Commercial Director, China

Alcott Global is partnering with a specialized logistics company to look for a **Commercial Director, China**. The role will be based in **Shanghai, or Shenzhen, or HongKong**.

**Role Overview**

The Commercial Director shall act as a ‘revenue manager’ for the business, focused on:

- The maintenance & development of specific trade lanes
- Generating new volumes for the group, via local/regional procurement with alternate carriers, and new business development
- Steering price levels in line with client/business demands
- Increasing capacity, client involvement & profitability for the company
- Contract and allocation/ocean freight capacity management for existing volumes & clients

The primary purposes of this role are:

- Carry out the commercial direction of the HQ commercial team within the region
- Optimize the Ocean Freight FCL efforts within trade lanes
- Ensure targeted growth is achieved by coordinating the sales and procurement elements in a focused manner on strategically important trade lanes
- Negotiate and contract carriers in the region, in line with product and carrier strategy
- Ensure effective supplier relationships and regular performance management of carriers
- Act as the top-level contact between the company & carriers within the geographic region

**Responsibilities**

**Management**
- Trade lane Management “across-Area”
- Capacity and Operations Management “across-Area”

**Develop and maintain strong relationships with core carriers**
- Maintain and develop the regional relationships with Carriers in China/Asia Region up to the Senior Management Level on behalf of the group
- Act as a contact person for “across-Area” carrier/procurement issues internally and with carriers externally
- Agree and roll out carrier evaluation methodologies and guidelines to monitor and control core carrier activities that have been agreed/contracted for
- Coordinate local performance reviews and consolidate performance feedback for global review meetings

**Trade Lane / Area Procurement**
- Support the HQ Commercial Team, with regards to “across-Area” procurement activities
- Primary focus on China/Asia-based carriers
- Execute strategic trade lane procurement based on the capacity plans of the business
- Procure capacity on major trade lanes in accordance with procurement/carrier strategy
- Perform pricing analysis and resolve Area concerns (e.g. capacity management / better pricing/selection of core carriers)

**Business Development**
- Participate in joint customer (members of the network) visits
- Support for Tenders / RFQs whereby the company participates
- Direct Tender / RFQ Management for Shanghai Commercial / local sales leads
- Handle Spot Rate procurement “across-Area”, in support of the LIDL program & other key accounts
- Support Spot rate procurement for Shanghai Commercial / local sales leads
- Reporting and analysis/analytical tasks on development activities

**Digitalization**
- Actively involved in the company’s software project, focused on the digitalization of the supply in China
- Take part / lead in the commercial negotiation with carriers in China / Asia Region on behalf of the group, where those commercial negotiations relate to direct carrier booking activities & credit terms supporting such activities
- Actively involve & sponsor in the company’s contract & allocation management programs
- Work with & involve in direct booking / IT activities of the group, working closely with the China operations team

**General**
- Keep abreast of industry changes, market situations, and customer requirements. Update all respective working colleagues within the trade lane/geography on the changes in market conditions.

**Qualifications**
- Bachelor's degree; advanced degrees or relevant certifications are a plus
- 10+ years of professional experience
- 5+ years experience within a global freight forwarding and logistics company
- Strong English communication skills; German language skill a big plus
- Negotiation and commercial skills, thinks analytically and is skilled at identifying business opportunities and setting respective strategies
- Quick pick-up, understanding and commitment to always follow client-specific and internal company work processes, SOPs and KPIs, whilst setting the same for direct reports