Commercial Shipping Manager

ZealHR; Wes-Kaap; On-site; ZAR 1,000,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

ZealHR is seeking an experienced Commercial Shipping Manager in Cape Town to take ownership of commercial shipping activities, including vessel capacity, volume forecasting and freight profitability. You will lead the commercial shipping function across forecasting, rate negotiations with shipping lines and the management of rebates and contracts, while collaborating with operations and finance.

The role requires strong leadership, deep industry knowledge and the ability to translate data into

Qualifications

• Proven track record in shipping, freight forwarding or container shipping.
• Experience dealing with shipping lines and freight pricing.
• Ability to forecast volumes and manage capacity.
• Strong understanding of freight rates, tariffs and rebates.
• Experience in leading a team and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Manage contracted shipping volumes and vessel allocations.
• Oversee weekly vessel allocation planning and capacity optimisation.
• Lead forecasting processes and communicate with shipping lines.
• Negotiate rates, rebates and commercial terms with shipping lines.
• Monitor profitability, tariffs and costs to optimise margins.
• Develop commercial strategies using historical and forecast data.
• Lead and develop the commercial/quoting team.
• Provide commercial insight to the Sales team and stakeholders.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Negotiation skills

Analytical ability

Leadership

Job description

Commercial Shipping Manager

Location: Cape Town (Bellville)

Department: Commercial

Reports to: Commercial Executive

About the Role

Our client is looking for an experienced Commercial Shipping Manager to take ownership of commercial shipping activities, including vessel capacity and allocation, volume forecasting, shipping-line negotiations, freight profitability, rates, rebates and commercial reporting.

This is a strategic commercial shipping role that sits at the intersection of commercial, operations, finance and shipping-line relationships.

The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring that contracted shipping volumes are effectively managed, vessel space is optimised, commercial agreements are executed correctly and the business maximises freight profitability.

This is an ideal opportunity for a commercially driven shipping professional who is comfortable working with shipping lines, freight rates, volumes, forecasts and financial data, while also leading a team.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Shipping & Vessel Allocation

• Manage and monitor contracted shipping volumes and vessel allocations.
• Oversee weekly vessel allocation planning and ensure available capacity is optimally utilised.
• Manage daily vessel allocation meetings and ad-hoc space requirements.
• Monitor increases and decreases in volumes and proactively communicate changes to relevant shipping lines.
• Manage weekly forecasting processes and ensure accurate forecasts are submitted to shipping lines within agreed deadlines.
• Resolve allocation, forecasting and capacity-related queries with shipping lines.
• Ensure agreed actions from allocation and forecasting meetings are implemented.

Commercial Strategy & Profitability

• Analyse freight rates, volumes, costs and margins to identify opportunities to improve profitability.
• Manage and oversee consolidated selling tariffs and rates across shipping lines, commodities and destinations.
• Negotiate seasonal, quarterly and ad-hoc rates with shipping lines.
• Negotiate and manage rebates and other commercial incentives.
• Monitor freight profitability and identify opportunities to optimise margins.
• Develop commercial strategies based on historical volumes, market information and forecast demand.
• Provide the Sales team with commercial insight and recommendations on optimised shipping opportunities.
• Identify new and innovative ways to improve profitability while maintaining commercially sustainable relationships with clients and service providers.

Shipping-Line Negotiations & Relationships

• Build and maintain strong professional relationships with shipping lines and other key industry stakeholders.
• Participate in commercial negotiations and contribute to broader strategic objectives.
• Prepare historical volume, rate, profitability and market data to support negotiations.
• Manage commercial agreements and ensure negotiated terms are implemented correctly.
• Participate in industry and networking engagements to strengthen relationships and identify opportunities.

Contracts, Rebates & Cost Management

• Ensure all cost components within shipping contracts are correctly implemented.
• Verify that rebates and charges are accurately calculated, implemented, recovered and accounted for.
• Monitor outstanding contractual rebates and ensure recovery within agreed timelines.
• Review and maintain freight comparison information and identify changes in rates and costs.
• Work closely with Finance to ensure commercial information and recoveries are accurate.
• Identify discrepancies and ensure corrective action is taken.

Reporting & Commercial Analytics

• Develop, maintain and improve commercial reports relating to volumes, rates, profitability and rebates.
• Analyse historical and forecast data to support commercial decision-making.
• Produce regular management reports and ensure information is accurate and delivered within agreed deadlines.
• Monitor daily and weekly commercial performance and identify areas requiring corrective action.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve the use of data and reporting to support profitability.

Quotation Management

• Oversee the daily quotation and quoting process.
• Ensure all quotations are accurately prepared and issued within agreed turnaround times.
• Monitor the quotation pipeline and ensure outstanding quotes are followed up.
• Support the quotation team with complex queries and commercial decision-making.
• Approve exceptional shipping-related costs where required.

Team Leadership

• Lead, manage and develop the commercial/quoting team.
• Set clear objectives and manage performance against agreed KPIs.
• Identify training and development opportunities to continuously improve team capability.
• Manage staff leave and resource requirements in line with operational needs.
• Support the team in resolving complex issues and challenges.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performance environment across the team and wider business.
• Ensure company policies, processes, procedures and commercial objectives are consistently implemented.

Minimum Requirements

Experience:

• Proven experience within the shipping, freight forwarding or container shipping industry.
• Strong experience dealing directly with shipping lines.
• Experience in commercial shipping, freight pricing, vessel allocation, space management or shipping-line negotiations.
• Experience managing shipping volumes and forecasting.
• Strong understanding of freight rates, tariffs, rebates and commercial agreements.
• Experience analysing freight profitability, margins and commercial opportunities.
• Experience working with historical and forecast volume data.
• Previous experience managing and developing a team.

Advantageous Experience

• Experience within the fruit/export industry or another seasonal export environment.
• Experience with NVOCCs, shipping consolidators or loaders.
• Experience working with shipping-line contracts and incentive/rebate structures.
• Relevant shipping-line or liner training.

Key Competencies

The successful candidate will be:

• Commercially astute
• Numerically and analytically strong
• A confident negotiator
• Highly organised and structured
• Decisive and quick to respond
• Resilient and able to work under pressure
• Solution-oriented
• Persuasive and confident
• Adaptable and proactive
• Goal-driven and commercially ambitious
• An effective communicator
• A strong people leader

Why This Role?

This is an opportunity to take ownership of a high-impact commercial shipping function, working directly with shipping lines and internal stakeholders to optimise capacity, strengthen commercial agreements and drive freight profitability.

If you have a strong understanding of the shipping-line environment and enjoy the combination of commercial negotiations, numbers, forecasting, strategy and relationship management, this role could be a strong fit.