Logistics Coordinator At Distribute Aid

Reporting to: Operations Director

Length of commitment: 6 months with a 1 month trial period, starting in January 2024 (somewhat flexible). Potential to extend the commitment beyond 6 months if desired.

Hours of work: Full-time, 8 hours per day, 5 days per week (2 days off every week)

About Distribute Aid

Founded in 2019, over the past few years Distribute Aid has grown into one of Europe’s largest grassroots logistics organization. In that time we’ve sent 50 full trucks and containers of humanitarian aid between 100+ small charities and organizations in 12 countries. We are always tackling new challenges to push the boundaries of grassroots mutual aid movements, and currently run projects extending across the entire supply chain.

Our mission is to use our logistics and technology expertise to increase the efficiency of humanitarian aid supply chains that benefit displaced people.

Our approach is to build open-access physical and digital infrastructure that any humanitarian aid organisation can use. We are a highly collaborative and transparent organization that helps our partners grow their own efforts by sharing information, resources, and decision making.

Our impact has led to a 2.5x efficiency gain across our supply chain by increasing coordination, reducing costs, saving volunteer time, and preventing waste. Every €1 we spend on administration, projects, AND logistics delivers over €20 worth of aid to frontline organizations.

Our Values

Transparent – We believe in sharing our knowledge, experience, and techniques, to help improve other supply chains, even if we are not involved. The end receiver of aid is who matters

Results Driven – We need to adapt our services to what works best for the groups we support in the moment

Proactive – Planning now saves time when we are forced to react quickly in the future

Pull, Not Push – We represent the groups on the frontline to minimise waste across the supply chain. We only send aid that we know is needed, and that has been asked for by the groups

Collaborative – We believe that working together opens new opportunities and doors to access a wider range of partnerships, providing the opportunity for more in-kind donations, cheaper shipments, and better discounts

Carbon Neutral – Working in the supply chain, we need to be conscious of our carbon footprint. All our main leg shipments are already carbon neutral. By the end of 2021, we want to have a 100% carbon neutral supply-chain

Impartial & Unconditional – We ensure that any aid that we help to coordinate the distribution of is delivered freely and fairly by frontline groups

Main Responsibilities

• Communicate with sending and receiving groups to stay up to date on their needs, available aid, regional context, and upcoming/ongoing challenges they are facing.
• Run our regular shipments in Europe and Lebanon. This involves aid matching, aid amalgamation, liaising with the various parties involved, and handling export/import.
• Manage ad-hoc shipments from start to finish. This involves working with our storage and freight forwarding service providers to coordinate each stage of our supply-chain, and arranging all necessary shipping and customs paperwork.
• Managing and updating paperwork and documentation required for internal reporting as well as impact reporting to partners organisations
• Communicate with other members of the DA team, such as providing data and feedback for tech development, sharing stories and content for social media posts, and adapting procedures for shipments alongside the other Logistics Coordinator.
• Lead interesting new projects to produce open content guides and reports that help the entire aid movement deliver aid more effectively. Connect with the wider humanitarian world to identify opportunities to collaborate with larger organisations.

Pre-Requisites

• Proven commitment to humanitarian work.
• Fluent in English. German, Greek, or Arabic are advantageous.
• Experience with grassroots aid logistics, including any of the following: – Sending-side collection and/or warehousing operations. – Logistics, such as booking shipments with freight forwarders. – Receiving-side warehousing and/or distribution operations.
• Experience using google sheets/excel effectively.
• Have your own laptop and phone.
• Can legally travel to and live in Serbia, and travel to the UK and Schengen area.

Professional Qualities

• Driven – You are proactive and can convert ideas into realistic, feasible goals.
• A Strong Communicator – A lot of the work we do is remote, conducted via Zoom meetings, phone calls, email, and WhatsApp. Strong written and verbal communication skills are a must.
• Detail Oriented – When it comes to booking freight, every number needs to match, and every procedure needs to be followed. The ramifications of mistakes can be serious.
• Growth Mindset – You enjoy a fast-paced work environment, and are able to handle working independently and apply creative problem solving when necessary.