Senior Ocean Freight Sales Manager - Ocean Export, Chemicals & Spirits

Skypace; Norfolk (VA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Skypace is hiring a Senior Ocean Freight Sales Manager in Norfolk, Virginia. The role focuses on selling ocean export to Mid-Atlantic Chemicals & Spirits exporters, with a commission structure that offers 25% in the first year.

The ideal candidate will have at least 5 years of experience in ocean freight sales, fluency in export vocabulary, and established relationships in the industry. Join Skypace to elevate your sales career in a dynamic logistics environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of ocean freight sales with verifiable client relationships among the Mid-Atlantic Chemicals & Spirits exporters.
• Lane fluency out of the Port of Norfolk.
• Fluency in export freight vocabulary and dangerous-goods classification.

Responsibilities

• Grow and expand the portfolio of the Mid-Atlantic Chemicals & Spirits exporter accounts.
• Track overall account and portfolio performance.
• Partner with procurement and account management teams to build competitive service proposals.
• Manage client relationships and delivery from day one of activation.

Skills

Chemicals & Spirits export

Dangerous-goods classification

AES and EEI export filing

Job description

Senior Ocean Freight Sales Manager - Ocean Export, Chemicals & Spirits

If you sell ocean export to the Mid‑Atlantic Chemicals & Spirits exporters through the Port of Norfolk, this role keeps your accounts attributed to you and your commission uncapped. Year 1 commission runs at 25% of gross profit with no cap, and sunset rates keep paying you on retained accounts across the first three Account Years.

About Skypace

Skypace serves shippers whose freight programs depend on consistent execution across repeated ocean movements, multiple service providers, and constant commercial pressure on cost, timing, and space allocation. For these companies, performance is shaped by how systematically pricing, allocation, and milestone visibility move alongside the shipment itself.

Skypace operates a global operating environment where this coordination is built into the workflow as a structural standard. Shippers, carriers, drayage providers, and internal teams operate through a shared data structure that accumulates context, supports timely decisions, and preserves the operational record across the shipment lifecycle.

Today, this model supports more than 150 customers across 18 countries through direct integrations with top 10 ocean carriers, among them MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM, COSCO, and Hapag‑Lloyd. The operating environment optimizes shipper performance across freight cost, communication discipline, error reduction, booking speed, and visibility into how each participating party performs against commitment.

Operational data accumulates as a clean, structured record that supports continuous process improvement today and becomes foundational as supply chains integrate AI‑driven decision agents into planning, execution, and exception handling.

Why this role exists

This role builds out Skypace’s Chemicals & Spirits ocean export portfolio through the Port of Norfolk, serving the Mid‑Atlantic exporters shipping to markets including Netherlands, Rotterdam, United Kingdom. It is positioned for a sales professional who already operates inside the Mid‑Atlantic Chemicals & Spirits export ecosystem and whose book benefits from broader carrier coverage, faster pricing response, and reliable handling across the shipment lifecycle.

Experience

5+ years (60 months)

Incentive

Year 1: 25% of GP, no cap. Sunset: 15% (Y2), 11% (Y3+). Bonus accelerator: 10% of GP on three highest GP months.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of ocean freight sales with verifiable client relationships among the Mid‑Atlantic Chemicals & Spirits exporters
• Lane fluency out of the Port of Norfolk
• Dangerous‑goods classification, excise and export documentation
• Fluency in export freight vocabulary (booking and equipment allocation at origin, AES and EEI filing, free time and detention, House BL versus Master BL, rolling and cutoff management)
• Decision‑maker access at two or more accounts

Responsibilities

• Grow and expand the portfolio of the Mid‑Atlantic Chemicals & Spirits exporter accounts
• Track overall account and portfolio performance
• Partner with procurement and account management teams to build more competitive service proposals for customers across pricing, technology, and scale
• Track attribution in CRM from day one of activation, with account managers and operations owning day‑to‑day client management and delivery

Skills

• Chemicals & Spirits export, dangerous‑goods classification
• AES and EEI export filing

How the operation runs

Skypace operates on a proactive monitoring discipline. Milestones are tracked through live data across the entire shipment ecosystem. When a deviation in schedule, cost, or capacity surfaces within the operating environment, Skypace initiates the next operational action before the client encounters the problem.

The instant‑quote and online booking engine compresses commercial response time from days to minutes. Carrier MQC commitments hold during peak season, which is the period when allocation decides whether a shipper's seasonal cycle preserves its margin or absorbs unplanned cost.

The quote engine surfaces every accessorial at the quote stage, including peak surcharges, GRI, port congestion fees, drayage components, and specialty equipment or reefer plug charges where applicable. The number the client sees at quote stands on the invoice. Skypace treats pricing integrity as a commercial discipline that holds from quote through to settlement.

Candidate Assessment

Given the high volume of applicants, we truly appreciate those who recognize the value of the supply chain transformation that Skypace brings as both a forwarder and a technology partner for our clients. Based on your experience and understanding of the position, please share your thoughts on how you believe your career and professional experience would evolve if you joined Skypace in this role.

Required Screening Questions

• Please describe the most active lane in your current portfolio: US gateway, destination port, container mix, and the carrier most commonly engaged on that lane.
• Please describe your current active portfolio of the ocean freight customers.

If you have any questions for our team after reviewing the role and Skypace, feel free to leave them below (optional).