Inbound Freight Manager

NewAge Products Inc

4h • Hybrid

About The Position

Headquartered in North York, ON, with employees in Canada, the US, China and India, NewAge is an industry-leading manufacturer and distributor of premium home improvement solutions. Their products are sold through major online retailers and their own e-commerce site, providing a cohesive customer experience from design to installation. NewAge is certified as a Great Place to Work in Canada, recognized for its collaborative and inclusive team atmosphere, and has received numerous industry accolades including product patents, design awards, and ranking on the Profit 500 list. They are also partners with the New Orleans Pelicans, USA Hockey, and Habitat for Humanity. The Inbound Freight Manager, reporting to the Senior Transportation Manager, will lead teams responsible for transportation and customs compliance of inbound shipments to NewAge, 3PLs, and retailer distribution centres. This role is central to the global supply chain, with a mandate to integrate AI and automation tools across the inbound process, from overseas procurement and ocean forecasting to customs clearance, cost accruals, and vendor performance reporting. The ideal candidate will have deep offshore logistics expertise and a proven ability to use AI-powered workflows to reduce freight costs, manual effort, and enhance supply chain reliability, fostering a team culture where AI and automation are standard practice.

Requirements

• Post-secondary education in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business, or a related field
• 5–8 years of Supply Chain / Offshore Logistics experience required
• Minimum 3 years in a leadership or management role, with demonstrated team development results
• Proven track record of deploying AI or automation tools to generate measurable cost savings or productivity improvements in a logistics context
• Familiarity with international shipping documents and terms (ISF, packing list, commercial invoice, bill of lading, Incoterms, etc.)
• Hands-on experience with AI tools (ChatGPT/GPT-4o, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, or purpose-built logistics AI) applied to real supply-chain problems
• Ability to build and prompt AI workflows for freight analysis, document review, invoice audit, carrier communication, and reporting automation
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel (advanced), PowerPoint, and Power BI—including AI/Copilot extensions
• Experience with SAP, including ETAs and logistics modules (SAP Business One or similar)
• Familiarity with supply chain visibility platforms (e.g., project44, FourKites, or similar) and their AI features
• AI-forward mindset: proactively identifies where AI can reduce cost, manual effort, and error across the inbound supply chain
• Proactive attitude with strong customer service, communication, and problem-solving skills
• Strong analytical ability—comfortable interpreting complex freight data and translating it into clear, actionable recommendations
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain AI-generated outputs to non-technical stakeholders
• High adaptability in a fast-paced, global environment with comfort piloting new tools without a proven playbook
• Strong leadership and coaching capabilities, including building AI literacy within offshore teams

Nice To Haves

• AI, data analytics, or automation coursework or certifications
• Overseas shipment experience
• Good knowledge of Canada and US geography
• Experience with RPA or low-code automation tools (Power Automate, UiPath)
• SQL or Python knowledge for data extraction and automation scripting

Responsibilities

• Partner with Supply Planning, Quality Control, and Warehouse teams, using AI-generated exception reports and shared dashboards to surface inbound issues before they reach the DC floor.
• Use AI-assisted communication tools to coordinate proactively with internal and external partners, reducing escalation response time and improving first-contact resolution.
• Deploy AI summarization tools to synthesize daily operational updates from multiple carriers, brokers, and warehouses into a single actionable briefing for the team each morning.
• Develop, expand, and optimize the network of third-party providers using AI-driven vendor scoring models that weigh cost, reliability, capacity, and risk across multiple data sources simultaneously.
• Use AI-powered lane analysis to identify consolidation opportunities, alternative routing, and mode shifts that reduce cost without sacrificing service levels.
• Continuously benchmark the carrier network against market rates using automated rate-intelligence tools, flagging out-of-market contracts for renegotiation in real time.
• Lead inbound freight projects from inception to delivery—including Spot/Market/Contract rate RFQs, contract negotiations, and technology integrations—accelerated by AI tools that automate bid compilation, scoring, and side-by-side comparison.
• Use AI to detect and flag accessorial charge anomalies at invoice receipt, reducing erroneous charges and manual audit time by up to 60%.
• Generate AI-drafted negotiation briefs that surface historical rate trends, carrier performance data, and market benchmarks to strengthen procurement outcomes.
• Lead CI initiatives across the inbound supply chain using AI-driven root-cause analysis to identify patterns in reliability failures, quality issues, and cost overruns faster than traditional methods.
• Automate vendor performance reporting with live dashboards and AI-generated commentary, so scorecards are always current and corrective actions are triggered automatically.
• Apply AI scenario-modelling to evaluate the cost and service impact of network changes before committing resources, improving decision quality and reducing implementation risk.
• Support weekly operational status and cost reporting using AI-assisted variance analysis that auto-generates written explanations of freight spend deviations—eliminating hours of manual commentary.
• Report monthly Inbound Freight Charges to upper management through AI-formatted executive dashboards that highlight trends, risks, and savings opportunities in plain language.
• Ensure Freight and Duties accruals are accurate, leveraging AI-flagged reconciliation alerts that surface discrepancies between accruals and actuals in real time.
• Ensure freight and customs invoices are approved and paid on time through automated workflow routing and AI-assisted invoice-matching against purchase orders and contracts.
• Build, manage, and coach small teams of export and freight coordinators in India and China, embedding AI proficiency as a core performance expectation alongside logistics expertise.
• Provide on-site training to India staff with an AI adoption curriculum covering prompt engineering, tool selection, and workflow automation relevant to their daily tasks.
• Establish team productivity metrics that explicitly track time saved and errors reduced through AI-driven process improvements.
• Assist with broader Supply Chain and Inbound Logistics projects as assigned, bringing an AI-first lens to every initiative to maximize impact and speed.
• Oversee the shipping and delivery of multi-origin inbound shipments to distribution centres, using AI-powered visibility platforms to track ETAs, predict delays, and auto-alert downstream stakeholders before disruptions occur.
• Ensure shipping plans are issued to shippers on time, with AI-generated compliance checks that verify shipper adherence to booking windows, documentation requirements, and packing standards.
• Communicate with warehouses to confirm inbound receiving arrangements, supported by automated notifications and AI-drafted scheduling emails that reduce back-and-forth.
• Provide AI-assisted shipping forecasts to ocean carriers, using demand signal data and historical booking patterns to improve forecast accuracy and secure capacity proactively.
• Oversee Direct Import container operations with AI-assisted load-planning tools to maximize container utilization and reduce cost-per-unit.
• Maintain DC and Supplier scorecards in real time using automated data feeds and AI-generated performance narratives that keep scorecards current without manual input.
• Troubleshoot logistics issues rapidly using AI-assisted diagnostics that identify root causes, surface precedent solutions, and draft carrier communications in minutes.
• Procure and negotiate freight with new carriers and truckers, supported by AI rate benchmarking and market-intelligence tools.
• Establish and strengthen relationships with ground carriers (Truck/Rail), using AI-tracked performance history to inform partnership decisions and volume allocations.
• Ensure shipping documents are submitted to brokers for customs clearance on time, with AI-powered document-completeness checks that catch missing or incorrect fields before submission.
• Oversee all Canadian and US customs-related activities, leveraging AI tools to monitor regulatory updates and auto-flag shipments that may be impacted by new duties or trade-policy changes.
• Maintain the HS/customs duty database using AI-assisted HS code classification tools that improve accuracy, reduce manual classification time, and flag ambiguous items for human review.
• Ensure shipping documents are submitted to warehousing partners with automated routing and confirmation workflows that eliminate manual follow-up.
• Maintain ETAs in SAP using AI-assisted update automation that pulls live carrier data and pushes revisions to SAP without manual re-entry.
• Approve and track freight costs, accessorial charges, and customs charges using AI-powered invoice audit tools that compare charges against contracted rates and flag discrepancies instantly.
• Collect spot rates from carriers on a monthly basis using automated rate-collection workflows that consolidate responses, normalize data, and feed results directly into cost models.
• Submit duty drawback claims using AI-assisted document compilation that identifies eligible shipments, gathers supporting documentation, and drafts claim submissions—reducing processing time and maximizing recoverable duties.

Benefits

• Salary and bonus is based on experience and highly competitive for the right candidate.
• This is an existing vacancy and the base salary range for this position is $63,000 to $120,000 annually (CAD) at the time of the posting.
• Benefits Package
• An opportunity within a growing, fast-paced company, well established in its industry.
• Fun! We celebrate successes and hold special events to build strong teams.
• Our teams work under a remote-first Hybrid model, with the ease of having our North York office accessible for collaboration and/or quiet workspace.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees