Ocean Operations Associate

At Flexport, we believe global trade can move the human race forward. That’s why it’s our mission to make global commerce so easy there will be more of it. We’re shaping the future of a $10T industry with solutions powered by innovative technology and exceptional people. Today, companies of all sizes—from emerging brands to Fortune 500s—use Flexport technology to move more than $19B of merchandise across 112 countries a year. 

The recent global supply chain crisis has put Flexport center stage as we continue to play a pivotal role in how goods move around the world. We are proud to have the support of the best investors in the game who believe in our mission, solutions and people. Ready to tackle global challenges that impact business, society, and the environment? Come join us.

 

 The opportunity:

The role of the Ops Associate is a critical part of making Flexport’s mission to make global trade easy for everyone a reality. In this role, your direct customers are the partners within your region: our account management and customs teams, subcontractors, carriers, terminals and trucking providers. Your work directly supports Flexport’s end customers in achieving their logistics goals. Most importantly, you will play a pivotal role in building the next operational model at Flexport: allowing us to effectively scale to achieve our mission of making global trade easier for everyone.

This role is designed to problem solve impactful operational challenges as part of our Global team while developing specialized expertise in supply chain operations. As the person who executes service delivery for our clients, you have the unique opportunity to help your regional account team spot opportunities to improve and grow our customers’ business. You will be charged with helping Flexport account management teams and clients solve exceptional challenges in order to move their shipments in less time with lower costs and via improved productivity by your team, unblocking issues and establishing procedures to prevent them in the future.

 

Tactical Responsibilities:

 

As a supply chain operator, you are an expert in executing the end-to-end movement of shipments within a regional network including Ocean LCL imports and exports.

• You will personally represent Flexport’s value proposition by leading business implementation and shipment execution for new clients and opportunities.
• You will gain specialist expertise within a mode or function and act as the first point of escalation for issue resolution (reactive) or program improvements (proactive, both internally and externally).
• You will be the “front line” in ensuring the highest standard of Flexport quality: shipments move “on time” and exceptions are handled appropriately. You will be responsible for ensuring your work satisfies internal KPIs and SLAs that demonstrate quality delivery.
• You will implement and test scalable operational infrastructure and procedures to ensure they are delivering the highest levels of efficiency and productivity for your customers. If they are not, you will look for opportunities to improve them.
• In Ocean LCL teams you will:
• Seamlessly coordinate the day-to-day supply operations with LCL, Transload, Trucking, and Warehouse activities within your region.
• Analyze data to rate subcontractor performance. Your analysis will inform subcontractor/carrier performance management initiatives.
• Execute booking and documentation processes with carriers.
• Timely shipment troubleshooting and exception escalation/handling.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the procedure and system to differentiate Flexport operations from the industry.

Adaptive Responsibilities:

• You will help build and implement operational infrastructure and procedures in the day-to-day workflow, while constantly identifying and executing opportunities to realize optimal efficiency and productivity.
• You will empower Account Management by participating in feedback loops to ensure client needs are met.
• You will use metrics to spot opportunities to improve and deliver great performance in your role, including data quality and shipment milestone timeliness.
• You will act as a consultant to your regional team, product & engineering and the operations excellence team on ocean supply chain operations.

Scope of Duties:

• Execute booking and documentation processes with clients /carriers
• Timely shipment troubleshooting and exception escalation / handling
• Work intimately with Flexport AM, Planning team to ensure an effective end to end export process.
• Coach junior specialists on the daily job. 
• Plan and execute special freight operations (i.e. DG, reefer, etc). 
• Assist Sr. Associate on new business/process implementation, new projects and new tasks. 
• Support internal and external clients to make the best decision with your expertise;
• Live and act with integrity guided by the company values including sustaining a high bar for operational quality and service.
• Inform the business process and software capability needs to help scale our growing team while improving quality, service, efficiency and regulatory compliance.
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the procedure and system to differentiate Flexport operations from the industry.

 

What you will need: 

Experience:

• BA/BS degree 
• Minimum 2 years of experience in logistics, freight forwarding, supply chain, ocean carrier operations, or consulting (ocean freight knowledge is a plus) 

Mindset:
Desire to “build a better machine” and get irritated when things aren’t optimal

• Hands-on, process-oriented, structured thinking with strong problem-solving capabilities 
• Strategic vision and ground floor execution
• Excitement to manage vendor relations and create best-in-class, innovative structures to do so
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, and organizational skills
• A client service mindset; you are obsessed with client and squad happiness
• Next-level attention to detail
• Courage to challenge the status quo when logic and reason require it. See something broken? Fix it!

• Flexibility to get the job done when needed. Willing to work outside office hours and occasional weekend or night shifts in certain locations.

What you will learn: 

• You will learn what it takes to lead small teams in the execution of day-to-day tactical tasks.
• You will learn how to thrive in an ambiguous environment, research and test operational hypotheses and inform the strategy of a newly built team.

• You will gain specialist expertise to become an ocean or network operations and intermodal subject matter expert within the company. You are the leading advisor in this area, someone our clients, partners, and internal teams go to for advice and strategy.
• You will gain the ability to continuously improve the client experience through a deep industry understanding. You are singularly positioned to realize how we can both work within and push the logistics industry forward to meet the standards of Flexport’s client-centric service.