Commercial Account Manager – Freight Forwarding

Crane Worldwide Logistics; Netherlands; On-site; EUR 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Crane Worldwide Logistics is seeking a Commercial Account Manager in the Netherlands to drive profitable growth and retain a portfolio of freight forwarding customers across air, ocean, and road services. This role involves managing commercial relationships, developing account plans, and ensuring service delivery meets KPIs.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree and 3–5 years of relevant experience in freight forwarding, alongside strong commercial skills and the ability to build stakeholder relationships. The role supports flexibility and development within a fast-paced logistics environment.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years’ experience in freight forwarding or international logistics.
• Working knowledge of international trade documentation.
• Proven track record of revenue and customer retention.

Responsibilities

• Owns a defined book of business to deliver agreed targets.
• Develops new business pipeline through prospecting and referrals.
• Acts as primary customer point of contact for commercial matters.
• Manages RFQs, spot quotes, and tenders; prepares pricing strategy.
• Ensures compliance with trade and operational requirements.

Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English

Strong commercial acumen

Strong organization and planning skills

Proactive and resilient approach

Competent with CRM and Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Logistics, Supply Chain or related field

Tools

CRM systems

Microsoft Office

Job description

Crane Worldwide Logistics is a leader in supply chain solutions with over 130 locations across 30 countries, delivering integrated freight forwarding, logistics and supply chain services that solve customers’ transportation and trade challenges.

The Commercial Account Manager is responsible for the profitable growth and retention of a portfolio of freight forwarding customers (air, ocean and road). This role owns the commercial relationship, develops pipeline and account plans, leads pricing and tender activity in partnership with operations and procurement, and ensures service delivery meets agreed KPIs. The Account Manager acts as the customer advocate, drives network alignment, and influences internal and external stakeholders to deliver sustainable revenue and margin growth.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Owns a defined book of business and delivers agreed targets for gross profit, net revenue and retention (monthly/quarterly/yearly).
• Builds and executes account plans (stakeholder map, lane strategy, growth initiatives and QBR cadence) for top accounts.
• Develops new business pipeline through prospecting, referrals, internal leads and market engagement; qualifies opportunities and advances them through the sales process.
• Leads commercial activities for air and ocean freight forwarding, including lane development, carrier/service selection alignment, and multimodal solutions where applicable.
• Acts as primary customer point of contact for commercial matters and escalation; partners with operations to resolve service issues and protect margin.
• Coordinates and delivers customer business reviews (MBR/QBR), presenting performance against KPIs, corrective actions and improvement plans.
• Manages RFQs, spot quotes and tenders; prepares pricing strategy, obtains internal approvals, and presents proposals to customers.
• Creates and maintains customer SOPs, scope of work and service matrices (origin/destination, cut-offs, documentation, billing and escalation).
• Ensures compliance with trade and operational requirements (Incoterms, export/import documentation, customs requirements, sanctions/embargo screening and dangerous goods where applicable).
• Partners with branch and network stakeholders (pricing, procurement, operations, finance and credit) to ensure quotes are executable and profitable.
• Owns onboarding/implementation for new accounts with implementation and operations teams, ensuring milestones, training and go-live readiness.
• Monitors financial performance (rate adherence, accessorials, demurrage/detention exposure, credit/collections) and supports dispute resolution.
• Identifies cross-sell and solution opportunities (customs brokerage, warehousing, distribution, insurance, time-critical) and coordinates internal resources to deliver.
• Maintains accurate CRM activity, forecasting and pipeline hygiene; reports on performance and risks to management.
• Supports contract and rate negotiations, ensuring alignment to standard terms, service levels, billing rules and profitability requirements.
• Drives continuous improvement by analysing root causes of service failures, leading corrective actions (RCCA) and preventing recurrence.
• Ensures invoicing accuracy in line with customer SOP/contract; supports timely resolution of billing queries and claims.
• Maintains accounts receivable within agreed terms; partners with finance/credit to manage exposure and support collections.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Net revenue and gross profit achievement vs. target.
• Retention and growth of key accounts (share of wallet, new lanes, new services).
• Quote and tender win rate; pricing quality and rate adherence.
• Customer satisfaction and service performance vs. agreed KPIs (on-time performance, milestone compliance, exception management).
• Accounts receivable within agreed terms and minimal billing disputes.
• CRM activity, pipeline coverage and forecast accuracy.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Talking, hearing and using hands to operate computer equipment
• Vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

OTHER SKILLS/ABILITIES

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; able to present confidently to customers.
• Strong commercial acumen, including pricing, margin management, negotiation and contract literacy.
• Customer-focused, proactive and resilient; able to react quickly to changing priorities and shipment exceptions.
• Demonstrated ability to build stakeholder relationships across functions and geographies (customers, carriers, overseas offices and internal teams).
• Strong organisation, planning and problem-solving skills; able to manage multiple RFQs and deadlines.
• Competent with CRM and Microsoft Office; comfortable working with operational systems (TMS/forwarding platforms) and KPI reporting.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Logistics, Supply Chain or related field preferred.
• 3–5 years’ experience in freight forwarding (air/ocean) or international logistics, with customer-facing commercial/account management responsibilities.
• Working knowledge of international trade concepts and documentation (Incoterms, export/import paperwork, customs processes).
• Proven track record of revenue/gross profit growth, customer retention and successful tender/RFQ participation preferred.

CERTIFICATIONS AND LICENCES

• Professional certification may be required in some areas.

Disclaimer:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.