Head Of UK Freight Forwarding

Salary/Rate:£60k - 80k per year + fleixble salary, bonus
Working Options:On-site
Job type:Permanent
Town/City:Wythenshawe
County:Greater Manchester
Specialism:Transport & Logistics
Job ref:113716
Post Date:August 11, 2026
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Meet Our Recruiter

About the Role

Head Of UK Freight Forwarding / Business Unit Manager

Multi-Modal Freight Forwarding Operation

Manchester Area (flexible location)

£60,000 - £80,000 per annum (flexible depending on experience)

We are seeking an ambitious, commercially driven and entrepreneurial Head of Freight Forwarding / Business Unit Manager to establish and grow a brand-new UK freight forwarding business unit.

This is a genuine blank-sheet opportunity for an experienced freight forwarding professional who wants to build and grow a business, rather than simply manage an existing operation.

The successful candidate will take responsibility for developing the UK operation across sea, road, air freight and customs, building a team, developing new business and taking ownership of the day-to-day operation and overall P&L.

With established international operations across Ireland, Europe, the Middle East and the USA, the successful candidate will have the backing, infrastructure and international network of an established logistics business, while having the autonomy to shape and develop the UK operation.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who is switched on, commercially minded and capable of thinking for themselves, bringing their own industry knowledge, customer relationships and ideas to create a successful and sustainable UK business.

The Benefits;

  • £60,000 - £80,000 salary, flexible dependent on experience
  • Performance-related bonus / high earning potential
  • Genuine opportunity to build and lead a new UK business unit
  • Significant autonomy and commercial responsibility
  • Backing of an established international logistics business
  • Access to established international customers, partners and infrastructure
  • Opportunity to recruit and build your own team
  • Direct responsibility for the growth and profitability of the UK operation
  • Excellent long-term career progression opportunities
  • Flexible UK location – Liverpool, Manchester, Midlands or Greater London  

The Candidate;

  • Proven experience within the freight forwarding / international logistics sector
  • Experience across multiple freight modes, ideally including sea, ocean, road and air freight
  • Strong understanding of customs and international freight processes
  • Previous experience managing and developing a team
  • Proven business development and new business generation experience
  • Strong commercial awareness with experience managing P&L and budgets
  • Confident building relationships with customers, suppliers, agents and international partners
  • An established network of customers and contacts would be highly advantageous
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to build something from the ground up
  • Commercially driven with a focus on sustainable, profitable growth
  • Confident decision maker who can operate autonomously
  • Strong leadership and people development skills
  • Excellent communication and relationship-building skills

Duties and Responsibilities;

  • Establish and develop the new UK freight forwarding business unit
  • Create and implement the UK commercial and growth strategy
  • Develop new business across sea, ocean, road, air freight and customs
  • Bring existing industry knowledge, relationships and customer opportunities into the new operation
  • Identify, target and secure new customers across the UK market
  • Build and develop a high-performing freight forwarding team
  • Recruit, manage, coach and develop employees as the business grows
  • Take full responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the UK business unit
  • Manage budgets, forecasting and overall P&L performance
  • Develop and maintain strong customer, supplier, agent and international partner relationships
  • Work closely with the wider international operation to maximise global opportunities
  • Develop processes and systems to support the growth of the UK operation
  • Identify new revenue streams and commercial opportunities
  • Negotiate commercial agreements and secure profitable business
  • Monitor performance against agreed budgets, revenue and profitability targets
  • Provide regular commercial and operational reporting to senior management
  • Build a sustainable and scalable UK freight forwarding operation

If you have Director / Senior Management Experience within Freight Forwarding and would like to be considered for this opportunity, please apply via the link.

At Aspion, our core values have been built around the importance of transparency, innovation, passion and collaboration. As such, we are committed to open communication and the protection of your privacy. We have updated our policies in line with new General Data Protection Regulation laws to make it easier for you to understand how we collect, store and handle your data – These can be viewed on our website.

ASPLOG

 

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