Are you interested in joining a long-established supplier of building and engineering products?
Our Client is a long-established trade and retail Builders’ Merchants in Essex, with over 25 years’ experience supplying materials for landscaping, building, outdoor living, kitchens, heating, and more. They serve both trade customers (builders, landscapers) and keen DIY-ers. They pride themselves on friendly knowledgeable staff, great service, value, and having everything their customers need under one roof.
Role Purpose
The Yard Manager is responsible for the smooth, safe, efficient and profitable operation of the yard. This includes managing yard staff, inventory of outdoor / loose materials, timber and building supplies, coordinating logistics, maintaining site safety and order, and delivering excellent customer service to trade and retail customers visiting the yard.
Key Responsibilities
Operations & Yard Oversight
- Oversee daily operations in the yard: receipt of deliveries (e.g. aggregates, timber, bricks), off-loading, storage, and staging of materials for customer orders and dispatch.
- Ensure yard layout is well structured: stock zones (timber, blocks/bricks, loose materials, tools etc.) clearly organised, safe access for vehicles and customers.
- Manage lifting, shifting and loading activities to ensure speed without compromising safety.
- Monitor and manage yard equipment (forklifts, loaders, pallets etc.); ensure regular maintenance and safety checks.
Inventory & Materials Management
- Maintain accurate records of stock levels for all yard materials
- Optimise stock levels to balance customer demand vs cost of holding.
- Oversee quality of incoming materials (e.g. aggregates, timber) to ensure they meet specification. Reject defective stock.
- Manage returns, waste, overstock, or damaged goods.
Team Leadership & Staff Management
- Supervise a team of yard operatives and drivers. Hire, train, schedule, motivate, and evaluate staff.
- Ensure staff are fully aware of Health & Safety / COSHH / manual handling / PPE requirements and that practices are followed rigorously.
- Promote excellent customer service from yard staff; staff should assist trade customers, answering product questions, providing loading help, and ensuring smooth order fulfilment.
Health, Safety & Environmental Compliance
- Enforce safety procedures for yard operations, machinery operation, vehicle movement, stacking/storage of materials.
- Ensure compliance with regulations for hazardous materials (if applicable), environmental / waste handling.
- Ensure signage, PPE, and safe systems of work are in place and used correctly.
Planning & Continuous Improvement
- Monitor yard performance metrics: turnaround times, loading efficiency, stock losses/damage, customer wait times.
- Identify and implement improvements: layout adjustments, process changes, safety initiatives.
- Coordinate with other departments (sales, procurement, customer service) to ensure alignment (e.g. customers ordering via the sales team, or via trade accounts) and operational efficiency.
Skills, Experience & Qualifications
Required:
- Prior experience working in a builders' merchants, landscaping/building materials yard, or similar environment with loose materials, timber, etc.
- Experience managing a team.
- Good organisational skills and ability to prioritise.
- Practical understanding of health & safety requirements in such environments (manual handling, forklift / loader use, stacking, etc.).
- Good customer service orientation.
- Basic IT literacy (for stock records, order tracking).
Desirable:
Location/Area: Essex
Salary: Negotiable Basic Salary (dependent on experience)
Vacancy No. 5396
To apply or find out more:
Consultant: Hayley Reynolds
Tel. No. 01234 826450 ext 108
E-mail: hayley@srsuk.com
Website: www.srsuk.com
