Director Managed Transportation Europe in Feltham

Crane Worldwide Logistics is a global logistics and supply‐chain solutions provider operating across more than 30 countries and over 120 locations. The company’s value proposition centres on technology, service excellence, and people. As Crane expands its Managed Transportation offering into Europe, this new leadership role will be pivotal in driving growth and shaping service excellence for ground freight in the region.

The Role

As the Director of Managed Transportation for Europe, you will lead Crane’s ground‑freight business (full truckload and less‑than‑truckload) in Western Europe. You will build and lead a high‑performing team responsible for procurement, carrier management, transport engineering, pricing, and operations. You will define and execute the strategy to scale the managed transportation product, embed superior process, service and cost performance, and establish Crane as a leading provider for European ground‑freight managed‑transportation solutions. You will be based in or near Amsterdam (preferred) to leverage the Netherlands as a logistics hub, while working across Europe, building local capability, aligning regional operations with global standards, and driving excellence in client service.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and implement the strategic roadmap for Crane’s Managed Transportation (ground freight) business in Europe (FTL + LTL), including market entry, growth, and profitability objectives.
• Build, structure, and lead a cross‑functional team covering procurement (carrier sourcing), carrier management/relationships, transport engineering & network design, pricing strategy, operations & service delivery.
• Establish and scale operational infrastructures: carrier panels, contractual frameworks, KPIs/SLAs, service‑level measurement, cost control, and continuous improvement.
• Drive pricing governance and commercial models for managed transportation services, aligning with client needs, cost behaviours, and margin targets.
• Lead procurement of carrier capacity (European road/ground network), optimize carrier mix, negotiate agreements, monitor performance, mitigate risk, drive cost efficiency and service reliability.
• Oversee network/route engineering and design: build optimal transport flows, leverage volume, routing efficiencies, mode mix where applicable, and embed visibility & data analytics into operations.
• Manage service operations for European ground freight: pickups, deliveries, drayage, cross‐border transit, customs/trade lanes as needed, ensuring service excellence and cost discipline.
• Collaborate with global Managed Transportation leadership, regional stakeholders (sales, marketing, customer‑solutions, IT), and local country operations to integrate process, systems, and client offerings.
• Serve as a P&L owner for the region: prepare business cases, forecasts, budgets, track performance, drive profitability, and escalate issues.
• Foster client‐facing excellence: partner with sales and account management teams to develop the managed‑transportation proposition, present to clients and prospects, assist in RFPs and solution design.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement and innovation: embed technology (visibility, analytics, automation), lean operations, and best practices to build a competitive, differentiated managed transportation capability.

Qualifications & Experience

• 10+ years of progressive senior leadership experience in managed transportation, transportation management services (TMS/3PL/4PL), procurement, or carrier management with a strong focus on ground freight (road/FTL/LTL) in Europe.
• Proven track record building and scaling teams that span procurement, carrier management, engineering, pricing, and operations.
• Strong commercial mindset: experience owning P&L, pricing models, cost management, and driving profitable growth in a logistics/transportation services business.
• Deep experience in European ground‑transportation markets (FTL/LTL road freight), including carrier procurement, network design, cross‐border operations, cost/service trade‑offs, and regulatory/trade implications.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and operational execution: able to build structure where none exists, lead through ambiguity, and translate strategy into operational reality.
• Excellent leadership and stakeholder‑management skills: ability to recruit, develop, and inspire a high‐performing, multi‐disciplinary team, and to collaborate globally.
• Analytical and data‐driven: comfortable with metrics, KPIs, dashboards, transport analytics, and continuous improvement.
• Strong communication and commercial acumen: successful at working with sales/marketing teams, presenting to clients, shaping proposals and solutions.
• Fluent English required; proficiency in other European languages (Dutch, German, French) is a strong plus.
• Based in or willing to relocate to Amsterdam (or Netherlands) and travel regionally across Europe.

Why Join Crane Worldwide Logistics

• Lead a strategic growth initiative: build and scale Crane’s managed transportation offering in Europe, focusing on the ground freight segment.
• Build your own team and shape the culture, processes, and capabilities from the ground up.
• Work for a global logistics organization with the resources and network of a large provider, but in a role with entrepreneurial autonomy and impact.
• Base yourself in the Netherlands — one of Europe’s premier logistics hubs — and operate across multiple European markets.
• Competitive senior‐executive compensation, performance incentives, and an opportunity to drive both personal and organizational growth.

Recruitment Agency Policy

At Crane Worldwide Logistics we manage all hiring directly and do not accept unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles from recruitment agencies or search firms. Agencies must not contact our employees or managers directly with candidate details. Where recruitment support is required, we will engage trusted partners through a formal written agreement. Any CVs received without such an agreement will be treated as direct applications, and Crane Worldwide Logistics will not be liable for any associated placement fees. We appreciate your cooperation in respecting this policy.