One day in the life of a Black & White Delivery Manager
By
Hélder CabralView All Posts
Father, manager, photographer, blogger, runner, living in a fast forward mode, with a phone in one hand, a book in the other, and Asics on the feet.
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For one and a half years, before accepting the challenge to be Head of Engineering, I was the Delivery Manager for Black & White Solutions, Farfetch’s business unit that builds e-commerce solutions for luxury brands. The goal is to provide the best customer experience, dealing with all the challenging logistics behind the curtains, so our customers do not have to worry about it. Farfetch Black & White integrates different visions from technology, operations, production and commercial teams while corresponding to demanding market timelines.
Being a Delivery Manager is an exciting job, involving people, creativity, and a solution-oriented mind. I want to share with you what a regular day as a Black & White Delivery Manager looked like.
Spoiler alert: there was nothing regular about it - but I love that!
8:40 a.m. I needed to rush to the office. On the night before, one US-based Brand has asked us to include their fragrances offer on their e-commerce site for international shipping because they are releasing a marketing campaign by the end of the week. Although this might seem a request just like any other, there are so many factors to validate before embracing this new challenge:
So many questions ran through my mind as I grabbed my Farfetch backpack and went downstairs.
9:15 a.m. While grabbing a cup of coffee, I pulled up a chair and sat down with the Operations team. A brief chat informs me the main concerns about shipping fragrances. Our "dangerous goods queen” (yes, we have code names too!) warned us for the importance of certification dealing with these items, stating that we needed some extra configurations from the shipping teams. She would follow-up with these teams during the morning.
10:00 a.m. As I was crossing the hall to reach my desk, the Product Owner (PO) for the same US-based Brand called me to the side for a quick update and raised some doubts on the category names under which these beauty products would be merchandised, plus some checkout concerns. Meanwhile, engineering teams were assessing which changes needed to be done, if any.
10:30 a.m. Quick Call with the Production team to see how I could help them step up their game. We needed to create the item IDs, retouch the images and uploaded them, and categorise the items while taking into consideration the Product Owner's concerns. The products' descriptions were next in line to save the day and get the catalogue online.
11:00 a.m. Grabbing something to eat (yes, it is important!), while I reached out to the Shipping teams on Slack and gave them a heads-up.
11:15 a.m. Video call with the Black & White team who was working for the US-based Brand, and we went over the steps needed, clarifying scope.
12:00 p.m. Time to prepare a short deck with everyone’s inputs to align expectations with the same Brand.
1:00 p.m. Lunch with a few members of the technology team to discuss some details... No, not really. Lunch is usually a sacred hour.
2:00 p.m. I scheduled a call with the Brand and the Black & White team responsible for this project. Everything becomes clear for all parties. The marketing campaign was postponed giving us one extra week to pull this off (Uf!). We learned that not all stores would have this campaign due to the lack of Hazmat certifications, which is something Black & White can help with.
3:00 p.m. The engineering teams got back to me with some feedback. No additional work was necessary. It could be done through configurations. The urgency required this to be done under the current sprint, so the Product Owner gets involved and worked through the current backlog. A plan merging all work-stream tasks was then designed for future follow-ups.
4:30 p.m. Operations confirmed the store training and prepared themselves to assist the Brand to extend their current certification. Production assured they would be ready within the agreed timelines.
5:00 p.m. The commercial team reassured the Brand we would be prepared and presented a plan.
6:00 p.m. All good. It was time to breathe and go home.
So yes, this was my day, every day - and I loved it.
Being a Delivery Manager is an exciting job, involving people, creativity, and a solution-oriented mind. I want to share with you what a regular day as a Black & White Delivery Manager looked like.
Spoiler alert: there was nothing regular about it - but I love that!
8:40 a.m. I needed to rush to the office. On the night before, one US-based Brand has asked us to include their fragrances offer on their e-commerce site for international shipping because they are releasing a marketing campaign by the end of the week. Although this might seem a request just like any other, there are so many factors to validate before embracing this new challenge:
- Operations need to check Hazmat shipping and certifications.
- Production has to include these items on photo shoots or study provided catalogue images.
- The product team needs to investigate if this fits the current MVP.
- The Development team needs to estimate the impact that this may have on their sprint.
So many questions ran through my mind as I grabbed my Farfetch backpack and went downstairs.
9:15 a.m. While grabbing a cup of coffee, I pulled up a chair and sat down with the Operations team. A brief chat informs me the main concerns about shipping fragrances. Our "dangerous goods queen” (yes, we have code names too!) warned us for the importance of certification dealing with these items, stating that we needed some extra configurations from the shipping teams. She would follow-up with these teams during the morning.
10:00 a.m. As I was crossing the hall to reach my desk, the Product Owner (PO) for the same US-based Brand called me to the side for a quick update and raised some doubts on the category names under which these beauty products would be merchandised, plus some checkout concerns. Meanwhile, engineering teams were assessing which changes needed to be done, if any.
10:30 a.m. Quick Call with the Production team to see how I could help them step up their game. We needed to create the item IDs, retouch the images and uploaded them, and categorise the items while taking into consideration the Product Owner's concerns. The products' descriptions were next in line to save the day and get the catalogue online.
11:00 a.m. Grabbing something to eat (yes, it is important!), while I reached out to the Shipping teams on Slack and gave them a heads-up.
11:15 a.m. Video call with the Black & White team who was working for the US-based Brand, and we went over the steps needed, clarifying scope.
12:00 p.m. Time to prepare a short deck with everyone’s inputs to align expectations with the same Brand.
1:00 p.m. Lunch with a few members of the technology team to discuss some details... No, not really. Lunch is usually a sacred hour.
2:00 p.m. I scheduled a call with the Brand and the Black & White team responsible for this project. Everything becomes clear for all parties. The marketing campaign was postponed giving us one extra week to pull this off (Uf!). We learned that not all stores would have this campaign due to the lack of Hazmat certifications, which is something Black & White can help with.
3:00 p.m. The engineering teams got back to me with some feedback. No additional work was necessary. It could be done through configurations. The urgency required this to be done under the current sprint, so the Product Owner gets involved and worked through the current backlog. A plan merging all work-stream tasks was then designed for future follow-ups.
4:30 p.m. Operations confirmed the store training and prepared themselves to assist the Brand to extend their current certification. Production assured they would be ready within the agreed timelines.
5:00 p.m. The commercial team reassured the Brand we would be prepared and presented a plan.
6:00 p.m. All good. It was time to breathe and go home.
By now, I believe you have understood the fast-paced and exciting environment we work at with Farfetch Black & White. More than building an e-commerce brand site, we provide full-service e-commerce solutions, and all to amaze our customers.
So yes, this was my day, every day - and I loved it.
