Director, Global Transportation

AirLife

About The Position

The Director of Global Transportation is responsible for leading AirLife’s end-to-end global transportation network, including domestic and international freight operations. This role is responsible for developing global transportation strategy, driving operational excellence, ensuring medical device compliance alignment, and managing high‑performance carrier relationships across ocean, domestic, parcel, and international freight channels. This leader must excel at carrier accountability, scorecard governance, global freight management, and RFP execution at all levels, while remaining grounded in day‑to‑day operational execution. The ideal candidate brings a strong understanding of medical device requirements and stays current with transportation industry trends and evolving global logistics knowledge.

Requirements

Deep expertise in global transportation operations, including ocean, domestic truckload/LTL, parcel, drayage, and multimodal logistics.
Strong understanding of global freight management, carrier strategy, and RFP execution.
Knowledge of Incoterms, customs processes, and international trade compliance requirements.
Ability to develop and manage KPIs, scorecards, and freight performance analytics and dashboards.
Experience with Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and related technologies.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and cost optimization capabilities.
Excellent leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Ability to operate strategically while maintaining hands-on operational involvement.
Ability to stay current with global transportation trends, including carrier market cycles, capacity impacts, and emerging technologies.
Results‑driven mindset with a continuous improvement orientation
10+ years of progressive leadership experience in transportation, logistics, or global supply chain.
Proven success managing global freight operations and carrier networks.
Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, or related field required.

Nice To Haves

Experience in regulated industries (medical device, pharma, or healthcare manufacturing preferred).
Advanced degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead all domestic and international transportation operations across ocean, parcel, truckload/LTL, drayage, and multimodal flows.
Develop and execute global transportation strategy aligned with business growth and service objectives.
Build scalable processes and governance to improve visibility, predictability, and execution.
Stay current with transportation trends, emerging best practices, regulatory changes, and global market dynamics to guide strategic decision-making.
Oversee booking, routing, tracking, and escalation management for global shipments
Improve transit time consistency, touting efficiency, and freight performance to distribution centers, manufacturing sites, and global partners.
Drive structured exception management and proactive communication across the shipment lifecycle.
Strengthen process discipline and standardization in daily global operations.
Own a robust carrier scorecard program, setting KPIs and enforcing service-level expectations across ocean carriers, NVOCCs, forwarders, parcel providers, and domestic carriers.
Lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), performance deep dives, and corrective action programs.
Optimize the global carrier portfolio, ensuring alignment with service requirements, cost objectives, and compliance expectations.
Lead RFPs at all levels, including domestic transportation, ocean freight, NVOCCs, forwarders, and global 3PL partnerships.
Benchmark rates, analyze market trends, and recommend award strategies supported by data and operational performance.
Maintain strong relationships with logistics providers and ensure adherence to contractual commitments.
Analyze transportation performance, lane economics, cost drivers, and network efficiency opportunities.
Support budgeting, forecasting, and continuous improvement initiatives to reduce cost‑to‑serve without compromising service.
Identify opportunities for consolidation, modal optimization, and long‑term cost reduction.
Ensure transportation practices align with medical device compliance expectations, documentation requirements, and global trade regulations.
Maintain audit‑ready shipment documentation and ensure product traceability through transportation workflows.
Develop global risk mitigation plans for port delays, geopolitical events, carrier disruptions, and capacity fluctuations.
Partner with Supply Planning, Distribution, Manufacturing, Quality, Procurement, Customer Service, and Regulatory to support business priorities.
Participate in S&OP processes and align transportation capabilities with global demand and supply strategies.
Support new product introduction, market expansion, and customer-focused logistics programs.