Freight Forwarding Team Leader – Sea Freight Imports

SDW Recruitment Limited; Southampton; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Salary package

25 days leave

Pension

Death in service

Employee Assistance Programme

Medical health check

Eye test & glasses

Employee discounts

Loyalty award

Lead six-person team

Career opportunity

Job summary

SDW Recruitment Limited is seeking an experienced Freight Forwarding Team Leader in Southampton to manage a six-person UK forwarding team, predominantly handling sea freight imports. You will oversee daily operations from customs clearance to delivery, ensuring compliance and high customer service standards.

You will drive performance, implement improvements, and support growth of the forwarding business while coaching and developing the team in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Strong freight forwarding experience within sea freight imports.
• Experience managing or leading a freight forwarding operations team.
• At least five years’ experience in a forwarding leadership position.
• Knowledge of import customs clearance procedures, HMRC requirements and AEO compliance.
• Confident, supportive leadership style with ability to motivate and develop a team.
• Strong commercial awareness and understanding of operational performance and cost control.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to build lasting customer relationships.
• Proactive, organized approach with problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to take ownership, manage competing priorities and lead by example.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of six, manage workloads and provide coaching to meet targets.
• Oversee sea freight import operations from customs clearance to delivery.
• Ensure declarations and forwarding activities comply with HMRC, AEO and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor KPIs, maintain service standards and identify efficiency improvements.
• Act as escalation point for complex shipments, queries and challenges.
• Build strong relationships with customers, shipping lines, suppliers and internal teams.
• Support onboarding of new forwarding customers and growth of existing accounts.
• Collaborate with commercial teams to improve retention and drive business growth.
• Support introduction of improved systems, procedures and digital solutions.
• Ensure high standard of service in a busy, fast-moving environment.

Skills

Freight forwarding

Sea freight imports

Team leadership

Import customs clearance

Leadership motivation

Commercial awareness

Communication

Problem solving

Decision making

Cost control

Job description

Are you an experienced Freight Forwarding Team Leader looking for your next challenge? Do you enjoy leading people, improving performance and ensuring freight operations run like clockwork?

We’re recruiting for an exciting opportunity with an established international shipping and logistics business in Southampton, looking for a confident, hands-on Freight Forwarding Team Leader to manage a team of six.

With a strong focus on sea freight imports, this is a fantastic opportunity to take ownership of a busy forwarding operation, develop your team and play a key role in delivering excellent customer service.

If you’re a natural leader who knows freight forwarding inside out and enjoys making things happen, we’d love to hear from you.

About the Role:

As Freight Forwarding Team Leader, you’ll be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of a six-person UK forwarding team, predominantly handling sea freight imports.

You’ll ensure shipments move smoothly from customs clearance through to final delivery, maintaining high standards of compliance, efficiency and customer service.

Working closely with senior management and commercial teams, you’ll be responsible for team performance, operational improvements and supporting the continued growth of the forwarding business.

This is a role where your leadership skills, operational knowledge and ability to make decisions will genuinely make a difference.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Leading and developing a team of six, managing workloads, providing coaching and ensuring operational targets are achieved.
• Overseeing predominantly sea freight import operations, from customs clearance through to final delivery.
• Ensuring customs declarations and forwarding activities comply with HMRC, AEO and relevant regulatory requirements.
• Monitoring operational KPIs, maintaining service standards and identifying ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
• Acting as a key escalation point for complex shipments, customer queries and operational challenges.
• Building strong relationships with customers, shipping lines, suppliers and internal departments.
• Supporting the onboarding of new forwarding customers and identifying opportunities to grow existing accounts.
• Working alongside commercial teams to improve customer retention and support business growth.
• Supporting the introduction of improved systems, procedures and digital solutions.
• Ensuring the team delivers a consistently high standard of service in a busy, fast-moving environment.

What Our Client Is Looking For:

• Strong freight forwarding experience, particularly within sea freight imports.
• Previous experience managing or leading a freight forwarding operations team.
• Ideally, at least five years’ experience in a forwarding leadership position.
• Good knowledge of import customs clearance procedures, HMRC requirements and AEO compliance.
• A confident, supportive leadership style with the ability to motivate and develop a team.
• Strong commercial awareness and an understanding of operational performance and cost control.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to build lasting customer relationships.
• A proactive, organised approach with strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Someone comfortable taking ownership, managing competing priorities and leading by example.

We’re particularly interested in speaking with experienced Sea Freight Import Team Leaders, Freight Forwarding Supervisors and Forwarding Operations Managers who are ready to make their mark.
What’s on Offer

• Salary: c£50,000 per annum
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays
• Company pension with employer contributions of up to 10% of basic salary
• Death in service benefit worth eight times annual salary
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Annual medical health check
• Annual eye test and contribution towards glasses
• Employee discount platform
• Loyalty Award Scheme
• Opportunity to lead and develop an established team of six
• Career opportunity within an international shipping and logistics organisation

This is an excellent opportunity to join a business where your experience will be valued, your leadership will make an impact and you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to the success of a busy forwarding operation.

Interested?

If you’re an experienced freight forwarding professional with a passion for sea freight imports and team leadership, we’d love to hear from you.