Manager – Freight Forwarding (Middle East and Africa Region)

JOB PURPOSE
The incumbent of this role is responsible for commercial and operations and to
drive sales process and productivity for freight forwarding division towards
achievement of business targets across the region, product development and
leading procurement. Setup third party agencies and effective management
including driving operational efficiency.
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
Commercial: Add align to trade lane strategy and drive sales. Also work on
key accounts.
* Drive sales process and productivity for the Global Logistics (freight forwarding) division towards achieving business targets across the region.
* Act as a key point of contact to initiate and monitor projects related to solutions focusing on BCO and end to end offerings, bundling of services, digital transformation, market analysis, dashboards and various other functional initiatives within the business.
* Maintain close communication with various stakeholders and to track KPIs, process improvements and system enhancements.
* Demonstrate ability in planning, strategy to bring about synergy within different functions.
* Building and owning account management & retention, Solution Sales focus, develop end to end solutions for different industry verticals.
* Initiate new projects within the business unit with a clear focus on revenue growth and profitability.
* Drive collaboration with the group organizations as well as Internal Business units to develop new products & business opportunities.
* Supporting Operations team for the assigned location, if required.
* Able to understand and sell across portfolio, integrating CFS/ICD/ Port portfolios.
* Measure and circulate monthly performance & significant business updates, along with periodic forecasts to key stakeholders.
* Sharing specific intelligence, market insights & best practices, represent business in relevant Global / Regional conferences & other events.
* Budget Preparation of volumes, gross profit & revenue for the region
* Monitor receivables a nd growth of Key accounts.
* Identify carrier and setting service (transits, routing, cut offs, destination milestones etc) and Pricing Parameters for respective trade lane.
* Creating, maintaining and updating product sheet on this basis for Sales Team.
* Identification and resolution of service Issues.
* Identify key target accounts. Classify potential customers and set periodical Personal and Team targets to secure customers in each category.
* Ensure individual and team targets are achieved as per budget.
* Monitor key customers to ensure no drop in volumes.
* Lost customer analysis to decide whether to regain or not.
* Planning sales blitzes in coordination with Sales heads and countries.
* Periodic sales developmental visits to all branches in region.
* To continuously collate Market Info from various sources (Market Size, Market Potential, Growth Rates)
* Analyze past and current volumes of shipments, yields and growth trends.(on YoY, v/s Budgets, v/s market size- market share).
* Analyze commodity mixes (density/verticals etc.).
* Regular monthly review and reporting basis above.
* Managing and maintaining relationships with key accounts, local as well as international port users.
* Measure, display and circulate commercial results, including forecast periodically (monthly
Operations: Implement workflows and system in alignment with global
direction. Setup third party agencies and agreement in alignment with global
framework
* Interface with business stakeholders to support key process decisions and contribute overall delivery plan.
* Build various data dashboards and analytics for different work stream frameworks.
* Enhanced focus on building capabilities across transportation, warehousing & value-added services, ocean and air.
* Assure delivery needs of customers cost effectively and efficiently and ensure coordination of entire process of logistics (Shipping, warehousing, transportation and customer service activities).
* Develop Inbound and outbound network.
* Setup and drive third party agency agreements including but not limited too SLA's, SOP's, performance management, etc.
* Identify and assess risks associated with the business. Plan and execute risk mitigating procedures.
* Identify Carrier and Setting Service (transits, routing, cut offs, destination milestones etc) and Pricing Parameters for respective trade lane.
* Creating, maintaining and Updating Product sheet on this basis for Sales Team.
* Identification and Resolution of Service Issues.
* Assist in ensuring timely receipt and settlement of Invoices, Credit notes-profit shares, Dispute resolution pertaining to the Trade Lane.
* Impart Regular Product Training and Updates to Sales and Customer Service team (including Inside Sales and BU teams).
QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
* ‎10+ years of relevant freight forwarding industry experience.
* Bachelor and/or MBA degree
* Ability to manage customer requirements.
* Excellent commercial acumen and communication skills to build & manage profitable business relationships with customers, suppliers & stakeholders across the country & network.
* Dynamic writing, presentation, relationship-building, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
* Confident, self-driven and a team player
* Strong experience in strategic thinking, working on deliverables, willing to work with all stakeholders at any location.
* Relevant experience in freight forwarding/ supply chain will be an added advantage.
* Work on new projects with the regional office, business units and taking overall responsibility for delivery of the same.
* Language skills a strong plus (oral and written command of English, Arabic and French language is an advantage)