Director, Air Freight

UWL; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation

Life and disability insurance

Employee Assistance Program

401(k) plan with company match

Paid Time Off

Professional development opportunities

Tuition assistance

Bonus eligibility

Job summary

UWL, a leading provider of global 3PL services, is seeking a strategic leader to develop and execute the air freight strategy. With over 10 years of experience in international logistics, you'll manage critical financial metrics and lead customer engagements.

The ideal candidate will have a solid understanding of air freight operations, strong leadership skills, and the ability to drive strategic initiatives and profitability.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of international freight forwarding or global logistics experience.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing teams and partners.
• Strong knowledge of air freight operations and regulatory requirements.
• Experience with pricing, capacity, and documentation.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute air freight strategy, budget, and growth priorities.
• Lead executive-level customer engagement and business reviews.
• Manage procurement and capacity strategies for carriers.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations and policies.

Skills

International freight forwarding

Leadership

Sales support

Product development

Carrier procurement

Financial analysis

Communication

Education

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

Tools

CargoWise

Job description

World Group was founded over 60 years ago as a pioneer in vessel agency services on the Great Lakes. Today, we are home to a portfolio of globally trusted brands that deliver customers end-to-end supply chain and logistics solutions, backed by innovative technology to provide visibility and data like never before. With industry-leading products in ocean drayage, domestic trucking, freight forwarding, air freight, customs house brokerage, vessel husbandry, and warehousing and distribution…customers around the globe use the services of our family of brands: ContainerPort Group, UWL, and World Shipping, Inc. to simplify supply chains and reliably move freight.

We move the world with people who care. Our award-winning, industry-recognized culture is anchored in our people across the country, and the passion they bring to each day. We’re growing - join our World Group family today!

www.worldgrouplogistics.com

About UWL:

UWL® is a top 20 American-owned NVOCC and leading provider of global 3PL services. We take pride in delivering seamless supply chain solutions backed by a team of creative problem-solvers. We specialize in ocean transportation, air freight, project cargo, warehousing and distribution, road and rail, bulk liquid logistics, and customs house brokerage. Our proof is in our owned assets: a national network of distribution centers, dependable trucking capacity, and a user-friendly data management platform that delivers transparency and data you can count on. To find out more, visit www.shipuwl.com.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership and Financial Performance

Develop and execute the air freight strategy, annual budget, operating plan, forecasts, and growth priorities.

Own revenue, gross profit, volume, yield, working capital, and trade lane profitability; establish KPIs and drive corrective actions.

Monitor market trends, capacity shifts, geopolitical impacts, rates, and competitive activity to guide product and pricing strategy.

Identify and drive priority trade lanes and growth opportunities based on customer demand, market potential, and network capability.

Commercial Leadership and Sales Support

Partner with commercial leadership on go-to-market plans, target customers, priority trade lanes, and sales strategy.

Support strategic pursuits, prospect meetings, RFPs, quotations, and solution development to help secure new business.

Lead executive-level customer engagement, business reviews, retention efforts, and growth plans for strategic accounts.

Develop and expand air freight offerings, aligned to annual plan, customer need and market trends.

Provide product training, market intelligence, pricing guidance, and conversion support.

Lead new-business handoffs and identify cross-selling opportunities across air freight and related services.

Carrier, Vendor, and Agent Management

Develop and execute procurement and capacity strategies, including carrier diversification, allocations, and long-term sourcing initiatives.

Lead airline and vendor sourcing, rate negotiations, capacity commitments, service agreements, and escalations.

Manage the global agent strategy, including selection, onboarding, commercial terms, service standards, and performance reviews.

Build strong partner relationships through scorecards, business reviews, joint opportunity development, and corrective actions.

Operational Excellence and Customer Experience

Provide governance for end-to-end import and export operations, customer SOPs, service commitments, and exception management.

Drive process standardization, productivity, cargo optimization, shipment visibility, billing accuracy, and continuous improvement.

Serve as the senior escalation point for major customer, service, vendor, and agent issues; lead recovery and root-cause actions.

Partner with Technology and Process teams to improve systems, automation, data quality, and scalability.

Compliance and Team Leadership

Ensure compliance with company policies, customer requirements, and applicable TSA, CBP, IATA, dangerous-goods, and export-control regulations.

Recruit, coach, and develop air freight talent, including leadership development, succession planning, and organizational scalability.

Build a high-accountability organization with clear roles, performance expectations, and development plans.

Represent UWL’s air freight product in leadership forums, customer engagements, partner meetings, and industry events.

Accountabilities and Performance Measures

Revenue, gross profit, volume, yield, trade lane profitability, market share, and customer retention.

Budget and forecast accuracy, pipeline support, opportunity conversion, and successful onboarding of new business.

Carrier and agent competitiveness, capacity access, service reliability, and corrective-action closure.

Operational productivity, shipment quality, billing accuracy, customer satisfaction, and compliance.

Qualifications

10+ years of international freight forwarding or global logistics experience with significant air freight responsibility.

5+ years of progressive leadership experience managing teams, partners, and cross-functional initiatives.

Demonstrated success in sales support, product development, solution design, carrier procurement, and product profitability.

Strong knowledge of air freight operations, pricing, capacity, documentation, global agents, and regulatory requirements.

Strong financial, analytical, communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-management skills.

Experience with CargoWise or a comparable forwarding platform preferred; domestic and international travel required.

Education

High school diploma or GED equivalent required

Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain, Logistics, International Business, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.

Physical Requirements

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 safely perform the essential functions of this job.

The person in this position frequently communicates with external contacts and other employees. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.

Must be able to remain in a stationary position for extended periods of time

Must be able to constantly operate a computer and other office equipment

Ability to travel as needed domestically and internationally.

• Competitive compensation
• Life, AD&D, & Disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• 401(k) plan with up to 6% company match
• Paid Time Off
• Internal Mobility & professional development opportunities
• Tuition assistance
• Bonus Eligibility

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.

For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.