National Fleet Manager | Meridian Services | Cape Town at Managed People Solutions

Job Description

• Meridian Services is seeking a National Fleet Manager based in Cape Town. The role is responsible for the end-to-end management, optimisation, and governance of all national fleet and operational assets, ensuring cost efficiency, compliance, and reliable support of distribution operations.
• The position requires strong leadership to build capability and accountability within regional teams, while ensuring fleet availability and operational readiness to support consistent delivery performance.

Responsibility includes:

• Drives national cost-to-serve optimisation through disciplined management of fleet, assets, procurement, and lifecycle efficiency, directly improving margins.
• Enables consistent, reliable delivery performance by ensuring fleet availability and operational readiness across all regions.
• Establishes a controlled, standardised, and high-performing national asset and fleet management system.
• Builds capability, discipline, and accountability across regional transport and asset management teams.
• Designs and evolves the national asset strategy (fleet, trade assets, IT) aligned to business growth, scalability, and operational efficiency.
• Daily delivery schedules are accurate, realistic, and aligned to operational capacity.
• Deliveries are consistently completed within planned timeframes.
• Vehicles and drivers are utilised effectively, minimising delays and unnecessary costs.
• Consistent processes, policies, and controls are implemented across all regions.
• All incidents are managed with employee safety as the first priority, ensuring individuals are supported, unharmed where possible, and properly cared for post-incident.
• Full adherence to legal, insurance, safety, and operational requirements.
• Fleet and asset decisions are driven by accurate data, reporting, and insights.
• Assets are optimally acquired, utilised, redeployed, and disposed of to maximise value.
• Manage and optimise total fleet costs including fuel, maintenance, leasing, and repairs; identify and implement cost-saving initiatives.
• Manage procurement process including quotes, negotiation, purchasing, and delivery, ensuring alignment to fleet financing models (ISA’s) and fair usage policies.
• Oversee full asset lifecycle including acquisition, utilisation, redeployment, and disposal; manage sale of assets including listings, pricing, staff allocation, and inter-BU transfers.
• Ensure fleet availability and readiness supports consistent OTIF delivery performance across all regions.
• Ensure minimal disruption to operations through proactive fleet planning, maintenance, and issue resolution.
• Manage relationships with key suppliers and service providers to ensure performance, cost efficiency, and service delivery.
• Maintain and manage asset registers, tagging, audits, counts, and inspections; oversee allocation and recovery of assets for new joiners and exiting employees.
• Manage servicing schedules, fuel usage, kilometre tracking, FML adjustments, fair usage enforcement, and recovery of excess usage.
• Centralise and manage all repairs and maintenance through Wesbank Managed Maintenance, ensuring cost control and service quality.
• Manage motor licensing, fines), telematics, branding, and vehicle inspection processes to ensure full compliance.
• Track, audit, and redeploy trade assets (e.g. fridges) to ensure optimal utilisation and control.
• Track allocation, recovery, and repair of IT equipment in collaboration with Merchant West, including oversight of upgrade cycles.
• Develop and implement SOPs, policies, and reporting frameworks to standardise fleet and asset management nationally.
• Oversee the full insurance function including claims management, policy alignment, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Establish and lead national protocols for managing transport-related incidents (e.g. hijackings, accidents), ensuring immediate employee safety, structured response, escalation to line management and HR, and post-incident support including medical, psychological, and operational recovery.
• Utilise fleet systems, telematics, and asset tracking tools to monitor performance, generate reports, and drive insights.
• Provide data-driven insights on fleet performance, cost, utilisation, and optimisation opportunities.
• Manages full asset base (vehicles, trade assets, IT) including lifecycle, utilisation, and control.
• Strong control over cost drivers including procurement, financing models (ISA’s), maintenance, and insurance.
• Negotiates, manages suppliers, and ensures cost-effective, high-quality service delivery.
• Ensures full control of asset registers, audits, policies, and regulatory compliance.
• Ability to lead and manage high-risk incidents (e.g. hijackings, accidents), ensuring structured response, employee safety, and business continuity.
• Uses telematics, asset systems, and reporting tools to drive insights and decision-making.
• Takes full accountabilities for all national assets, costs, and performance outcomes. Remains calm, decisive, and structured when managing high-risk and emotionally charged situations.
• Makes decisions with strong cost, ROI, and value impact awareness.
• Uses data, trends, and insights to optimise asset and fleet performance.
• Maintains high accuracy across asset registers, compliance, and reporting.
• Effectively manages suppliers and internal stakeholders to achieve optimal outcomes.
• Enforces policies, controls, and standards consistently across the business.
• Actively identifies and drives optimisation opportunities across the asset base.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Diploma / Degree in Logistics, Supply Chain, or related field
• 3–5+ years in fleet, asset, or operations management, including national or multi-region exposure.
• Valid driver’s license.
• Strong experience across fleet management systems, telematics, asset registers, procurement processes, maintenance planning, and vendor management; ability to use data, systems, and insights to optimise asset utilisation, cost, compliance, and operational performance.