Fast Track to Leadership - Supply Chain & Operations Traineeship

The Fast Track to Leadership - Supply Chain & Operations Traineeship will start again in March 2021! Apply before October 25th, 2020. Not ready to apply yet? The next edition will start in September 2021.

Where you fit in

Picnic is growing fast! Within five years, we’ve grown from 8 to 4,000 employees, from 0 to 500,000 customers and we’ve gone international! We’re now operating in the Netherlands and Germany and who knows which countries will be next. Do you want to build the future of logistics with us, boost your career and get international experience? Then apply to Picnic’s international Fast Track to Leadership in Supply Chain & Operations, starting in March 2021.

During this leadership program, you’ll dive into all operational aspects of Picnic, and we’ll coach you to become a true leader in one of our Fulfilment Centers. A Fulfilment what? A Fulfilment Center (FC) is the nerve center of our operations. It’s where Shoppers assemble orders for our customers, before dispatching them to a Hub from which we drive the goods in our electric vehicles to our customers. Up to 500 people work in an FC, and we’re looking for someone to lead them! We currently have Fulfilment Centers in Utrecht (NL), Apeldoorn (NL), Diemen (NL), Rotterdam (NL), Eindhoven (NL), Viersen (DE) and Herne (DE), and we'll be opening more in the near future.

Not convinced yet? In 2 years you will learn everything you need to know to become a great operations manager in 2 countries! You'll develop all kinds of soft-skills, such as strategic communication, your own leadership style, providing constructive feedback and managing projects from A to Z, to the most effective hard-skills, by training yourself on our tech and analytical tools. Think this is just another traineeship? It’s not! Are you ready for the challenge?

What challenges await you

Year 1

You start the program strong with an extensive onboarding, where you get to rotate between various teams such as the Distribution team and the Customer Success team. You will also do a tour across all Picnic FCs. Once you’ve completed the onboarding, you move to one FC (your base for the rest of the year) where you take on all possible roles in the FC to get a complete overview of what happens. At the same time, you are coached by experienced team members and mentors, you follow supply chain-related workshops from Picnic experts, and you attend classes and workshops all focusing on leadership skills. Eventually, you’ll be in charge of the entire process in your FC a few times a week during supervisor shifts, which require a strong sense of responsibility. On top of that, you will start coaching a team in your FC. Later this year you will use your insights from the floor to work on improvement projects within your FC, such as implementing new electronic picking carts or organizing a daily standup. You will also get an introduction in HR: how to deliver feedback, recruit and interview our personnel. You will definitely improve your people skills this year!

You are always in control of your own development, so together, we build your personalized program. Periodically, you meet with your team lead and discuss which next step is best for you.

Year 2

After you’ve mastered the skill of leading an FC and looked at improvements within your FC, it’s time to focus on improving the entire supply chain and getting some international experience! You will spend this year partially abroad.

You will rotate to an FC abroad. We’re now operating in the Netherlands and Germany and who knows which countries will be added by the moment you enter your second year. You can be sure you have mastered your leadership skills when you can be an effective leader in another language! With the experience gained in the first year, you will surely be able to bring insightful knowledge to this FC. What comes around goes around, as you will also definitely learn a thing or two from your colleagues abroad.

Besides your international adventure, you will start working on projects. These projects can focus on any area within our supply chain - from optimizing our purchasing orders to managing our trunking system. You can use your inside knowledge and data-driven project management skills to help Picnic’s supply chain to the next level. We call ourselves ‘Tech’s answer to groceries’ for a reason…

What happens when you finish this promising Fast Track? You will be an experienced Operations Manager and might become a Fulfilment Center Lead soon! Or you could explore other (supply chain) options within Picnic.

Who you are

• Master’s degree graduate, preferably in Logistics, Supply Chain, Management or Engineering
• 0 - 2 years of work experience
• Preferably already some experience in a leadership position
• Fluent in English; German and Dutch for bonus points
• Excited to get started with a very hands-on job in operations; you are not afraid to get your hands dirty!
• Drive: with a get-up-and-go attitude, you’re ready at 6 A.M.
• Looking for a company where you can make an impact and grow with the company

Important dates

• Application deadline: October 25th, 2020
• Video interviews will be scheduled during Nov 9 - 12, 2020
• The selection days will be in Herne, Germany on November 17th and 18th and in Utrecht, the Netherlands on November 19th and 20th 2020
• Start of the Fast Track: March 2021
• Good to know: the COVID-19 virus will not impact the scheduled start of the Fast Track in March 2021! We will inform you later if the selection days can take place in the original set-up, or with an alternative, perhaps digital, set-up.

The application process will be as follows:

• Apply with CV and video pitch (video pitch instructions can be found in the application form below)
• Online assessment
• Video interview
• Selection Day

Do you have any questions remaining? Feel free to send an email to recruiter Nikki (NL) or Julius (DE). Check out this video to get a good impression of what the Fast Track looks like.

Tip: read the story of current Fast Track to Leadership trainee Stefan Tjeerdsma!