Trade Lane Manager

**SUMMARY**: As a Trade Lane Manager, you will own and lead all aspects of the trade lane, including growth and profitability, and to develop it, such that customer requirements regarding space, price, and service delivery are consistently met. You will set targets for the trade, develop strategies to meet them, and act as an overall General Manager for the set of origin and destination combinations. As a Network Trade Lane Manager, you'll need to be multi-dimensional and able to work with stakeholders within and outside of the department, such as Sales, Client Solutions, and Finance. **RESPONSIBILITIES**: **Leadership of the trade lane and accountability for the geography's growth and profitability** - Set the trade lane's strategy, objectives, and, in conjunction with Demand, targets to develop the trade and grow the business - Define a clear direction and vision for the region - With the Senior Director of the region, set the quarterly and annual OKRs; communicate to stakeholders the progress in achieving those, including plans to overcome obstacles **Create and promote the best **end-to-end solutions for Flexport customers** - Fully own the end-to-end procurement, solution design, rate setting, and implementation cycles for your geography - Think outside-the-box to create innovative solutions to satisfy current customers and to promote acquisition new customers in your geography **Partner with Client Solutions & Sales to provide enablement and support for effective selling of those solutions** - Constantly provide market insights and empower Client Solutions to sell out of your geography - Proactively share material, strategies, or connections to generate sales leads; wear the hat of business development - Be vigilant of market conditions and provide monthly and quarterly updates, as well as overall market trends to sales teams via regular conference calls or in-person meetings; help prepare sales collateral and business reviews - Represent Network Trade Lane Management in leadership meetings internally and represent Flexport at industry conferences externally when required - Participate in sales call/visits to provide expert input on our Air & OCS capabilities **Drive growth and profitability of the trade, including business development** - Refine the trade lane's procurement strategy to deliver excellent service at the lowest cost - Improve volume and net revenue growth through smart and effective procurement; own the implementation of global financial plans and strategies - Consult with Client Solutions to price fairly and competitively and avoid revenue leakage/missed charges - Work with Network Operations Team to monitor fulfillment of our BSAs & charter capacity to ensure it is filled to the maximum at profitable rates - Act as a tactical control tower regarding space and capacity - find solutions to redistribute where needed, procure additional capacity where needed, or support other Trade Lane Managers with space challenges **Manage and deepen external vendor relationships, in conjunction with Partners' Team** - Work closely with all of the major airlines operating into and out of the trade lane to procure competitive rates and capacity to support Flexport's growth strategy - Nurture and grow local airline relationships - Monitor and drive airline satisfaction & ensure we are quality partners for the airlines and that airlines are providing the services purchased - Assess airline performance and drive performance improvements - With the Partners Team, define the partner strategy in the region and ensure there is coverage in regions where Flexport may not have its own infrastructure **EXPERIENCE & SKILLS**: - BA/BS degree and +5 years of experience at a freight forwarder or in a similar field - Deep market knowledge and expertise with respect to imports and/or exports from a sales, operational, and procurement perspective. Awareness of the competition and how to establish a Flexport-unique approach to the market. - A strategic vision of building a differentiated air product and the willingness to be operational at the ground-floor when need be - Inclination to think-outside-the-box to always find a better solution or alternative, while remaining grounded in numbers and metrics - Desire to "build a better machine" and get irritated when things aren't optimal - Excitement to manage vendor relations and create best-in-class, innovative structures to do so - Excellent communication, interpersonal and organizational skills - A client service mindset; you are obsessed with client and squad happiness - Next-level attention to detail - A "compliance first" attitude to keep our regulators happy and enthusiastic about Flexport since we operate in a heavily regulated industry