VP of Operations in London

We are looking for a dynamic and strategic leader with extensive experience in global freight forwarding and supply chain. This is a senior leadership role responsible for overseeing all operational aspects, including managing teams, driving efficiency, ensuring compliance, and maintaining profitability.

Your leadership will be instrumental in delivering operational innovation, commercial growth, and quality customer service, responsible overall for a multi‐modal global team of 50. We are, therefore, looking for a natural collaborator and passionate people leader, someone well versed in building high performing and engaged teams, as well as building strong stakeholder relationships in fast‐paced and complex matrix environments.

Finally, you should have a passion for technology and its ability to revolutionise industries and ways of working. You will be pivotal in partnering with our Software leadership to deliver innovative and disruptive solutions to the world of supply chain.

Department and Location

Department: Operations

Location: London

Working Arrangements

Location: Hybrid. As a global business, we work from wherever we are required to. This means a mix of at home working, travelling to our London HQ but also frequent international travel to Asia, US and Europe.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic and Leadership Responsibilities
• Develop strategy: Define, articulate, and relentlessly drive the overarching strategic direction for all freight forwarding operations. This includes setting long‐term goals for market expansion, service offerings, and technological integration, ensuring alignment with the company's global business objectives and anticipated market trends.
• Operational blueprint: Design and implement a robust, scalable operational blueprint that standardises processes across all global regions, leveraging best practices to maximise consistency, efficiency, and reliability in service delivery.
• M&A integration management: Oversee the complete process of merging operational functions, systems, and teams of an acquired business into the parent entity.
• Financial Stewardship and Management
• Financial ownership (P&L): Assume full ownership of the function's P&L statement. This critical responsibility involves meticulous management of budgets, forecasting operational expenses, and driving cost‐efficiency initiatives to consistently meet or exceed aggressive fiscal targets and enhance overall profitability.
• Investment justification: Lead the financial justification and business case development for major capital expenditures and strategic operational investments.
• Team Leadership and Talent Development
• Build high‐performing teams: Recruit, mentor, and cultivate exceptional operations teams globally. Focus on fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.
• Talent strategy: Develop and execute comprehensive professional development plans, ensuring robust succession planning is in place for all key operational leadership roles to secure the long‐term stability and growth of the function.
• Performance Management and Accountability
• KPI definition and governance: Establish clear, measurable Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for all operational processes and team members. Implement rigorous tracking mechanisms and conduct regular performance reviews to ensure all operational goals are achieved consistently.
• Data‐driven decision making: Champion the use of operational data and analytics to identify bottlenecks, measure success, and inform strategic decisions, driving continuous performance uplift.
• Innovation and Technological Advancement
• Drive Innovation: Proactively identify, evaluate, and lead the implementation of emerging technologies, such as AI, Machine Learning, and advanced logistics software, and innovative processes to dramatically improve operational efficiency, data accuracy, and the overall customer service experience.
• Digital transformation: Oversee the digital transformation roadmap for operations, ensuring all systems are integrated and future‐proofed to support rapid global scaling.
• Executive Communication and Stakeholder Management
• Executive relationships: Serve as the primary operational liaison with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Board. This involves high‐level, clear, and persuasive executive communication, effectively setting and managing expectations, presenting detailed operational findings, and making compelling, data‐backed strategic recommendations.
• Operational and Compliance
• End-to-end oversight: Provide comprehensive oversight and management of all end-to-end freight services (Air, Ocean, Road, Rail). This includes meticulous management of cargo handling, documentation, customs brokerage, and transport logistics, ensuring efficiency, reliability, and full adherence to global logistics standards.
• Process optimisation: Continuously analyse and optimise complex operational workflows and processes to drive down delivery costs, accelerate transit times, minimise errors, and significantly enhance the overall customer experience through service delivery improvements.
• Partner and carrier network management: Strategically manage, negotiate, and optimise relationships with a global network of key logistics partners, including carriers, third‐party logistics (3PL) providers, distribution centres, and customs agents, leveraging partnerships to secure optimal service levels and competitive rates.
• Ensure compliance: Institute a rigorous compliance framework to guarantee absolute adherence to all complex international shipping regulations, trade laws, customs tariffs, export controls, and stringent security standards (e.g., C‐TPAT, AEO).
• Risk mitigation: Proactively develop and regularly test robust contingency plans, disaster recovery protocols, and business continuity strategies to effectively mitigate risks associated with geopolitical issues, natural disasters, cyber threats, and major operational disruptions, safeguarding continuous service delivery.
• Customer Relationship Management
• Customer relations escalation: Act as the ultimate point of escalation for complex client issues, operational crises, and high‐impact disputes. Lead resolution efforts with a focus on retaining client trust and demonstrating commitment to service excellence.
• Customer first: Foster a culture where operations understand the customer's business, build strong peer‐level relationships, and accountability on each file.
• Key account engagement: Develop and nurture strong, strategic relationships with key clients and major accounts, regularly engaging with their executive teams to ensure their evolving logistics needs are fully understood and consistently exceeded through tailored operational solutions.
• Client network development: Actively participate in industry forums and client events to develop and maintain a strong professional network, enhancing the company's market reputation and identifying opportunities for new service offerings based on client feedback and market demands.