Warehouse & Distribution Manager

About Penda Health

Founded in 2012, Penda Health is committed to delivering high-quality, trustworthy, and patient-centred healthcare to Kenyan families. With 19 medical centres located in neighbourhoods across Kenya—and a growing virtual care platform, Pigia Penda—we make quality healthcare accessible, affordable, and convenient.

At Penda, patients come first. We listen closely to patient feedback, invest in tech-enabled systems to improve care delivery, and work with trusted partners to build healthcare solutions for the future. Our licensed, caring, and friendly medical teams are dedicated to getting patients back on their feet as quickly as possible, without overpaying.

We’re also proud to be a great place to work—bringing together passionate local and international professionals who go above and beyond every day to serve individuals, families, and communities. If you believe healthcare should be human, reliable, and accessible, you’ll feel at home at Penda Health.

About the Role

We are looking for a Warehouse & Distribution Manager to lead Penda Health’s warehousing and outbound distribution operations, ensuring high-performance inventory management, compliance with Good Distribution Practices (GDP), and timely, accurate dispatch to all Medical Centres (MCs).

The role balances operational discipline with agile responsiveness in a dynamic healthcare environment, while maintaining exceptional internal stakeholder relationships—especially with the Pharmacist Superintendent and Medical Centre teams.

This role reports to the Head of Integrated Supply Chain and manages Inventory Supervisors, Warehouse Officers, and Logistics Assistants.

Key Responsibilities

• Culture & management

• You manage and motivate a high-performing team.

• You are a great teammate, reliable, consistent.

• You debate with people across the organisation and never use seniority to win a fight.

• You want to be part of the Penda story and show that by actively helping other parts of Penda.

• You handle conflict and feedback well and communicate and work well with others at Penda.

• Warehouse Operations Oversight:

• Oversee daily warehouse operations: inbound receiving, restocking, bin updates, packing, dispatch, and cold chain handling.

• Implement and sustain a structured weekly operating rhythm that balances receiving, dispatch and inventory reconciliation.

• Ensure rigorous adherence to inventory handling SOPs, including FEFO/FIFO, batch tracking, bin card accuracy, and quarantine protocols.

• Outbound Distribution & Logistics:

• Manage daily dispatch to 16+ Medical Centres grouped by route (Central/West/North and East/South), growing to serve up to 28 MCs over time.

• Through the supervisors, coordinate with Logistics Assistants for timely dispatch prep, vehicle loading, route optimisation, and post-delivery feedback.

• Oversee cold chain logistics for vaccines, lab items, and emergency dispatches—including monitoring and validation of temperature-controlled items.

• Inventory Accuracy & Visibility:

• Ensure accurate real-time entry into the EMR system for receiving, batch tracking, bin levels, and expiry updates.

• Supervise inventory audits (cycle counts, expiry checks, reconciliations), and drive routine dashboard reporting every Friday.

• Lead exception resolution processes, root cause analysis for variances, and implementation of corrective actions.

• Team Leadership & Capacity Building:

• Manage all the warehouse staff (supervisors for pharma and non-pharma products as well as Warehouse Officers and Logistics Assistants).

• Foster team discipline around daily roles (receiving, dispatch, audit)

• Coach team members towards 100% accuracy in data entry into EMR;

• Drive a culture of efficiency, accountability, continuous improvement, and SOP compliance.

• Stakeholder Engagement & Compliance:

• Maintain phenomenal working relationships with Medical Centre teams, understanding their needs, need for urgency, and service quality expectations.

• Liaise closely with the Pharmacist Superintendent on all pharmaceutical PPB & GDP compliance matters.

• Collaborate with the Branch Accountant (BA) and HISC to ensure full stock traceability, audit preparedness, and financial controls.

• Planning, Reporting & Scale Readiness:

• Contribute to warehouse scalability plans for a 25+ MC network, including space optimisation, cold chain capacity, and staffing.

• Recommend systems and tools upgrades aligned with operational complexity (e.g., EMR enhancements)

• Lead continuous alignment with Procurement and Assets & Facilities teams to ensure smooth flow of goods and infrastructure.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business, or a related field. Other Professional qualifications an added advantage

• Certified Procurement & Supply Professional (CPSP-K) or equivalent qualification is required.

• Membership with KISM is an added advantage.

• Minimum 5 years of experience in warehousing and distribution managerial roles, ideally in a healthcare, FMCG, or regulated environment.

• Demonstrated experience managing fast-moving, high-volume inventory and coordinating last-mile delivery logistics.