Omnichannel Capacity Board Examiner — Grocery Retail

The mandate

Digital growth plans use order counts and nominal picker hours, yet substitution, fresh-quality rejection, store congestion, delivery-window shape and shelf replenishment determine actual capacity. Store teams protect walk-in availability by delaying online orders; digital teams open slots without labour or courier evidence. The board needs to know which fulfilment model can scale without transferring cost and failure invisibly between channels.

The adviser commits four days monthly: one reviewing order and store evidence, two challenging retail, digital and delivery leaders, and one preparing or attending the committee. Six committee meetings and five peak-demand reviews are included. Written comment on a capacity investment or holiday plan will be returned within three business days without directing stores or slot availability.

The appointment lasts ten months through the annual operating plan and two seasonal peaks. One two-month renewal may be approved if a material food-safety or delivery regulation changes the tested model. The committee decides after refreshed conflicts; action tracking, vendor selection or weekly performance reporting cannot justify continuation.

The adviser has no line authority and carries no executive responsibility for assortment, inventory, labour, store operations, picking, food release, pricing, slots or delivery. Management proposes and executes; accountable food-safety roles retain decisions; the board allocates capital. The examiner may press evidence and choices but cannot open capacity, close a site or change customer promises.

Current work for rival grocers, delivery platforms, property owners, automation vendors, labour providers, consumer brands or retail investors must be disclosed. The remit excludes food-safety assurance, assortment or price advice, site selection, supplier negotiation, technology procurement, workforce decisions, marketing, individual customer remedies and assessment of named executives.

Why the board wants this voice

The committee sees separate store, digital and logistics plans but lacks an operator who has owned their physical interaction at scale. Independent challenge can expose cross-channel cost and capacity transfer before capital is committed while preserving management’s authority over stores, food and customer offers.

What you will own

• Press management on order shape, substitution, fresh rejection, pick path, congestion, replenishment and delivery-window assumptions.
• Test nominal capacity against peak-hour labour, shelf availability, store traffic, courier supply and exception demand.
• Challenge economics that exclude store disruption, waste, customer recovery, failed delivery or inventory distortion.
• Examine when store pick, dark store, hub fulfilment or third-party delivery is operationally defensible.
• Compare zones using common service, freshness, cost, capacity and customer-harm definitions.
• Maintain a committee ledger of contested assumptions, evidence promises, investment thresholds and realised outcomes.
• Probe five scenarios spanning demand spike, fresh shortage, courier loss, refrigeration failure and system outage.

Candidate qualifications

• Held omnichannel grocery or high-frequency retail operations authority across stores and digital fulfilment.
• Scaled store-pick, dark-store and delivery capacity while protecting shelf availability and fresh quality.
• Built complete capacity economics including substitution, waste, congestion, customer recovery and last-mile failure.
• Understood food-safety, labour and customer-promise boundaries without taking operating responsibility as adviser.
• Challenged automation or site investment using observed demand shape and bottleneck evidence directly.
• Maintained documented continuing independence from grocers, delivery platforms, property owners, automation vendors and retail investors.

Non-negotiables

• Available four days monthly for Mexico City work, six meetings and five peak reviews.
• Direct grocery omnichannel operations is required; general digital-commerce exposure is insufficient.
• Will disclose retailers, platforms, landlords, vendors, brands, labour firms and investors.
• Will not open slots, set prices, approve food, choose sites or direct store labour.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe an online grocery capacity claim that failed after store congestion was included.
2. 49 words maximum. Which retail, platform or supplier interests would require disclosure?
3. 49 words maximum. How would you test fresh-item capacity without directing assortment or food decisions?