Transportation Manager

Caterpillar Inc; Chennai District; On-site; INR 1,800,000 - 2,800,000; Full time

Job summary

Caterpillar India invites an experienced Transportation and Logistics leader to direct a regional team across multiple facilities. You will own transportation operations within the region, optimize shipments, and drive efficiency across surface, air and ocean networks for global supply chain solutions.

This role requires strong stakeholder management, carrier negotiations, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements while achieving KPIs. Travel up to monthly visits is expected.

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience
• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in transportation and supply chain management
• Experience in inventory management, purchasing and parts distribution
• Strong interpersonal skills to build relationships across the organization
• Frequent travel up to one full week per month

Responsibilities

• Optimizing shipments and communications between distribution centers, manufacturing facilities, and suppliers, including Caterpillar India manufacturing plants.
• Organizing, operationalizing and monitoring surface, air and ocean transportation networks for global supply chain solutions.
• Collaborating with the procurement category and managing relationships and processes with key freight partners to ensure optimal service performance
• Overseeing carrier selection and renewals and participating in contract negotiations; seeking new carriers and routes.
• Ensuring transportation operations comply with applicable customs, trade, regulatory, safety, and corporate requirements with controls and corrective-action processes.
• Accountable for day-to-day transportation operating results against KPIs and timely corrective action.
• Investigate complex supply-network issues and develop effective transportation responses.
• Managing transportation and related supply-network processes for Caterpillar India manufacturing plants.
• Owning parts-expediting processes and transportation planning for inbound/outbound shipments.
• Managing a work unit of management/professional staff; training, mentoring and performance evaluations.
• Managing personnel matters and team performance evaluations.

Skills

Transportation management

Logistics optimization

Supply chain coordination

Cross-functional collaboration

Vendor & partner management

Education

Degree or equivalent experience

10+ years in transportation/supply chain

Job description

Career Area: Supply Chain and Logistics

Job Summary

Manages a team of transportation professionals located across multiple India facilities and owns transportation operations within the assigned region or country, including associated Caterpillar manufacturing plants. Oversee transportation networks and related supply-chain processes to maximize efficiency while serving internal department or business/service unit customers and external customers.

What You Will Do

• Optimizing shipments and communications between distribution centers, manufacturing facilities, and suppliers, including Caterpillar India manufacturing plants.
• Organizing, operationalizing and monitoring surface, air and ocean transportation networks for global supply chain solutions.
• Collaborating with the procurement category and managing relationships and processes with key freight partners to ensure optimal service performance, improve on-time delivery performance and drive process improvements.
• Overseeing carrier selection and renewals and participating in contract negotiations. Seeking new carriers and transportation routes.
• Ensuring transportation operations comply with applicable customs, trade, regulatory, safety, and corporate requirements, while maintaining appropriate controls, documentation, and corrective-action processes.
• Accountable for day-to-day transportation operating results against agreed key performance indicators (KPIs), ensuring process effectiveness and timely corrective action.
• Investigate complex supply-network issues, evaluating alternative solutions and recommend / develop most effective transportation response.
• Managing transportation and related supply-network processes for Caterpillar India manufacturing plants.
• Owning parts-expediting processes and procedures for inbound shipments and transportation planning for outbound shipments.
• Managing a work unit primarily comprising management and professional employees, including monitoring and reviewing work, training, developing and mentoring team members.
• Managing personnel matters and team performance evaluations.

Education and Experience Requirements

• Degree or equivalent experience desired
• A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience is typically required, with knowledge of transportation and supply chain management desired.
• Background in inventory management and control, purchasing and parts distribution, together with strong analytical skills, is desired.
• Strong interpersonal skills are required to build and maintain effective working relationships across the organization and with external process partners.
• Frequent travel is required, up to one full week per month.

What You Have

Continuous Transformation

Knowledge of evolving the business to remain competitive; ability to understand, adapt oneself to respond to and proactively seek changes and innovation in the business environment to improve the competitive advantage of an organization.

Level Working Knowledge:

• Implement new systems, procedures and tools efficiently when changes occur in the work environment.
• Adjust current working processes or adopt new approaches in response to changes in the business environment.
• Seeks challenging opportunities or assignments to grow and develop ones own knowledge, skills and abilities.
• Explain lessons or experiences learned from mistakes and failures as well as successes.
• Communicates and analyzes assumptions about a particular issue with colleagues to gain new perspectives or more effective solutions.

Data Gathering & Analysis

Knowledge of data gathering and analysis tools, techniques, and processes; ability to collect and synthesize data from a variety of stakeholders and sources in an objective manner to reach a conclusion, goal, or judgment.

• Participates in gathering and analyzing an organizations data based on requirements.
• Follows proper data gathering and analysis processes and policies.
• Utilizes basic data collection and evaluation tools and techniques.
• Reports problems that arise in the data collection process.
• Documents data from various sources and in various formats.

Decision Making and Critical Thinking

Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.

• Applies an assigned technique for critical thinking in a decision-making process.
• Identifies, obtains, and organizes relevant data and ideas.
• Participate in documenting data, ideas, players, stakeholders, and processes.
• Recognizes, clarifies, and prioritizes concerns.
• Assists in assessing risks, benefits and consideration of alternatives.
• Independently evaluates complex problems, reviews multiple possible solutions, selects an appropriate option and develops solutions where needed.

Logistics Management

Knowledge of logistics and management; ability to follow proper processes and run operations for effective and efficient movement of materials and finished products.

• Assists in the development of process flows to track lead time by activity.
• Uses tools, with guidance, to forecast delivery times, determine costs and assess performance.
• Maintains records of all shipments and invoices using an established system.
• Participates in integrating logistics processes and developing effective networks.
• Works with logistics in a domestic environment.

Planning and Organizing

Knowledge of the process of planning and arranging tasks and resources; ability to plan and organize both time and resources to get things completed while structuring and maintaining work in a systematic and highly methodical way.

• Raises awareness of potential bottlenecks and disruptions to the schedule.
• Breaks tasks into manageable steps that can be incorporated into a personal work plan.
• Escalates concerns over competing or conflicting priorities.
• Monitors progress continuously and adjust tactics for handling situations on a case by case basis.
• Creates action plans that ensure the accomplishment of responsibilities.

Project Management

Knowledge of effective project management strategies and tactics; ability to plan, organize, monitor, and control projects, ensuring efficient utilization of technical and administrative resources to achieve project objectives.

• Provides input for Gantt or PERT charts or their equivalent to track project progress and status.
• Under guidance, plans and estimates simple projects.
• Assists in detailed project plans including cost, schedule, and resource requirements.
• Obtains information from stakeholders during the planning stage of a project.
• Produces standard project status reports.

Supply Chain Management - MFG

Knowledge of functions, principles and techniques