:
What maturity level of the supply-chain structures? At a German SMB you find two very different starting situations: a site with structures already established (an operational WMS in use, documented carrier tenders, regular KPI reporting, working Betriebsrat agreements), or a site that grew over recent years without dedicated steering and where the structures are patchy (an Excel WMS, contract renewals without a tender, a KPI vacuum, unresolved co‑determination topics).

The requirements differ fundamentally: in the first case you need an optimizer, in the second a fixer with change‑support experience. Specify the maturity level in the ad and test in the interview whether the profile fits it.

If the three answers converge on a mid-level Logistics Manager (5‑12 years of experience) for an SMB with 30‑150 logistics staff and a defined shipment structure, use the posting template below.

[Company name], an SMB in [industry] based in [city], [X] staff, [X] staff in logistics, [X] shipments per month, is looking for a Logistics Manager to run logistics end to end with a focus on [warehousing plus shipping plus transport / B2B groupage / e‑commerce dispatch / production logistics].

As Logistics Manager you steer the site’s entire logistics (warehousing, shipping, transport, inventory, carrier steering, compliance) for [30‑150] staff, [X] shipments per month and a freight volume of [X] M€ per year. You report to [management / the COO / the commercial lead] and work in close partnership with sales, procurement, production, finance, HR and the Betriebsrat.

• Steer the logistics KPIs: OTIF, freight‑cost ratio, inventory accuracy, warehouse productivity per hour, complaint rate. Monthly reporting to management with lever identification.
• Negotiate and manage the carrier contracts (tender, renewal, new appointment, carrier mix) with current partners [DHL, DB Schenker, Dachser,…