Lead Carrier Manager

Lead Carrier Manager

Fulltime 38 hours

Are you an experienced supply chain professional with strong operational leadership skills? Do you know how to guide teams through a complex transition and do you thrive on high-level stakeholder management?

These will be your daily actions

As Lead Carrier Manager, you are the central point of contact for our carrier strategy, carrier performance and the leadership of the Carrier Management team. You ensure that our entire ocean freight flow—from port of origin all the way to our European network—is predictable, efficient and fully under control.

Together with your team, you are responsible for daily bookings, contractual compliance, allocations and performance monitoring. At the same time, you lead the team through an important transition to support Action’s continuous growth: moving from daily operational firefighting to a more standardized, scalable and data-driven way of working.

You will focus on: 

• Daily management, coaching and development of the Carrier Managers, with clear attention to structure, quality and ownership.
• Guiding the transition from operational execution to a controlled, process-driven approach.
• Determining and optimizing carrier allocation based on contracts, volumes, forecasts and market developments.
• Strengthening carrier relationships and conducting periodic performance and business reviews.
• Identifying bottlenecks and proactively driving improvements in collaboration with Procurement, Buying, Supply Chain, Finance and others.
• Communicating with clarity and conviction to both internal and external stakeholders, managing expectations and supporting decision-making.
• Safeguarding KPIs and reporting that provide insight into carrier performance, cost and reliability.
• Contributing to and leading various projects to increase and improve the scalability of operations.

This will be your team

As Lead Carrier Manager, you lead a team of Carrier Managers responsible for the daily management of our carriers, bookings and performance monitoring. Together, you oversee an annual container flow of 80–100K TEU in a market characterized by volatility, capacity pressure and international dependencies.

You work closely with colleagues within Supply Chain Inbound, Destination Logistics, Customs, our Import team and our teams in Asia. Your shared goal: a scalable, reliable inbound flow that matches Action’s rapid growth.

The team is currently in a professionalization phase, and you are the driving force behind that change.

This is you

You are a strong leader with deep knowledge of international supply chains and carrier management. You keep oversight, communicate sharply, manage stakeholders effectively and switch effortlessly between strategic thinking and operational execution.

You bring:

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Analytics or a related field.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience with import flows from the Far East (ideally within retail or freight forwarding).
• Leadership experience and strong operational management skills.
• Experience in carrier management and contract management.
• Excellent stakeholder management capabilities and strong communication skills, both internal and external.
• A proactive mindset, solution-oriented approach and the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Excellent command of the English language; basic Dutch is an advantage.

What we offer

Surprisingly much! From our vibrant home base in the Netherlands, you’ll have impact across Europe. The counter is already at more than 3,300 stores in 14 countries and millions of customer smiles. And we have big growth ambitions. For Action and for you. Because our growth means you can continuously take new steps. A new role, an exciting innovation project, new skills—you can develop yourself endlessly as a professional. All within a culture where our shared values are truly lived: customer focus, teamwork, simplicity, discipline, cost-consciousness and respect.

Did you know you can also count on:

• 24 days of holiday and the option to buy 5 extra days (based on 38 hours per week)
• A market-competitive salary based on a 38-hour working week
• The opportunity to work from home up to 40%, aligned with your team and manager
• 15% employee discount on your purchases at Action
• A solid pension plan, collective health insurance and travel allowance (Zwaagdijk-Oost is traffic-jam-free and only 30 minutes by car from Amsterdam).

How we contribute to society

If you only know Action from our stores, a whole new world opens up once you join us. Behind the scenes, we work hard to make a positive impact on society and the environment. Did you know, for example, that we sponsor more than 2,000 children worldwide who grow up in an SOS Children’s Village? That our team reflects the diversity of our customers, with 124 nationalities? That we already source 70% of our wood products and 86% of our cotton sustainably? And that more than half of our stores have energy-efficient LED lighting only? Yes, that’s also Action. Curious about the other initiatives we’re driving? Join our team and discover them yourself.

Interested?

We’re proud to be an inclusive employer and warmly welcome everyone who recognizes themselves in this vacancy to apply. So take action and apply now!

And this is what happens next:

1. Response to your application within 14 days (usually sooner)
2. First interview with the hiring manager and a colleague
3. Online assessment to get to know you better
4. Second interview with a colleague and HR
5. Third meeting with, among others, a stakeholder
6. Welcome to Action!

Throughout the entire process, your recruiter will be your main point of contact and available for all your questions.

Integrity is of great importance to us. A pre-employment screening is therefore part of the process for this vacancy. Ask your recruiter for more information.