about the role**Permanent Job Alert****Role**: Inbound Transportation Director**Rate**: €150,000 + Bonus**Location**:Berlin - 3 days a week-**ROLE PURPOSE**- Forsyth Barnes have exclusively partnered with a leading German retail organisation to search for a Inbound Transportation DirectorAs the Director - Inbound Transportation (f/m/x), you will be part of the Management Team in their logistics area and will directly report into the COO. You will lead a team of ~8 people from the ocean freight team that ships our products from Asia (mainly China) to various locations in Europe.The 3 main aspects of this role are:- Operations Management- Vendor & Contract Management- Strategic Planning (vendor strategy/ market development)**What you will do**:You are responsible for the strategic and operational carrier management of the business for inbound shipping.**This includes**:- Booking of containers from Asia to Europe- Close coordination with purchasing/commercial, warehousing teams on booking- You are also responsible for managing strategic partnership with ocean freight carriers/forwarders, customs, barge vendors etc. and responsible for their performance- This includes price/ contract negotiations- Maintaining relationships to understand how the market is evolving- Able to secure capacity based on relationships during tough times (e.g. Suez situation)- You will develop a suitable long term vendor strategy (how many vendors/ what services/forwarder vs. carrier) based on growth forecasts, markets we want to serve- You are a skilled negotiator of prices and contracts with the vendors (e.g. - do we go forfixed price vs. SCFI linked pricing, demmurage & detention buffers, ot her fine prints thatimpact pricing)- Budget monitoring and proactive cost controlling are a natural part of your work Your team manages and controls the external service providers and is also your link to the internal stakeholders, such as the purchasing/ commercial teams and the warehouses- You work independently to identify optimization potential, derive projects from it an implement them successfully- You work with the analytics teams to create performance dashboards (on Operational- KPIs, e.g. - transit times), and make these visible to the management- You select potential new partners and, together with your team, integrate them smoothly into the existing logistics processes**What we are looking for**:- You have a successfully completed degree, preferably with a focus on logistics or supplychain management- You have already gained leadership experience of mid sized teams- You have good knowledge of the international eCommerce business- You can look back on several years of professional experience in a comparable position, ideally within an eCommerce/or shipping/ ocean forwarding business- You score with an excellent understanding of logístical processes, a distinct ability to analyse and an affinity for numbers as well as with a results-oriented way of working- You communicate easily with different stakeholders, using your assertiveness and persuasiveness- You are fluent in German and English, other languages are an advantage
