Senior Manager, Ocean Gateway, Japan

About Flexport:

At Flexport we believe global trade can move the human race forward. Thats why its our mission to make global commerce so easy there will be more of it. Were shaping the future of a $10T industry with solutions powered by innovative technology and exceptional people. Today companies of all sizesfrom emerging brands to Fortune 500suse Flexport technology to move more than $19B of merchandise across 112 countries a year.

The recent global supply chain crisis has put Flexport center stage as we continue to play a pivotal role in how goods move around the world. We are proud to have the support of the best investors in the game who believe in our mission solutions and people. Ready to tackle global challenges that impact business society and the environment Come join us.

The Opportunity:

Flexport is insourcing operations in Japan one of the worlds most quality-driven and relationship-led freight markets. To stand up our in-house Tokyo operations team we are seeking a Senior Operations Developer: a deeply experienced freight forwarding operator who will help us build the local team establish the right vendor relationships and accelerate the velocity of our insourcing initiative.

Japan is a market where seniority and trust take precedence in business dealings and where local relationships with carriers CFS providers and drayage partners are difficult and slow to build from the outside. As Senior Operations Developer you will use your existing network and operational expertise to dramatically shorten that ramp time laying the foundation for a Tokyo operations function that supports a projected 150 FCL 30 LCL and 44 Air shipments per month by year-end 2026.

You will:

• Establish and strengthen Flexports relationships and operating arrangements with key local vendors in Japan including CFS drayage providers ocean carriers and customs partners.
• Lead the sourcing screening and hiring of the local Tokyo operations team including Ocean and Air operators and act as the in-country hiring authority for operational roles.
• Design the end-to-end operational process for Japan: booking management documentation customs interaction terminal handling drayage coordination exception management and post-arrival processes.
• Drive operational execution readiness ensuring SOPs SLAs and KPIs are in place before each new shipment flow is brought in-house.
• Increase the velocity of insourcing by leading the transition from external partners to in-house execution including knowledge transfer system setup and partner offboarding.
• Act as the senior operational voice in client-facing meetings where local credibility is required working closely with the commercial team on benchmarking opportunities and net-new deals.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with APAC operations Procurement Pricing and Account Management to ensure Japan operations align with global Flexport standards while respecting local market practice.
• Coach and mentor newly hired Japanese operations staff helping them grow into long-term Flexport leaders.

You should have:

• Bachelors degree or equivalent.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in freight forwarding NVOCC or supply chain operations with significant time in Japan and meaningful leadership exposure.
• Deep current knowledge of Japans freight forwarding ecosystem: ports terminals CFS networks customs brokers trucking providers and the major ocean and air carriers serving Japan.
• An established professional network with Japanese carriers CFS drayage and customs partners and the credibility to negotiate operating arrangements directly with senior counterparts.
• Demonstrated experience designing or improving freight forwarding SOPs and operational KPIs for Ocean (FCL/LCL) and ideally Air.
• Proven ability to hire build and develop operations teams from the ground up.
• Native or near-native Japanese (verbal and written) and professional working English; comfortable representing Japan in a global English-speaking matrix organization.
• Builder mindset: comfortable with ambiguity decisive in early-stage environments and pragmatic about balancing global standards with local realities.
• High integrity strong sense of ownership and alignment with Flexports values.

Nice to have:

• Prior experience leading a country launch gateway opening or insourcing transition in Japan or another mature APAC freight market.
• Experience with technology-enabled or platform-based freight forwarding operations.