Wholesale Trade Operations Manager

At Elizabeth Scarlett, we exist to create joy, inspire wonder, and protect wildlife - using art and design to connect people to nature, and to one another. By 2030, our goal is to have contributed over £2 million to wildlife conservation.

As our Wholesale Trade Operations Manager, you will join a team that leads with kindness, dreams big and takes action together. You'll support our Wholesale Trade team to process orders flawlessly, and improve the systems that serve our bricks-and-mortar and online retail partners. The role covers day-to-day support through our peak trading period, as well as preparing the team for growth in 2027.

Reporting to:

Location:

Hybrid: 3-4 days in the office, depending on peak trading needs (November-December), and up to 5 days during special events

Employment type:
Full Time, Permanent

This role leads Wholesale Trade Operations for Elizabeth Scarlett across the UK and USA, owning the end-to-end wholesale process and fulfilment budgets. You'll make order fulfilment more accurate, efficient and resilient by getting retailer requirements right the first time, from production through to our Third Party Logistics (3PL) partners. You'll also improve stock allocation and build KPI reporting on delivery performance.

This hands-on role requires a solid understanding of wholesale logistics, including EDI, routing guides and retailer requirements. You'll lead the Trade Operations team (currently 2 people) and own wholesale trade relationships with our UK and US 3PLs and carriers. You'll work closely with the Operations Director, as well as the Production, Merchandising, Finance and Sales & Partnership teams. You'll set up Wholesale Operations for long-term success by developing the team, planning capacity and driving automation to support the growth planned for 2027 and beyond.

• Own the end-to-end wholesale process for the UK and USA - ensuring the 3PL receive, process and dispatch orders on time, and that every invoice is issued.
• Set and optimise order-processing workflows and Standard Operating Practices (SOPs) across retail partners, drop-ship programmes, distributor replenishment and special trade orders.
• Support your team to troubleshoot order issues, and implement root-cause solutions to prevent recurrence.
• Develop end-to-end OTIF reporting against wholesale customers' expectations, and identify the causes of delays and shortages.
• Lead peak season planning, including volume forecasts, 3PL capacity and readiness checklists.
• Build contingency playbooks for disruptions such as EDI failures, carrier issues, customs holds and retailer system outages.
• Deliver cost reductions without compromising service, with a clear view of how operational decisions affect margins.
• Lead your team to become experts in retailer routing guides, compliance manuals & vendor requirements, and build playbooks for key partners.
• Ensure compliance across carrier selection, delivery appointments, labelling, packing slips & shipment documentation, and record and raise any non-compliances.
• Work with Production to get retailer requirements right the first time at manufacture.
• Own chargeback tracking and investigation, and eliminate root causes.
• Through your team - manage wholesale returns (damaged goods claims, customer returns, end-of-season buybacks and bulk returns), coordinating authorisations and credits with Sales and Finance.
• Track return reasons to identify patterns and issues
• Own wholesale relationships with our UK and US 3PL partners - holding them accountable to wholesale SLAs through weekly and monthly reviews of OTIF , case pack accuracy, pallet quality, ASN compliance, and cost per case.
• Build escalation and…