Inventory Control Manager

foodpanda is part of the Delivery Hero Group, the world’s pioneering local delivery platform, our mission is to deliver an amazing experience—fast, easy, and to your door. We operate in around 65 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Delivery Hero has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2017 and is part of the MDAX stock market index.

Job Ref ID: JR0088561 

Location: Karachi, Lahore & Islamabad

Role Purpose

The Inventory Control Manager leads inventory integrity, governance and loss prevention across the country’s QCommerce network. The role ensures that physical stock, inventory systems and financial records are accurate and reconciled, with effective controls across every stage of inventory movement.

Working closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Commercial and Finance, the manager identifies inventory risks, investigates losses and drives corrective actions to closure. The role translates regional inventory control standards into consistent local execution, with clear ownership and measurable improvements in stock accuracy, shrinkage and expiry.

 

Key Responsibilities

1. Inventory Governance & Financial Reconciliation

• Establish and enforce inventory policies, standard operating procedures and approval controls across all owned and 3PL facilities.

• Ensure inventory movements are recorded accurately and promptly in warehouse management systems (WMS), enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and financial records.

• Lead inventory sub-ledger-to-General Ledger reconciliations in partnership with Finance, resolving discrepancies to support timely month-end close.

• Validate stock adjustments against physical verification, appropriate reason codes, supporting evidence and required approvals.

• Maintain clear accountability and audit trails for inventory movements, adjustments and write-offs.

2. Stock Accuracy & Transaction Controls

• Own the country stocktake and cycle count programme, including risk-based schedules, count integrity, variance investigation and approved adjustments.

• Reconcile dispatch and receipt quantities for stock transfers, resolving discrepancies and overdue transfers.

• Monitor reserved stock and sales buffers against agreed rules, working with Operations to resolve exceptions and release eligible stock.

• Oversee supplier returns from authorization and physical stock movement through to collection and credit-note reconciliation.

• Conduct site audits and verify that corrective actions address the underlying control gaps.

3. Shrinkage, Expiry & Inventory Risk

• Analyse shrinkage, expiry and damage by site, SKU and root cause; assign corrective actions and track their effectiveness.

• Investigate unknown losses and challenge unsupported adjustments, write-offs and loss claims.

• Verify physical expiry dates against system records and adherence to first-expiry-first-out (FEFO) processes.

• Identify near-expiry, high Days-on-Hand (DOH), zero-moving and slow-moving stock; coordinate clearance, returns and transfers with Planning, Commercial and Operations.

• Ensure eligible supplier and 3PL claims are pursued before losses are written off.

• Escalate material inventory risks with a clear assessment of exposure, recommended action, accountable owner and resolution date.

4. Warehouse & 3PL Assurance

• Monitor compliance with inventory SLAs, including stock accuracy, reconciliation timelines, adjustment turnaround and shrinkage targets.

• Validate 3PL stock records, investigate discrepancies and challenge loss claims using contractual terms and supporting evidence.

• Serve as the primary escalation point for inventory disputes across Operations, Finance and 3PL partners.

• Drive consistent controls across receiving, storage, picking, dispatch, returns and disposal.

5. Systems & Process Improvement

• Define inventory control requirements for system enhancements and lead functional user acceptance testing, pilot validation and post-launch reviews.

• Govern inventory-critical master data, including units of measure, expiry parameters and FEFO settings, and coordinate cost-data validation with Finance.

• Work with Technology and operational teams to resolve system issues affecting stock integrity.

• Improve reporting and automate exception detection, reconciliation and control monitoring where practical.

6. Leadership & Performance Management

• Lead cross-functional inventory reviews, securing clear owners, deadlines and evidence of action closure.

• Provide the Country GM and regional Inventory Control team with actionable reporting on losses, stock accuracy, financial exposure and control compliance.

• Build inventory control capability through training, coaching and consistent application of standards.

Operating Cadence

• Daily: Review stock adjustments, unexplained losses, transfer discrepancies, supplier returns, reserved stock, sales buffers and expiry exceptions; assign owners and escalate overdue actions.

• Weekly: Review cycle count compliance, shrinkage drivers, ageing inventory, site audit findings and progress against corrective actions.

• Monthly: Complete inventory reconciliations with Finance, validate write-offs and outstanding claims, review 3PL performance and report inventory risks and improvement results to leadership.

Success Measures

• Inventory accuracy and cycle count compliance.

• Reduction in unknown shrinkage, expiry and damage.

• Timely reconciliation and resolution of discrepancies.

• Adjustment compliance and corrective-action closure.

• Recovery of eligible supplier and 3PL claims.

• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Finance or a related discipline.

• At least five years of relevant experience in inventory control, warehouse operations or supply chain auditing within retail, FMCG, e-commerce or darkstore environments.

• Strong knowledge of stock reconciliation, financial inventory controls, stocktakes and 3PL governance.

• Hands-on experience with WMS/ERP platforms, such as SAP, and analytical tools such as Looker, BigQuery or equivalent.

• Proven ability to improve inventory accuracy, reduce unexplained losses and resolve recurring process gaps.

• Strong analytical, investigation and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to challenge discrepancies and drive accountability across teams.