Team Lead - Ocean Freight

Joinimagine; Mumbai; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

DHL Global Forwarding in Mumbai is seeking a Team Leader to guide a pricing team within the Global Shipping Centre (GSC). You will manage process, stakeholder and employee performance while driving pricing accuracy and commercial outcomes.

You will lead tender management, bid pricing, cost analysis, and cross-functional collaboration with Sales, Trade Management, and Regional Pricing to deliver competitive quotes and maintain healthy margins.

Qualifications

• Graduate with a bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
• Minimum 5 years of team management experience.
• Experience in freight forwarding pricing or related logistics functions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to convert data into actions.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of pricing specialists and supervise staff.
• Own tender & bid management, pricing accuracy, and profitability across regions.
• Coordinate with Sales, Tender Management and Regional Pricing teams to deliver pricing solutions.
• Monitor performance, publish pricing insights, and present to leadership.
• Drive data governance, process excellence, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills

Leadership

Pricing analysis

Stakeholder management

Presentations

Team building

Communication

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

MS Word

MS Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Job Title: Team Leader

RCS Grade: L

Job Location: DHL Global Forwarding, Freight (DGFF) GSC, India (Mumbai)

In this role, you will have the opportunity to lead a team of associates/members, and be responsible for process, stakeholder & employee management.

Key Responsibilities

In this role, you will have the opportunity to lead a team of associates/members, and be responsible for process, stakeholder & employee management.

Key Responsibilities

1. Tender & Bid Management

• Lead the GSC pricing function for global, regional, and Ocean Commercial Centre requirements.
• Coordinate with Sales, Tender Management, and Regional Pricing teams to deliver accurate, competitive, and timely pricing solutions.
• Review and support complex pricing structures for high-value RFQs and long-term contracts.
• Ensure consistency of pricing across countries, trade lanes, and customer requirements.
• Support strategic business opportunities while maintaining commercial discipline and healthy margins.
• Monitor tender performance and identify opportunities to improve pricing effectiveness and win rates.

1. Sales Performance & Hit-Ratio Improvement

• Establish regular communication with Country Sales teams to understand business requirements, market challenges, and pricing opportunities.
• Analyze sales performance, quotation volumes, hit-ratio, conversion trends, and profitability to identify improvement opportunities.
• Identify key drivers of lost business and recommend actionable solutions to improve hit-ratio.
• Collaborate with Country Sales, Trade Management, and Regional Pricing teams to develop and implement hit-ratio improvement initiatives.
• Monitor the effectiveness of improvement initiatives and present sales performance, pricing insights, and recommendations to Business Partners and relevant leadership forums.

1. Cost Management & Commercial Optimization

• Support cost of sales optimization in collaboration with Trade Management, Procurement, Carrier Management, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Analyze local charges, origin and destination handling, pickup and delivery costs, and other cost components to identify improvement opportunities.
• Support the review of buying conditions and their impact on customer profitability.
• Ensure cost-related information is accurately reflected in pricing solutions and relevant systems.
• Coordinate with stakeholders to support the timely resolution of cost and rate disputes.

1. Stakeholder Engagement & Business Reviews

• Act as the primary GSC pricing interface for assigned countries, regions, trade lanes, and customer segments.
• Collaborate with Sales, Trade Lane Managers, Carrier Management, Procurement, Tender Management, and Regional / Global Pricing Offices.
• Build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support pricing delivery and commercial objectives.
• Participate in and support Business Reviews (BRMs) with Business Partners and relevant stakeholders.
• Prepare and deliver presentations on pricing performance, hit-ratio, profitability, operational performance, and improvement initiatives.
• Identify and share best practices across countries to improve pricing effectiveness and operational performance.

1. Data Governance, Compliance & Process Excellence

• Support data quality, audit readiness, and compliance requirements across the pricing function.
• Drive process improvement initiatives to enhance pricing workflows, turnaround time, and operational efficiency.
• Identify opportunities for automation, standardization, and digitalization of pricing processes.
• Support the timely resolution of rate disputes and service delivery issues.
• Ensure effective implementation of process changes and continuous improvement initiatives.

1. Team Leadership & People Development

• Supervise staff in accordance with company policies and procedures.
• Establish employee goals and conduct employee performance reviews.
• Provide inputs towards staff scheduling, including work assignments / rotations, employee training, vacations, breaks, overtime assignments, back-up for absent employees, and shift rotations.
• Allocate resources and set priorities to support pricing requests, tenders, and strategic projects.
• Monitor team performance against agreed service levels, quality, productivity, turnaround time, and key deliverables.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of pricing specialists, fostering a high-performance and customer-focused culture.
• Conduct periodic team meetings to discuss productivity, performance, feedback, and development needs.
• Assist staff in resolving complex problems and ensure effective quality control.
• Drive employee engagement and customer satisfaction initiatives.
• Ensure effective knowledge management, process training, and succession planning.

1. Process Improvement & Change Management

• Evaluate department processes and recommend required changes based on process analysis.
• Work closely with colleagues in the business to identify solutions, best practices, and KPIs to improve existing processes.
• Participate in problem-solving and process improvement initiatives with the Team Manager and relevant stakeholders.
• Support and manage transitions and change management initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve pricing accuracy, turnaround time, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
• Support the implementation of standardized processes and continuous improvement initiatives across the GSC pricing function.

Key Stakeholders

Country Sales | Regional & Global Pricing | Trade Management | Tender Management | Procurement & Carrier Management | Business Partners | Service Delivery

Required Skills / Abilities

• Graduate (Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university in any discipline).
• Minimum 5 years of experience in team management, preferably in a pricing, commercial operations, or GSC / shared services environment.
• Experience in freight forwarding pricing, commercial operations, tender management, or related logistics functions.
• Strong understanding of Ocean Freight pricing.
• Experience managing RFQs, tenders, pricing analysis, and commercial performance.
• Proven experience in leading large teams of 20+ employees.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to convert data into commercial actions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience working with countries and senior Business Partners.
• Strong presentation and Business Review skills.
• Experience in process improvement, automation, and operational excellence is preferred.
• Strong people management, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Ability to manage transitions and change initiatives.
• Strong logistics experience and commercial understanding.