Head of Operations

Team Recruitment; Whau; On-site; NZD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Jacanna Global Logistics, a New Zealand-owned freight forwarder based in West Auckland, is seeking an experienced operations leader to drive performance across air, sea, landside and customs. You will set standards, KPIs and ways of working to deliver profitable, reliable service.

Reporting to the Group CEO, you’ll lead a high-performing team, coach for growth and partner with Sales to ensure promises match delivery.

Qualifications

• 10+ years' progressive freight forwarding operations experience.
• 5+ years' senior leadership experience leading teams.
• Strong air and sea freight knowledge across imports and exports with customs understanding.
• Solid understanding of revenue, gross profit, job profitability and cost-to-serve.
• Experience with CargoWise or a comparable freight forwarding system.
• Warehousing, 3PL or export supply planning experience is a bonus, not essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead operations across air, sea, landside and customs; set standards, KPIs and ways of working.
• Head the freight station and warehousing; coach and develop the team.
• Drive continuous improvement across processes and systems to scale the business.
• Collaborate with Head of Sales to ensure what is sold is delivered well.
• Shape and optimize profitability by understanding routes, margins and costs-to-serve.

Skills

Leadership

Freight forwarding knowledge

Commercial acumen

Continuous improvement

Team coaching

Tools

CargoWise

Job description

Jacanna Global Logistics is a New Zealand-owned freight forwarder based in New Lynn, West Auckland. Many people in the industry know us for vehicles, and that's still an important part of what we do. What's less well known is that our general freight business is now larger than our vehicle side, and it's where our growth is heading.

We're part of a wider group with businesses across New Zealand, Australia and Japan. We're also going through a real transformation, with a new operating model and leadership structure to take the business forward.

For the right operations leader, this is a chance to shape how we deliver for our customers, as we grow.

The opportunity

Reporting directly to the Group CEO, you'll lead our operations function across air, sea, landside and customs, along with our freight station and warehousing. You'll set the standards, KPIs and ways of working that make delivery accurate, consistent and profitable.

Your team will include our operations specialists, Customs Manager and customs team, and the leader of our 3PL and warehousing operation. You'll have the mandate and our support to shape the team to support Jacanna’s growth aspirations.

This role calls for a visible, collaborative leader who gets alongside the team and coaches rather than leading from a distance. You'll understand what drives profitability in freight, from trade lanes and job profitability to margin leakage and avoidable costs and turn that into clear actions your team can own.

You'll work hand in hand with our new Head of Sales and Strategic Growth, making sure what we sell is what we deliver well. You'll also drive continuous improvement across processes and systems, including CargoWise and the tools that will help us scale.

About you

You're an experienced freight forwarding operations leader who has come up through operations, knows how a forwarder runs and how to deliver for customers.

You'll ideally bring:

• 10+ years' progressive freight forwarding operations experience
• 5+ years' senior leadership experience, building collaborative, high-performing teams
• Strong air and sea freight knowledge across imports and exports, with a good understanding of customs
• A solid commercial understanding of revenue, gross profit, job profitability and cost-to-serve
• A proven record of continuous improvement that has lifted efficiency and customer delivery
• Experience with CargoWise or a comparable freight forwarding system

Experience in warehousing, 3PL or export supply planning is a bonus, but not essential.

Above all, you'll be a collaborative, commercially minded leader who's comfortable building processes rather than following a global playbook.

Why Jacanna?

• Real influence. You'll report directly to the Group CEO and have genuine autonomy to run and shape the operation.
• The opportunity to build. You'll help shape and develop the operations function rather than inherit a fixed way of working.
• A strong remuneration package. You'll receive a highly competitive senior-level salary that reflects the scale of the role.
• NZ-owned and adaptable. Decisions are made locally, and we can move quickly when opportunities arise.
• A business with ambition. Our general freight business is growing, with strategic customers including our long partnership with the New Zealand Olympic Committee, and we're investing in the leadership needed for the next stage.

If you're an experienced freight forwarding operations leader who enjoys developing people, improving how things run and helping build something, we'd love to hear from you.

Team Recruitment is partnering with Jacanna Global Logistics and managing this process exclusively.