Airfreight Operations Manager
Must-have:SecurityLeadPrincipal
About the company
An independent Heathrow forwarder, is looking for an Airfreight Operations Manager.
Your tasks
Outline of the Role You will take full ownership of the Heathrow operation: a small team of operators as well as a couple of general admin staff and drivers. This is a hands-on leadership role. You'll run the desk, set the standard and step in on live shipments whenever needed, not manage from a distance.
The immediate priority is the operation itself: raising service standards, building a proactive customer-first culture and making the business ready to grow. Once that foundation is in place, you'll play a central part in driving growth, and hitting agreed milestones earns you equity in the business.
Duties Include
- Lead day-to-day air export and import operations at Heathrow, working live shipments alongside the team
- Lift customer service standards and reset the culture of an established team — coaching, setting expectations and tackling under-performance
- Own service quality for high-value, time-critical and specialist cargo
- Manage airline, handling agent, customs and haulier relationships to secure capacity, rates and reliability
- Oversee the warehouse and small fleet, scheduling collections and deliveries efficiently
- Ensure compliance with security (RA/KC), customs and dangerous goods requirements
- Improve processes and systems so the operation can scale
- Help shape and deliver the growth plan once the operation is strengthened, including supporting client development
Requirements
What our client is looking for
- Strong, recent airfreight operations experience
- Solid working knowledge of both air export and import processes, airline booking, customs and security procedures
- Experience leading or supervising an operations team, with the confidence to raise standards and drive culture change
- Hands-on mentality: comfortable rolling up your sleeves on the busiest days
- Customer-first attitude and excellent communication skills
- Commercial awareness: you understand margin, cost control and what keeps clients loyal