Air Gateway Manager

UPS Supply Chain Solutions•Bensenville, IL

3d•$96,624 - $180,360

About The Position

The Air Gateway Manager is responsible for owning and driving various gateway initiatives and supporting gateway operations. This role ensures compliance, efficiency, and profitability by coordinating with airlines, ground handlers, and internal teams. The Air Gateway Manager plays a critical role in maintaining service reliability, cost control, and regulatory compliance while driving operational excellence, competitiveness in the market, and customer satisfaction.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain, or related field (preferred).
5+ years of experience in air freight forwarding or airline cargo operations, with at least 2 years in a supervisory/managerial role.
Strong knowledge of IATA, TSA, CBP, and international air cargo regulations.
Proven track record in vendor management and cost control.
Commercial mindset with cost and revenue alignment awareness.
Strong understanding of air freight market trends and industry dynamics
Excellent leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
Working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Microsoft office suite
Must be a U.S. Citizen or National of the U.S., an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or an alien authorized to work in the U.S. for this employer.

Responsibilities

Negotiate airline and vendor agreements and buy rates, while balancing service, capacity, and profitability objectives. Ensure market competitiveness by regularly comparing and validating vs market rates
Provide cost inputs to pricing teams for RFQs, tenders, and ad-hoc opportunities, including short term and long term pricing needs
Drive routing, capacity, and carrier optimization initiatives to reduce costs, improve transit performance, and maintain customer service expectations through ongoing analysis of network changes and market opportunities.
Manage ULD planning, consolidation management, capacity allocation planning in alignment with airline scheduled and restrictions, government regulations, customer service requirements, and buy-sell alignment and cost management
Monitoring and supporting operations to meet KPIs for import and export velocity, cost and service level expectations
Drive cost optimization for other gateway expenses by proactively managing storage, demurrage, detention, transportation, labor, and other vendor expenses, while implementing controls to reduce financial risk and improve efficiency.
Support gateway compliance to IATA, TSA, CBP and other applicable regulatory requirements, as well as UPS security protocols
Manage, coach, and develop gateway staff, including supervisors, warehouse personnel, and office teams, emphasizing commercial mindset, freight forwarding fundamentals, negotiation skills, customer service, and innovation
Ensure staffing is aligned with volume patterns and seasonal demand.
Work closely with local and regional product, sales, lane management, and customer service teams to support business growth, churn prevention, and profitability
Collaborate with customs brokerage, warehouse, hub, service center, dispatch teams, as well as region and international partners, to ensure efficient cargo flow.
Utilize operational and financial performance metrics to identify trends, drive corrective actions, and support strategic decision-making.