Sr. Manager, Trade Lane Management

About the role

This senior management position covers the planning, capacity, pricing and commercial aspects of trade lanes in international ocean freight. It combines network and product design, space procurement, revenue management and tender support, with close collaboration on operations, compliance and digitalisation.

Key responsibilities

• Plan short- and medium-term trade lane networks (port rotation, string structure, frequency, hub-and-spoke, transshipment hubs, inland extensions) and design standardised ocean products, assessing new lane launches and building cost/revenue models.
• Own space sourcing and allocation: negotiate annual service contracts, slot charters and capacity leases, manage the carrier portfolio (alliances, VSAs, space swaps) and optimise load factor and detention/demurrage exposure.
• Set lane pricing strategy (GRI, PSS, BAF/FAF, LCS, surcharges, free time, demurrage/detention) and run revenue management: cargo segmentation, space release and bidding, daily/weekly margin and revenue tracking, and regular P&L reviews.
• Monitor freight rate indices, fleet expansion, blank sailings, port congestion and alliance changes, benchmark competitors and publish weekly and monthly market assessments.
• Support annual tenders (RFP/RFQ) and long-term contracts, custom lane solutions and escalations (rolled cargo, re-routing, claims).
• Collaborate with operations, ports, terminals and inland teams, and build lane KPIs such as schedule reliability, booking conversion and customer satisfaction.
• Ensure compliance with antitrust, export control, customs and maritime law, and track decarbonisation obligations (IMO CII/EEXI, EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime).
• Drive adoption of analytics dashboards and demand forecasting tools, codify SOPs and train junior lane analysts.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree or above in Shipping, Logistics, International Trade, Business Administration, Economics or related fields; a Master's or certifications (CILT, FIATA, PMP) are a plus.
• At least 8 years in international ocean freight and logistics, including at least 3 years in trade lane management, capacity procurement, space management or pricing/revenue management.
• Demonstrated ownership of full lane business targets (revenue, margin, load factor) for at least one mainline or intra-regional lane.
• Experience with a container shipping line or the ocean freight division of a large forwarder, integrated logistics provider or 3PL is strongly preferred.
• Native-level Mandarin Chinese and fluent English; a second language (German, French, Spanish, Japanese or Arabic) is an advantage.

Required skills

• Deep understanding of liner shipping operations and pricing/revenue management, able to model TEU-mile costs, margins and breakeven points.
• Advanced Excel and data analysis (Power BI or equivalent).
• Plus: TMS/shipping ERP systems, CargoSmart, INTTRA, EDI/API integration, Incoterms, letters of credit and cargo insurance.