Freight Forwarding Director

Position Summary

The Director is responsible for leading all operational, commercial, financial, and compliance activities for a freight forwarding branch serving the Northern Virginia and Washington Dulles (IAD) market. This position drives profitable growth through business development, operational excellence, customer retention, and strategic leadership across air freight, ocean freight, domestic transportation, warehousing, and value-added logistics services.

The successful candidate will own branch P&L performance, lead a high-performing team, expand market share, strengthen customer relationships, and ensure regulatory compliance while delivering exceptional service to customers and partners.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic & Operational Leadership

• Direct all branch operations, including air import/export, ocean freight, domestic transportation, warehousing, and customer service.
• Develop and execute operational strategies that support growth, efficiency, scalability, and service excellence.
• Drive performance against key operational metrics, including productivity, on-time delivery, quality, cost control, and customer satisfaction.
• Ensure operational readiness and execution for time-critical, high-value, dangerous goods (DG), pharmaceutical, and AOG shipments.
• Align branch performance with corporate objectives, reporting requirements, and strategic initiatives.

Business Development & Commercial Growth

• Lead the branch's commercial strategy to increase revenue, market share, and customer retention.
• Identify, pursue, and secure new business opportunities across air, ocean, domestic transportation, and warehousing services.
• Conduct customer visits, executive reviews, and strategic business planning sessions.
• Collaborate with sales and pricing teams to develop competitive proposals, service solutions, and growth strategies.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with customers, carriers, industry partners, and the regional cargo community.
• Monitor market conditions, customer trends, competitor activity, and regional capacity to drive strategic decision-making.
• Promote cross-selling opportunities across the organization's service offerings.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop supervisors, operations personnel, customer service teams, and warehouse staff.
• Establish workforce planning strategies to support operational volumes and seasonal fluctuations.
• Conduct performance evaluations, coaching, succession planning, and leadership development initiatives.
• Foster a culture of accountability, customer focus, continuous improvement, safety, and compliance.

Compliance, Quality & Risk Management

• Ensure full compliance with all applicable regulations, including TSA, CBP, FMC, DOT, IATA, and related federal and state requirements.
• Oversee TSA screening operations, Known Shipper compliance, security protocols, and audit readiness.
• Implement and maintain standard operating procedures, quality systems, and corrective action programs.
• Manage risk associated with dangerous goods, high-value cargo, regulatory compliance, and operational disruptions.

Carrier, Vendor & Partner Management

• Negotiate rates, service agreements, and capacity commitments with airlines, GSAs, ocean carriers, trucking companies, and logistics partners.
• Maintain strong relationships with warehouse providers, screening facilities, and ground handling partners.
• Monitor vendor performance to ensure service, quality, and compliance expectations are consistently met.

Financial & P&L Management

• Own branch P&L performance, budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning.
• Drive revenue growth, margin expansion, expense control, and overall profitability.
• Review and approve vendor invoices, customer billing, and credit-related decisions.
• Analyze financial performance metrics and implement corrective actions to achieve business objectives.
• Develop and execute plans that improve operational efficiency and financial performance.

Systems, Reporting & Process Improvement

• Ensure accurate workflow management and data integrity within transportation management systems (TMS), including GoFreight and related platforms.
• Monitor and report on KPIs such as operational productivity, TSA compliance, on-time performance, warehouse throughput, and customer service metrics.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives focused on standardization, automation, process optimization, and scalability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Logistics, Supply Chain, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
• 7-15 years of freight forwarding, logistics, or transportation industry experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of leadership experience managing freight forwarding operations and teams.
• Proven track record of business development, customer acquisition, and revenue growth.
• Strong knowledge of international air freight, ocean freight, customs processes, and domestic transportation operations.
• Experience managing branch-level P&L responsibility, budgets, and operational performance metrics.
• Deep understanding of TSA, CBP, IATA, FMC, DOT, import/export regulations, and security requirements.
• Experience with transportation management systems such as GoFreight, Magaya, CargoWise, or similar platforms.
• Dangerous Goods (DG) certification and/or experience with time-critical logistics preferred.

Required Competencies

Leadership

• Executive presence and strong people leadership skills.
• Ability to develop, motivate, and retain high-performing teams.
• Strong coaching and talent development capabilities.

Commercial Acumen

• Demonstrated success driving revenue growth and market expansion.
• Strategic planning and business development expertise.
• Strong customer relationship management skills.

Operational Excellence

• Results-oriented with a focus on operational efficiency.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement mindset.

Communication & Influence

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong negotiation and vendor management abilities.
• Ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

Adaptability

• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Comfortable operating under pressure with strict shipment cutoffs and service commitments.

Success Profile

The ideal candidate is a commercially driven freight forwarding leader who can successfully balance business development, operational execution, compliance, and financial management while building a high-performing team and expanding the organization's presence throughout the Northern Virginia and Washington Dulles market.