Tender Management Manager, Asia Pacific (Air & Ocean)

Role Purpose

The APAC Tender Management Manager (Air & Ocean) is responsible for the day-to-day coordination, data synthesis, and accurate submission of regional and global pricing RFPs/RFIs for Multinational Accounts within the Asia-Pacific region.

This role focuses entirely on international transport solutions—specifically Air Freight, Ocean Freight, and Cross-Border Express. Acting as the central project management hub for tenders, the manager coordinates across regional country commercial teams and local pricing desks. With core network capacity and gateway operations heavily anchored in mainland China, professional spoken and written Chinese proficiency is required to align operational capabilities and secure linehaul commitments internally.

Core Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Tender Coordination & Sales Support

Commercial Team Alignment: Partner directly with regional Key Account Managers and country commercial teams across APAC to establish clear tender project timelines and collect localized pricing inputs.

Flawless Customer Uploads: Manage the final formatting, validation, and compliant upload of commercial rate sheets into client e-procurement platforms (e.g., Ariba, Jaggaer, Ticontract) entirely in English.

Tender Validation: Review incoming RFP documents to identify specific customer requirements, mandatory surcharges, and compliance rules, briefing commercial teams on key priorities.

2. Data Management & Rate Synthesis

Rate Sheet Formatting & Analysis: Organize, clean, and manipulate large customer rate sheets into standardized formats for pricing desks.

Consolidation of Freight Inputs: Synthesize localized freight rates, origin/destination surcharges (BAF, CAF), and local terminal handling fees into a single, cohesive regional response template.

Data Integrity Auditing: Conduct meticulous sanity checks on incoming country rates to catch formatting errors, missing surcharges, or mismatched currencies before final submission.

3. Internal Operations & HQ Liaison (Bilingual Focus)

China Gateway & Network Operations Coordination: Act as the primary regional point of contact for internal alignment with gateway hubs, network planners, and operational teams based in China.

Internal Operational Sync: Use written and spoken Chinese (if needed) to quickly clarify capacity updates, localized operational constraints, and baseline costs with mainland operational stakeholders, translating those network realities into competitive pricing strategies for speaking commercial teams.

4. Performance Tracking & Database Maintenance

Tender Log Maintenance: Keep the regional tender database updated with accurate records of win/loss outcomes, lane-specific volume data, and client feedback.

RFP Response Library: Maintain and update a centralized repository of standard English procurement responses, capability profiles, and current network schedules.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

On-Time Submission Rate: 100% adherence to customer-mandated RFP deadlines.

Data Accuracy & Compliance: Zero formatting rejections or data errors upon upload to customer procurement portals.

Turnaround Efficiency: Meeting all internal milestones for rate consolidation and validation with regional commercial teams.

Operational Alignment: Seamless communication and turnaround times between Chinese operational centers and regional commercial desks.

Qualifications & Experience Profile

Professional Experience

Freight Forwarding Experience: 5 to 7 years of hands-on experience in Tender Management, Freight Pricing, or Air/Ocean Sales Operations within a global 3PL or international freight forwarder (e.g., DHL Global Forwarding, DB Schenker, DSV).

Air & Ocean Competency: Strong fundamental knowledge of international Air Freight, Ocean Freight (FCL/LCL), and Express buying/selling structures, Incoterms, and standard destination surcharges.

Heavy Data Capabilities: Advanced proficiency in MS Excel (expert use of Pivot Tables, VLOOKUPs/XLOOKUPs, Power Query, and text-to-columns) to manipulate and sanitize massive data sets efficiently.

Language & Communication Competencies

Bilingual Agility (English & Chinese)

English: Full professional fluency. 100% of external customer output and daily collaboration with regional commercial teams is conducted in English.

Chinese: Professional proficiency in written and spoken communication strongly preferred. Required strictly for internal networking, negotiating capacity, and resolving data discrepancies with Chinese-speaking operational teams and gateway stakeholders.

Cross-Border Coordination: Strong organizational skills to assertively nudge, follow up with, and coordinate inputs from regional country commercial offices across different time zones.

Education & Core Attributes

Academic Background: Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, International Business, Data Analytics, or a related discipline.

Meticulous Precision: An exceptional eye for detail; comfortable auditing thousands of lines of data under tight turnaround windows.

High Resilience: Proven ability to maintain accuracy and focus while managing multiple overlapping tender requests during peak procurement seasons.