Freight & Customs Operator

White Recruitment; Southampton; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

White Recruitment is recruiting a Multimodal Freight Operator in Portsmouth to manage end-to-end shipments across road, sea and air.

You will coordinate imports and exports, liaise with carriers, customers, and overseas partners, and ensure timely, compliant delivery while maintaining accurate documentation. Must keep customers informed with regular updates and resolve issues quickly. Experience in UK customs procedures is preferred.

Qualifications

• Experience in freight shipments from start to finish.
• Knowledge of multimodal freight operations.
• Practical experience with UK customs and CDS.
• Good understanding of import/export documentation.
• Strong organisational and communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple shipments and deadlines.
• Proactive, problem-solving approach.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Confidence dealing with customers, suppliers and overseas partners.

Responsibilities

• Managing import and export shipments from start to finish.
• Coordinating multimodal freight movements, including road, sea and air as required
• Booking freight with carriers, hauliers and other service providers
• Preparing and checking shipping and commercial documentation
• Liaising with customers, overseas agents, ports and transport providers
• Tracking shipments and proactively managing delays or issues
• Ensuring customs and compliance requirements are met
• Providing customers with regular shipment updates

Skills

Freight forwarding

International logistics

Multimodal freight

UK customs & CDS

Import/export docs

Organisational skills

Communication skills

Problem solving

Attention to detail

Customer liaison

Job description

Salary: GBP30000 - GBP34000 per annum

Location: Portsmouth

Salary: up to £ 34,000 pa

Hours: Monday to Friday 9am – 17:30pm

Are you an experienced freight professional who enjoys taking ownership of shipments from start to finish?

We’re working with an established freight and logistics business in Portsmouth to recruit a Multimodal Freight Operator to join their team. The company name is being kept confidential at this stage.

This is a hands-on operational role covering imports and exports across multimodal freight, with responsibility for coordinating shipments through the entire process and ensuring everything runs smoothly, accurately and on time.

The Role

You’ll manage freight movements from initial booking through to final delivery, acting as a key point of contact for customers, suppliers, carriers and overseas partners.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Managing import and export shipments from start to finish
• Coordinating multimodal freight movements, including road, sea and air as required
• Booking freight with carriers, hauliers and other service providers
• Preparing and checking shipping and commercial documentation
• Liaising with customers, overseas agents, ports and transport providers
• Tracking shipments and proactively managing delays or issues
• Ensuring customs and compliance requirements are met
• Providing customers with regular shipment updates

About You

We’re looking for someone with previous experience in freight forwarding or international logistics, ideally with solid exposure to both imports and exports.

You’ll ideally have:

• Experience managing freight shipments from start to finish
• Knowledge of multimodal freight operations
• Practical experience with UK customs and CDS
• Good understanding of import/export documentation
• Strong organisational and communication skills
• The ability to manage multiple shipments and deadlines simultaneously
• A proactive, problem-solving approach
• Excellent attention to detail
• Confidence dealing with customers, suppliers and overseas partners