Air Gateway Manager

FTZ Fritz; Bensenville (IL); On-site; USD 97,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401(k) plan

Paid vacation

Job summary

UPS is seeking an Air Gateway Manager in the United States (Illinois) to own gateway initiatives, drive efficiency, and ensure regulatory compliance. You will coordinate with airlines, ground handlers, and internal teams to optimize routing and cost structures.

Responsibilities include negotiating airline/vendor agreements, analyzing market rates, and supporting pricing for RFQs and tenders. Lead staff development and ensure staffing aligns with demand.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain, or related field preferred.
• 5+ years in air freight forwarding or airline cargo operations, with at least 2 years in a supervisory/managerial role.
• Strong knowledge of IATA, TSA, CBP, and international air cargo regulations.
• Proven track record in vendor management and cost control.
• Commercial mindset with cost and revenue alignment awareness.
• Understanding of air freight market trends and industry dynamics.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office suite.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate airline and vendor agreements and buy rates, balancing service, capacity, and profitability objectives.
• Ensure market competitiveness by regularly comparing and validating vs market rates.
• Provide cost inputs to pricing teams for RFQs, tenders, and ad-hoc opportunities.
• Drive routing, capacity, and carrier optimization to reduce costs and improve transit performance.
• Manage ULD planning, consolidation management, and capacity allocation with airlines and regulations.
• Monitor and support operations to meet KPIs for import/export velocity, cost and service levels.
• Drive cost optimization for gateway expenses and manage vendor costs and risks.
• Support gateway compliance with IATA, TSA, CBP and other regulatory requirements.
• Manage, coach, and develop gateway staff, emphasizing commercial mindset, negotiation, and customer service.
• Ensure staffing aligns with volume patterns and seasonal demand.
• Collaborate with product, sales, and service teams to support growth and profitability.
• Coordinate with customs brokerage, warehouse, hub, service center, dispatch teams and international partners.

Skills

Vendor management

Cost control

Leadership

Negotiation

Excel

Microsoft Office

Air freight market trends

Communication

Problem-solving

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Logistics or related field

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Office

Job description

Job Description

The Air Gateway Manager is responsible for owning and driving various gateway initiatives and supporting gateway operations. This role ensures compliance, efficiency, and profitability by coordinating with airlines, ground handlers, and internal teams. The Air Gateway Manager plays a critical role in maintaining service reliability, cost control, and regulatory compliance while driving operational excellence, competitiveness in the market, and customer satisfaction.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate airline and vendor agreements and buy rates, while balancing service, capacity, and profitability objectives.
• Ensure market competitiveness by regularly comparing and validating vs market rates
• Provide cost inputs to pricing teams for RFQs, tenders, and ad-hoc opportunities, including short term and long term pricing needs
• Drive routing, capacity, and carrier optimization initiatives to reduce costs, improve transit performance, and maintain customer service expectations through ongoing analysis of network changes and market opportunities.
• Manage ULD planning, consolidation management, capacity allocation planning in alignment with airline scheduled and restrictions, government regulations, customer service requirements, and buy-sell alignment and cost management
• Monitoring and supporting operations to meet KPIs for import and export velocity, cost and service level expectations
• Drive cost optimization for other gateway expenses by proactively managing storage, demurrage, detention, transportation, labor, and other vendor expenses, while implementing controls to reduce financial risk and improve efficiency.
• Support gateway compliance to IATA, TSA, CBP and other applicable regulatory requirements, as well as UPS security protocols
• Manage, coach, and develop gateway staff, including supervisors, warehouse personnel, and office teams, emphasizing commercial mindset, freight forwarding fundamentals, negotiation skills, customer service, and innovation
• Ensure staffing is aligned with volume patterns and seasonal demand.
• Work closely with local and regional product, sales, lane management, and customer service teams to support business growth, churn prevention, and profitability
• Collaborate with customs brokerage, warehouse, hub, service center, dispatch teams, as well as region and international partners, to ensure efficient cargo flow.
• Utilize operational and financial performance metrics to identify trends, drive corrective actions, and support strategic decision-making.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain, or related field (preferred).
• 5+ years of experience in air freight forwarding or airline cargo operations, with at least 2 years in a supervisory/managerial role.
• Strong knowledge of IATA, TSA, CBP, and international air cargo regulations.
• Proven track record in vendor management and cost control.
• Commercial mindset with cost and revenue alignment awareness.
• Strong understanding of air freight market trends and industry dynamics Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft office suite

Other Criteria

• The internal Grade Level is a 303 Candidate must be geographically located in the same region as position or willing to self-relocate
• The last day to apply is 10/15/2026 at 11:59pm ET
• Employee Type: Permanent UPS is committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
• UPS is an equal opportunity employer. UPS does not discriminate on the basis of race/color/religion/sex/national origin/veteran/disability/age/sexual orientation/gender identity or any other characteristic protected by law.

Basic Qualifications

Must be a U.S. Citizen or National of the U.S., an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or an alien authorized to work in the U.S. for this employer.

Pay Range

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several US geographic markets. The base pay for this position ranges from $96,624.00/year to $180,360.00/year. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to, market location and may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and education/training and a candidate’s work experience. Hired applicants are offered annual short-term and/or long-term incentive compensation programs, subject to applicable eligibility requirements. Payments under these annual programs are not guaranteed and are dependent upon a variety of factors including, but not limited to, individual performance, business unit performance, and/or the company’s performance.

Benefits

• Medical/prescription drug coverage
• Dental coverage
• Vision coverage
• Flexible Spending Account
• Health Savings Account
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
• Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance & Accidental Death and Dismemberment
• Disability Income Protection Plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• 401(k) retirement program
• Vacation
• Paid Holidays and Personal time
• Paid Sick and Family and Medical Leave time as required by law
• Discounted Employee Stock Purchase Program.

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