Purpose of the Job
The Head of Ocean Freight, Sub-Saharan Africa is responsible for leading the strategy, commercial growth, product development and overall performance of Aramex's Ocean Freight business across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The role owns the regional Ocean Freight agenda, including revenue and profitability growth, trade lane development, carrier strategy, capacity procurement, pricing and yield management, operational governance, solution development and customer experience.
As the senior Ocean Freight product leader for SSA, the role will build a competitive and scalable ocean freight proposition across key African and global trade corridors, strengthening Aramex's relationships with shipping lines, strategic customers, partners and overseas network organizations.
The role will work closely with Country Management, Commercial, Operations and global product teams to accelerate market penetration and position Aramex as a stronger freight-forwarding partner across SSA.
Job Description
- Develop and execute the Ocean Freight strategy across Sub-Saharan Africa, driving product growth, market expansion, and trade lane development.
- Own regional P&L performance, including revenue, profitability, budgeting, forecasting, productivity, and margin improvement initiatives.
- Lead carrier management, procurement, capacity planning, and strategic partnerships to secure competitive pricing and reliable service levels.
- Expand and optimize regional and international trade corridors, strengthening network capabilities and identifying growth opportunities.
- Oversee the development and enhancement of Ocean Freight solutions, including FCL, LCL, multimodal, consolidation, and value-added logistics services.
- Partner with commercial teams to drive customer acquisition, account growth, tender participation, customer retention, and cross-selling opportunities.
- Establish pricing and yield management strategies to maintain competitiveness, optimize margins, and strengthen rate governance.
- Drive operational excellence by improving service quality, shipment visibility, customs coordination, process efficiency, and customer experience.
- Champion digital transformation, automation, analytics, and data-driven decision-making to enhance operational and commercial performance.
- Lead, coach, and develop regional Ocean Freight teams, fostering accountability, collaboration, succession planning, and a high-performance culture.
- Ensure compliance with shipping regulations, governance standards, risk management requirements, and business continuity frameworks across the region.
Job Requirements - Experience and Education
- Bachelor's degree in Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Transportation, International Trade, Maritime Studies, Business Administration, Commerce or a related discipline.
- MBA, Master's degree or advanced supply-chain/logistics qualification preferred.
- Relevant industry qualifications, for example FIATA or comparable freight-forwarding certification, would be advantageous.
- 12 to 15+ years of progressive experience within Ocean Freight, Freight Forwarding, Shipping, Transportation or International Logistics.
- Typically 5 to 8+ years in senior product, regional or multi-country leadership roles.
- Strong experience managing or developing Ocean Freight businesses across multiple markets.
- Significant knowledge of SSA freight markets, major gateways, ports and international trade corridors.
- Demonstrated experience managing P&L, revenue, gross profit and product-performance targets.
- Strong track record in carrier procurement, contract negotiation, capacity management and rate management.
- Demonstrated experience developing strategic trade lanes.
- Experience supporting major multinational and regional customer tenders.
- Strong understanding of FCL, LCL, consolidation and multimodal freight solutions.
- Experience leading transformation, process improvement and digitalization initiatives.
- Experience operating in complex and fast-changing emerging markets.
- Experience working within a major global or regional freight-forwarding organization would be highly advantageous.