Sea Freight Forwarding Manager
AFAQ ALNAMA
Role:Department: Operations & Logistics
Reports To: Operations Manager
Supervisory Scope: Sea Freight, Booking, Documentation, and Customer Service Teams
Job Purpose
To manage and develop the company’s sea freight import and export operations, overseeing shipments from the initial customer request through to final delivery and operational and financial file closure. The role is responsible for driving sales growth, achieving targeted profitability, maintaining high service quality, and ensuring the accuracy and compliance of all shipping documentation.
Key Responsibilities
A. Business Management & Sales Development
Develop and implement departmental business plans, operational objectives, and sales targets, monitoring performance against established sales and profit goals.
Acquire new customers, grow existing customer accounts, and develop new markets and shipping trade lanes.
Assess customer requirements and provide appropriate shipping solutions, including Full Container Load (FCL), Less than Container Load (LCL), and related logistics services.
Prepare and follow up on quotations through to contract confirmation, clearly defining the scope of services, pricing, exclusions, quotation validity, and payment terms.
B. Pricing & Relationship Management
Establish and maintain strong relationships with shipping lines, freight forwarders, and international agents, evaluating their service quality and performance.
Negotiate competitive buying rates and favorable commercial terms, while securing alternative booking options, shipping routes, and service providers.
Calculate the total cost of each shipment and determine selling prices and profit margins in accordance with company pricing policies and delegated approval authorities.
C. Sea Freight Operations Management
Oversee bookings, sailing and arrival schedules, and cut-off deadlines for container deliveries and shipping documentation.
Monitor shipment execution and coordinate with shipping lines, ports, freight forwarders, customs brokers, transport providers, and container yards.
Review shipping instructions, draft Bills of Lading (B/Ls), shipment details, and related documentation to ensure accuracy before approval or submission.
Monitor free-time allowances, demurrage, detention, and storage charges, taking appropriate action to minimize avoidable additional costs.
Keep customers informed of shipment updates, delays, and schedule changes. Obtain and document customers’ written approval for additional services and associated costs before proceeding, in accordance with established procedures.
Resolve operational issues, customer complaints, and claims, coordinating with relevant stakeholders until closure and ensuring all supporting documentation is properly retained.
D. Financial Management & Team Leadership
Review shipment costs and supplier invoices, ensuring all services and charges are accurately recorded and customer invoices are issued on time.
Monitor profitability by shipment, customer, and trade lane, analyzing the causes of margin erosion or cost overruns.
Coordinate with the Finance Department on customer credit facilities, collections, and overdue receivables.
Allocate workloads, develop team capabilities, evaluate employee performance, and improve operational procedures and data quality within the company’s systems.
Prepare regular reports covering sales, shipment volumes, profitability, collections, operational issues, and business development opportunities.
Authority & Decision-Making
Negotiate with customers and service providers within the company’s approved commercial policies.
Approve pricing and operational expenses within delegated financial authority limits.
Allocate departmental workloads and evaluate team members’ performance.
Escalate credit, contractual, and financial exceptions to the relevant management authorities for approval.
Qualifications & Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Business Administration, or a relevant field.
Minimum of five years of experience in sea freight forwarding, including at least two years in a supervisory or managerial role.
Practical knowledge of shipping bookings, freight pricing, Bills of Lading, and Incoterms.
Proficiency in Arabic and English, with experience using freight management systems.
Strong negotiation, sales, financial analysis, team management, and problem-solving skills.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Achievement of sales and gross profit targets.
Number of new customers acquired and customer retention rate.
Quotation-to-confirmed-booking conversion rate.
Gross profit and average profit margin per shipment.
Compliance with agreed shipment execution timelines.
Documentation accuracy and timeliness of customer invoicing.
Value of additional costs resulting from avoidable operational errors.
Customer satisfaction and complaint resolution turnaround time.
Overdue receivables and collection performance, in coordination with the Finance Department.