Head of Dispatch

About the role

You'll own dispatch end to end — the people, the process, the quality standard and the numbers. You'll report to the Commercial Director and sit alongside our Head Grower, Head of Production and Head of Development in the group that runs this business. Dispatch is the final check before our name goes on a truck. You'll assess, measure and rebuild the current dispatch process, establishing the baseline that everything else is judged against. From there, you'll help specify, commission and run a conveyor-based dispatch system, and you'll have a real voice in what comes next: automated grading, systems integration, and how the work itself is designed.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and develop the dispatch team — rostering, training, maintaining standards and the day-to-day rhythm of getting orders out the door

• Ensure orders are dispatched on-time, in-full and accurately

• Manage the final quality gate: what ships, what doesn't, and hold that line when the pressure is on

• Manage freight — carrier relationships, cost per consignment, transit outcomes, and the paperwork behind it

• Measure and improve labour hours per unit and cost to dispatch

• Work with Sales, Production and Growing so that what's promised, what's grown and what's picked line up

About you

• Have actually led a team — hired, trained, held high standards, had the hard conversations, and had people stay

• Know what your operation costs per unit are, can improve them and provide evidence of the progress

• Have truly implemented process change in a workplace environment, not on a whiteboard

• Take pride in doing things properly, including when nobody's watching

• Are comfortable in a hands-on environment — you'll be outdoors, on the floor, in the weather, and close to the work

• Inspire your team and treat them with respect – take them along with you rather than dragging them

• Experience with WMS/ERP systems, forklift or machinery tickets, and exposure to automation projects are welcome

About us

Proteaflora is one of Australia's leading specialist wholesale nurseries. From the hills of the Dandenong Ranges, we grow proteas, banksias and Australian wildflowers, supplying garden centres, landscapers, major retail and commercial growers across the country. We produce over 500,000 premium plants every year, and our reputation extends well beyond Australia, with partnerships spanning Italy, South Africa, Japan and the United States. We're a business in the middle of real change: new ERP and systems, a serious push on process and productivity, and a capital program that will reshape how dispatch physically works.

Benefits

• A senior role with genuine scope: your team, your budget, your standard, your call

• Senior-level salary package reflecting the responsibility, negotiated on experience

• Permanent, year-round work — no seasonal layoffs

• A seat in the leadership group of a 50-year-old business that is actively investing in its future

• The chance to lead a significant automation and process program from the front, not to inherit someone else's

• Work in a natural environment most people only visit on weekends: a working nursery in the Dandenong Ranges, surrounded by some of the most striking plants in Australia