Logistics Manager - International Freight Forwarding (IFF)

Location: Pune, India Department: Logistics

Reports To: Head of Logistics

Role Overview

The Logistics Manager - International Freight Forwarding (IFF) will lead Spiro's international freight forwarding operations from Pune, managing the end-to-end execution of ocean, air and multimodal shipments from global suppliers to Spiro's manufacturing and assembly facilities across East and West Africa.

This role is accountable for carrier procurement support, RFQ management, freight cost analysis, booking execution, shipment visibility, stakeholder communication, and performance management of logistics service providers. The Logistics Manager will lead a team of logistics professionals while remaining fully accountable for operational excellence, cost optimization, service reliability, compliance, and continuous improvement.

The Logistics Manager is accountable for minimizing total logistics costs by proactively managing freight execution, shipment visibility, and container demurrage and detention exposure across all African markets through disciplined daily operational control and stakeholder coordination.

The role requires close collaboration with suppliers, freight forwarders, shipping lines, customs brokers, inspection agencies, and Spiro's country logistics teams to ensure shipments move seamlessly from origin to destination.

Key Responsibilities

1. International Freight Procurement & RFQ Management

• Lead all international freight RFQs covering ocean, air, road and multimodal transportation.

• Develop RFQ strategies that maximize competition while ensuring service reliability.

• Float RFQs to approved freight forwarders, shipping lines and logistics partners.

• Maintain the Global RFQ Tracker ensuring complete visibility of all sourcing activities.

• Evaluate commercial and technical proposals using predefined scorecards.

• Conduct detailed benchmarking of freight rates against market indices and historical trends.

• Prepare recommendation reports for management approval.

• Support annual and spot freight procurement exercises.

• Maintain approved carrier and freight forwarder database.

2. Carrier & Freight Forwarder Management

• Develop strategic relationships with global shipping lines, NVOCCs and freight forwarders.

• Participate in quarterly business reviews with logistics partners.

• Monitor carrier allocation commitments, equipment availability and schedule reliability.

• Coordinate carrier rate filing and validity management.

• Negotiate operational improvements and service recovery plans.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives with logistics partners.

• Escalate operational risks before they impact business continuity.

3. Booking & Origin Execution

• Coordinate shipment bookings in line with cargo readiness.

• Ensure bookings align with production schedules and inventory requirements.

• Liaise with suppliers to confirm cargo availability.

• Monitor timely cargo handover to freight forwarders.

• Ensure all shipping documentation is complete and accurate.

• Coordinate amendments to bookings whenever production schedules change.

• Monitor loading activities and vessel departures.

• Ensure shipment milestones are updated within agreed timelines.

4. Shipment Visibility & Execution

• Monitor shipments throughout the transportation lifecycle.

• Maintain complete shipment visibility from origin until arrival at the destination port through to final delivery

to the respective manufacturing plants.

• Identify potential disruptions before they affect delivery timelines.

• Coordinate recovery plans with carriers and freight forwarders.

• Track vessel schedules, transshipment performance and schedule changes.

• Ensure shipment milestones are accurately captured in internal tracking systems.

• Manage shipment exception reporting.

5. Destination Coordination

• Coordinate with Spiro's country logistics teams across Africa.

• Ensure timely transmission of shipping documents.

• Support customs clearance planning before vessel arrival.

• Monitor clearance performance.

• Ensure timely delivery of cargo from the Port of Discharge to manufacturing and assembly plants.

• Resolve operational bottlenecks affecting cargo movement.

• Coordinate urgent escalations with internal and external stakeholders.

6. Freight Cost Management

• Monitor freight expenditure against approved budgets.

• Analyse freight cost trends.

• Identify cost optimization opportunities.

• Validate freight invoices.

• Investigate freight billing discrepancies.

• Support finance during invoice reconciliation.

• Maintain freight savings tracker.

7. Operational Performance Management

Develop and monitor KPIs including:

• On-Time Booking

• On-Time Vessel Departure

• Transit Time Performance

• On-Time Arrival

• Customs Clearance Performance

• Plant Delivery Performance

• Carrier Schedule Reliability

• Booking Confirmation Lead Time

• Documentation Accuracy

• Shipment Visibility Accuracy

• Freight Cost Variance

• Exception Resolution Time

Prepare monthly logistics performance dashboards for management.

8. Container Demurrage & Detention Management

Own the end-to-end monitoring, control, and reduction of container demurrage and detention exposure across all international shipments.

Key Responsibilities:

• Establish and maintain a daily Demurrage & Detention (D&D) Tracker for all inbound shipments.

• Monitor free time utilization from container discharge through empty container return.

• Proactively identify containers at risk of incurring demurrage or detention charges and drive timely

mitigation actions.

• Coordinate closely with freight forwarders, shipping lines, customs brokers, transporters, and Spiro's

country logistics teams to ensure containers are cleared, collected, and returned within free time.

• Escalate high-risk shipments to management before charges are incurred, with recommended corrective

actions.

• Challenge and validate all carrier and shipping line D&D invoices to ensure accuracy and contractual

compliance.

• Investigate root causes of D&D occurrences and implement preventive measures to eliminate repeat

incidents.

• Work with country logistics teams to optimize customs clearance, inland transportation, and container

return processes.

• Track carrier-specific free time agreements and identify opportunities to negotiate improved terms during

carrier reviews and procurement exercises.

• Develop dashboards highlighting D&D trends by country, carrier, supplier, freight forwarder, and root cause.

• Drive continuous improvement initiatives aimed at minimizing avoidable storage-related costs across the

network.

Daily Reporting Responsibilities

Prepare and circulate a Daily Container D&D Report covering:

• Containers currently within free time.

• Containers approaching free time expiry (e.g., next 3–5 days).

• Containers already in demurrage.

• Containers already in detention.

• Daily financial exposure by shipment and country.

• Root cause for each at-risk container.

• Responsible action owner.

• Recovery plan and expected resolution date.

• Weekly and month-to-date D&D spend.

• Aging analysis of outstanding containers.

• Key operational risks requiring management attention.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, International Business or related field.

• Professional certification such as CILT, APICS/ASCM, FIATA Diploma, or equivalent is an advantage.

• Project Management certification is desirable.

Experience

• 8–12 years of international freight forwarding and global logistics experience.

• Minimum 3 years leading logistics teams.

• Strong experience managing ocean freight operations.

• Experience with air freight and multimodal transportation.

• Experience across East and West African logistics corridors is highly desirable.

• Experience managing freight procurement and RFQs.