Director, EMEA Ocean Operations

Flexport; Amsterdam; On-site; EUR 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Flexport is seeking a Director, EMEA Ocean Operations to lead Senior Managers and drive end-to-end ocean gateway operations across the EMEA region. You will set one operating standard, align local market variations, and shape the multi-year strategy for ocean freight across FCL and LCL.

You will own the automation roadmap with Product and Engineering, manage executive relationships, and ensure delivery aligns with commercial promises while maintaining operational excellence.

Qualifications

• BA/BS degree in Logistics, Supply Chain Management or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years in cross-border supply chains, logistics and/or freight forwarding, with ocean freight experience.
• 5+ years of people management experience, including managing managers.
• 3+ years in customer-facing roles, with experience managing senior client or partner relationships.
• Experience running operations across several countries.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a leadership team of Senior Managers and Managers across EMEA Ocean Operations.
• Own end-to-end EMEA ocean gateway operations (FCL and LCL) across all markets.
• Define and deliver the multi-year EMEA ocean strategy and planning cycles.
• Drive the EMEA ocean automation roadmap with Product, Engineering and Operational Excellence.
• Present as the senior operations voice to EMEA Operational Excellence and Global Product.
• Report to the EMEA Head of Operations and contribute to the EMEA Senior Leadership Team.
• Collaborate with EMEA commercial leadership and global operations to align promises and delivery.
• Hold executive-level relationships with key clients, carriers and partner operators.
• Use data to identify bottlenecks and set organizational metrics and reviews.
• Own the long-term capacity plan and staffing models for seasonal peaks and growth.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Customer relationships

Data-driven

Analytical thinking

Education

BA/BS degree in Logistics, Supply Chain Management or equivalent experience

Tools

Claude

N8N

Looker

Excel

Job description

About Flexport:

At Flexport, we believe global trade can move the human race forward. That's why it's our mission to make global commerce so easy there will be more of it. We're shaping the future of a $10T industry with solutions powered by innovative technology and exceptional people. Today, companies of all sizes-from emerging brands to Fortune 500s-use Flexport technology to move more than $19B of merchandise across 112 countries a year.

The recent global supply chain crisis has put Flexport center stage as we continue to play a pivotal role in how goods move around the world. We are proud to have the support of the best investors in the game who believe in our mission, solutions and people. Ready to tackle global challenges that impact business, society, and the environment? Come join us.

About the role:

Your responsibilities as a Director, EMEA Ocean Operations include, but are not limited to the following:

Lead and develop a leadership team of Senior Managers and Managers, who in turn run Ocean Operations teams across EMEA. You are accountable for organisation design, hiring plans and succession planning at every level beneath you. You build a culture of high performance and psychological safety, and you make sure the organisation scales with the business rather than just adding people.

Own end-to-end EMEA ocean gateway operations (FCL and LCL) across all markets, both insourced and partner-operated countries. You set one operating standard for how work is done, and you decide where it makes sense for local markets to differ.

Define and deliver the multi-year EMEA ocean strategy and the planning cycles that support it (biannual planning and quarterly check-ins). You separate what the core operation needs to keep running well from what is expansion, and you turn that into clear choices on investment, team size and priorities, aligned with EMEA operations goals.

Build and drive the EMEA ocean automation roadmap with your teams. You decide where to remove manual work first, so that volume growth does not need proportional growth in manual work, and you work with Product, Engineering and Operational Excellence to deliver it.

Act as the senior operations voice to EMEA Operational Excellence, Global Product and Engineering. You turn operational pain points across EMEA into clear product priorities, and you help decide what gets built.

Report to the EMEA Head of Operations and serve as a member of the EMEA Senior Leadership Team. You help set the direction for EMEA as a whole, not just for your own area.

Partner with EMEA commercial leadership (GMs) and global operations leaders in other regions. You make sure commercial promises and operational reality match, you flag deal and delivery risk early, and you share what works across regions.

Hold executive-level relationships with key clients, carriers and partner operators. You lead major escalations, negotiate service commitments with partners, and represent EMEA operations in client business reviews.

Use data to find the biggest bottlenecks and root causes across markets, not just fix individual cases. You set the metrics the organisation runs on and make sure leaders at every level are held to them in regular reviews (weekly, monthly and quarterly business reviews).

Own the long-term capacity plan. You work with Operations Excellence and Finance on staffing models that cope with seasonal peaks and multi-year growth, including the balance between insourced teams and partners.

Own the P&L and operational health of EMEA ocean gateway operations. You set the financial discipline for your area, stop revenue and cost leakage at scale (for example, billing accessorials), and make sure your leaders do the same in their teams.

Prerequisites:

BA/BS degree in Logistics, Supply Chain Management or equivalent experience

Proven track record of measurable business results, including quantified impact on quality, productivity, efficiency and customer service

10+ years of experience in cross-border supply chains, logistics and/or freight forwarding, with ocean freight experience

5+ years of people management experience, including managing managers

3+ years in customer-facing roles, with experience managing senior client or partner relationships

Experience running operations across several countries

Technology (and AI) first mindset, comfortable in a fast-paced environment

Excellent English; ideally other European languages

Excellent technical skills (e.g. Claude, N8N, Looker, Excel)

Owner's mindset and strong discipline across the whole organisation

Customer obsession, with high standards as a point of pride

An operator at heart who removes waste and redesigns processes for lean, scalable efficiency

Dives into metrics to fix root causes while delivering the short-term wins that stabilise operations

Builds trust through transparent, concise communication and encourages the team to challenge the status quo