Capacity Planning Manager in London

Crane Worldwide Logistics is a leader in supply chain solutions with over 130 locations across 30 countries providing individual services that address our client's logistics challenges.

About the Role: The global supply chain of racks are becoming increasingly challenging due to several factors. We are growing our cloud services team to be more focused on the global movement of cloud infrastructure hardware — server racks, networking gear, and associated IT equipment — between manufacturing sites, integration facilities, and data centers worldwide. This cargo is dense, high value, often oversized, and increasingly subject to export and dangerous goods regulation.

The Capacity Planning Manager owns the air freight network strategy that keeps this cargo moving reliably: forecasting demand, securing the right mix of freighter and charter capacity and BSAs, and optimizing how that capacity is used across our priority lanes.

Network & Capacity Strategy

• Develop rolling capacity forecasts (weekly/monthly/quarterly) by lane, reconciling customer project pipelines (data center builds, hardware refresh cycles, decommission projects) with available air cargo capacity.
• Build and maintain capacity plans across priority corridors — Asia Pacific intra-regional, China–North America, China–Northern Europe, and Middle East gateways — adjusting for seasonality, GRIs, and project-driven demand spikes.
• Model dynamic load factor (weight- and volume-constrained utilization) for rack and crate shipments, given their density and irregular dimensions, to right-size ULD/pallet builds and avoid both spoilage and stuck freight.
• Identify when scheduled freighter capacity is insufficient and recommend charter or ACMI solutions for large or time-critical moves.

Carrier & Partner Management

• Negotiate and manage Block Space Agreements (BSAs) and allocation agreements with freighter operators and combination carriers across core lanes.
• Maintain relationships with charter brokers, GSAs, and ACMI providers to flex capacity for surge or out-of-gauge (OOG) shipments.
• Track spot rate movements, GRI announcements, and peak season surcharges; advise commercial teams on rate exposure and contract timing.
• Vet ground handling capability at gateway airports (ramp equipment, forklift/crane capacity, climate control) for heavy and oversized rack shipments.
• Translate customer shipment plans into booking instructions, balancing chargeable weight optimization against transit time and cost targets.
• Coordinate with packaging/crating teams on shock, vibration, and climate requirements specific to server hardware, and ensure crate/pallet dimensions are compatible with available aircraft types (including nose-loading freighters for tall or long cargo).
• Build contingency plans for capacity disruption (mechanical, weather, geopolitical) on critical lanes, including pre-cleared backup routings.
• Monitor and report on load factor, on-time performance, and capacity utilization against plan.

Compliance & Risk

• Maintain working knowledge of dangerous goods regulations relevant to IT hardware (e.g., UN3480/3481 lithium-ion battery shipments) and ensure bookings reflect correct DG handling.
• Stay current on export control requirements affecting high-performance computing and AI accelerator hardware, and flag shipments requiring licensing or restricted routing.
• Partner with customs/trade compliance on HS classification and import documentation for IT and networking equipment.
• Support insurance and security protocols appropriate to high-value cargo.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Act as the primary capacity liaison between Control Tower across region and Operational teams and carriers.
• Provide capacity visibility and constraints input into customer-facing quotes and project timelines before commitments are made.
• Partner with finance on capacity-related cost forecasting and carrier contract economics.

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years in air freight capacity planning, network planning, or carrier management, ideally within a forwarder, airline, GSSA, or shipper logistics team.
• Demonstrated fluency with industry mechanics: spot rates, GRIs, chargeable weight, load factor, allocation/BSA structures.
• Experience managing capacity across at least one of: Asia Pacific, transpacific, or Asia–Europe trade lanes.
• Strong analytical and forecasting skills; comfortable building and maintaining capacity models in Excel or BI tools.
• Track record negotiating directly with carriers, GSAs, or charter brokers.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with oversized/out-of-gauge cargo planning or project/charter logistics.
• Familiarity with dangerous goods regulations for lithium battery–containing equipment.
• Exposure to data center, IT hardware, or high-value/high-tech vertical logistics.
• Working knowledge of export control regimes affecting semiconductors or AI/HPC hardware.
• Experience standing up network capacity strategy for a new business line or trade lane.