Inventory Control Manager
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Posted 3 days ago
About the role
Job Summary
The Inventory Control Manager is responsible for maintaining accurate inventory records, ensuring product availability, controlling stock movement, minimizing wastage and losses, and improving inventory efficiency across stores and storage locations.
The role manages the complete inventory cycle, including receiving, inspection, storage, transfers, stock counts, reconciliation, ageing control, replenishment, and reporting. The position works closely with purchasing, sales, finance, store, e-commerce, and logistics teams.
Key Responsibilities
Inventory Management
- Maintain accurate inventory records across all locations and sales channels.
- Monitor receipts, issues, transfers, returns, adjustments, damages, and wastage.
- Ensure every stock movement is supported by approved documentation and recorded promptly.
- Monitor stock availability and coordinate timely replenishment.
- Establish minimum, maximum, safety-stock, and reorder levels.
- Identify fast-moving, slow-moving, ageing, excess, and obsolete inventory.
- Prevent overstocking, understocking, duplicate ordering, and stockouts.
- Ensure appropriate stock-rotation methods are followed.
- Maintain clear product codes, descriptions, categories, units of measure, and barcodes.
Receiving and Quality Control
- Supervise the receipt and inspection of incoming products.
- Verify received quantities against purchase orders, invoices, and delivery notes.
- Ensure product quality and specifications meet company requirements.
- Record shortages, excess quantities, damages, quality concerns, and incorrect deliveries.
- Coordinate discrepancies and rejected items with purchasing and suppliers.
- Ensure accepted stock is recorded and stored promptly.
- Maintain complete receiving and quality-control documentation.
Storage and Stock Handling
- Ensure stock is organized, labelled, stored, and protected correctly.
- Establish defined storage locations and bin-management procedures.
- Monitor storage conditions and escalate equipment or temperature issues.
- Ensure proper handling to prevent damage, deterioration, contamination, and loss.
- Maintain clean, safe, secure, and accessible storage areas.
- Control access to inventory and high-value products.
- Ensure stock is issued only against authorized requests or confirmed orders.
Stock Counts and Reconciliation
- Plan and supervise daily checks, cycle counts, monthly counts, and annual physical inventory.
- Prepare count schedules and assign responsibilities.
- Ensure independent verification and accurate count documentation.
- Compare physical quantities with ERP, POS, and inventory-system balances.
- Investigate variances and identify their root causes.
- Submit stock adjustments for approval with supporting evidence.
- Implement corrective measures to prevent recurring discrepancies.
- Coordinate inventory reconciliation with the Finance team.
Wastage and Loss Control
- Monitor product age, condition, and remaining saleable life.
- Identify stock requiring priority sale, transfer, return, or disposal.
- Review all damage, wastage, expiry, shrinkage, and disposal records.
- Ensure write-offs and disposals receive proper approval.
- Analyse the causes of losses and recommend preventive action.
- Work with sales and purchasing teams to reduce excess and ageing inventory.
- Establish measurable wastage and shrinkage-reduction targets.
Demand Planning and Replenishment
- Analyse sales history, confirmed orders, seasonal demand, lead times, and stock movement.
- Prepare inventory requirements and replenishment recommendations.
- Coordinate with purchasing to ensure appropriate order quantities and delivery timing.
- Review stock coverage and identify potential shortages or excess inventory.
- Support planning for promotions, peak periods, and major customer orders.
- Improve forecast accuracy through regular review of actual sales and consumption.
- Balance product availability with inventory holding costs and wastage risks.
Systems and Data Control
- Ensure inventory transactions are entered accurately and on time.
- Maintain accurate master data, including SKUs, units, costs, barcodes, and locations.
- Ensure inventory balances are synchronized across ERP, POS, website, and marketplace systems.
- Investigate system integration errors and coordinate their resolution.
- Restrict unauthorized stock adjustments and monitor unusual transactions.
- Develop inventory dashboards, exception reports, and automated alerts.
- Ensure proper document retention and audit trails.
Team Management
- Supervise inventory controllers, receivers, storekeepers, and warehouse employees where applicable.
- Assign responsibilities and monitor daily performance.
- Train employees on receiving, storage, stock rotation, documentation, and counting procedures.
- Ensure compliance with company policies and internal controls.
- Promote accuracy, accountability, safety, and proper product handling.
- Conduct performance reviews and provide ongoing coaching.
- Coordinate appropriate staffing for stock counts and peak periods.
Cross-Functional Coordination
- Work with Purchasing to resolve supplier and receiving discrepancies.
- Coordinate with Sales and E-commerce to maintain accurate stock availability.
- Support store and order-fulfilment teams with timely stock transfers and releases.
- Work with Logistics on incoming shipments, dispatches, and inter-location transfers.
- Coordinate with Finance on inventory valuation, adjustments, and reconciliation.
- Provide management with recommendations concerning stock levels, losses, and process improvements.
AI and Process Improvement
- Use approved AI and analytical tools to identify demand patterns, stock risks, unusual transactions, and replenishment opportunities.
- Automate routine inventory reports, low-stock alerts, ageing reports, and variance analysis where appropriate.
- Use data analysis to improve forecasts, order quantities, stock allocation, and inventory turnover.
- Identify and implement process improvements that increase accuracy and reduce manual work.
- Verify AI-generated analysis before using it for operational decisions.
- Protect supplier, customer, pricing, cost, and company information when using AI tools.
Reporting
- Prepare daily, weekly, and monthly inventory reports.
- Report stock availability, inventory value, ageing, turnover, and days of stock.
- Track receiving discrepancies, stock adjustments, damages, wastage, shrinkage, and write-offs.
- Report stock-count results and variance investigations.
- Highlight potential shortages, excess inventory, system issues, and operational risks.
- Present corrective-action plans and monitor their implementation.
Qualifications and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business Administration, Accounting, or a related discipline.
- At least 4–6 years of experience in inventory control, warehousing, or supply-chain operations.
- At least 1–2 years of experience in a supervisory or managerial role.
- Experience managing perishable or time-sensitive inventory is strongly preferred.
- Proficiency in ERP, inventory-management, POS, and warehouse-management systems.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel and data-analysis skills.
- Experience with barcode systems, cycle counting, demand planning, and stock reconciliation.
- Practical knowledge of AI-assisted analysis and automation tools is an advantage.
Pay: AED3,000.00 - AED8,000.00 per month
Work Location: In person