Senior Manager, Ocean Gateway, Japan
On-siteTokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Job Summary
Establish and strengthen relationships with key local vendors in Japan, including CFS, drayage providers, ocean carriers, and customs partners. Lead the sourcing, screening, and hiring of the Tokyo operations team, acting as the in-country hiring authority for operational roles. Design the end-to-end operational process for Japan, covering booking management, documentation, customs interaction, terminal handling, drayage coordination, exception management, and post-arrival processes. Drive operational execution readiness by ensuring SOPs, SLAs, and KPIs are in place before new shipment flows are brought in-house. Increase insourcing velocity by leading the transition from external partners to in-house execution, including knowledge transfer, system setup, and partner offboarding. Act as the senior operational voice in client-facing meetings to build local credibility while collaborating cross-functionally with APAC operations, Procurement, Pricing, and Account Management. Coach and mentor newly hired Japanese operations staff to help them grow into long-term Flexport leaders.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent
- Minimum 10+ years of experience in freight forwarding, NVOCC, or supply chain operations
- significant time in Japan
- meaningful leadership exposure
- Deep, current knowledge of Japan's freight forwarding ecosystem: ports, terminals, CFS networks, customs brokers, trucking providers, and the major ocean and air carriers serving Japan
- An established professional network with Japanese carriers, CFS, drayage, and customs partners
- the credibility to negotiate operating arrangements directly with senior counterparts
- Demonstrated experience designing or improving freight forwarding SOPs and operational KPIs for Ocean (FCL/LCL), and ideally Air
- Proven ability to hire, build, and develop operations teams from the ground up
- Native or near-native Japanese (verbal and written) and professional working English
- comfortable representing Japan in a global, English-speaking matrix organization
- Builder mindset: comfortable with ambiguity, decisive in early-stage environments, and pragmatic about balancing global standards with local realities
- High integrity, strong sense of ownership, and alignment with Flexport's values
Desired Qualifications
- Prior experience leading a country launch, gateway opening, or insourcing transition in Japan or another mature APAC freight market
- Experience with technology-enabled or platform-based freight forwarding operations
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