Sea Freight Imports Team Leader

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

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.