Senior Manager, Ocean Gateway
Leads the launch and insourcing of Flexport’s Tokyo freight operations, building vendor relationships, operational processes, and the local team. Requires 10+ years in freight forwarding or supply chain operations, deep Japanese market expertise, strong carrier and partner networks, and fluent Japanese and English.
About the job
Responsibilities
- Establish and strengthen Flexport's relationships and operating arrangements with key local vendors in Japan, including CFS, drayage providers, ocean carriers, and customs partners.
- Lead the sourcing, screening, and hiring of the local Tokyo operations team, including Ocean and Air operators, and act as the in-country hiring authority for operational roles.
- Design end-to-end operational processes for Japan, including booking management, documentation, customs interaction, terminal handling, drayage coordination, exception management, and post-arrival processes.
- Drive operational execution readiness by establishing SOPs, SLAs, and KPIs before each new shipment flow is brought in-house.
- Increase insourcing velocity by leading transitions from external partners to in-house execution, including knowledge transfer, system setup, and partner offboarding.
- Act as the senior operational voice in client-facing meetings where local credibility is required, working with the commercial team on benchmarking opportunities and new deals.
- Collaborate with APAC Operations, Procurement, Pricing, and Account Management to align Japan operations with global standards while respecting local market practices.
- Coach and mentor newly hired Japanese operations staff.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
- 10+ years of experience in freight forwarding, NVOCC, or supply chain operations, with significant experience in Japan and meaningful leadership exposure.
- Deep, current knowledge of Japan's freight forwarding ecosystem, including ports, terminals, CFS networks, customs brokers, trucking providers, and major ocean and air carriers serving Japan.
- Established professional network with Japanese carriers, CFS, drayage, and customs partners, with credibility to negotiate operating arrangements directly with senior counterparts.
- Experience designing or improving freight forwarding SOPs and operational KPIs for Ocean (FCL/LCL), ideally including Air.
- Proven ability to hire, build, and develop operations teams from the ground up.
- Native or near-native Japanese, verbal and written, and professional working English.
- Comfortable representing Japan in a global, English-speaking matrix organization.
- Builder mindset, comfort with ambiguity, decisiveness in early-stage environments, and pragmatism in balancing global standards with local realities.
- High integrity, strong ownership, and alignment with Flexport's values.
Nice to Have
- Experience leading a country launch, gateway opening, or insourcing transition in Japan or another mature APAC freight market.
- Experience with technology-enabled or platform-based freight forwarding operations.
Skills
Freight Forwarding, Nvocc, Supply Chain Operations, Ocean Freight, Air Freight, Fcl, Lcl, Customs Brokerage, Drayage, Carrier Management, SOPs, KPIs, Vendor Management, Team Building
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