Product Development Manager - Ocean
About The Position
The Ocean Product Development Manager is responsible for driving the strategic growth, pricing, and profitability of international trade lanes within the Ocean department. Acting as a critical link between procurement and sales, you will develop tailored freight products, optimize carrier and cargo mixes, and secure highly competitive market rates. The position requires the ability to analyze complex shipping trends, provide data-driven commercial routing insights, and directly support high-value tender and RFQ processes. You will support Trans-Atlantic trade lanes between the USA and the Nordic-Baltic Business Region (NOBA) and collaborate across regional and local leadership teams to enhance JAS Worldwide's market footprint while maintaining regulatory compliance and top-tier carrier partnerships.
Requirements
- Knowledgeable of global ocean trade lanes, key port geographies, and maritime routing.
- Excellent negotiation skills for securing competitive carrier rates and customer pricing.
- Ability to analyze maritime market trends, capacity fluctuations, and ocean pricing data.
- Minimum of 3–5 years of experience in international ocean freight forwarding or ocean product development.
- Bilingual: English (required) plus a second language relevant to the Scandinavian region.
Nice To Haves
- Degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, International Business, or related field.
- Experience working with the Nordic, Baltic, or Scandinavian regions.
Responsibilities
- Develop and manage Ocean freight products and services to meet market demands and company objectives.
- Work closely with global team members in each region along with Product and Sales leadership in key subsidiaries to manage the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
- Collaborate with regional and local Product teams to procure competitive rates and maintain strong carrier relationships.
- Act as a key liaison for Tender / RFQ processes, ensuring accurate and timely responses to internal stakeholders (global ocean teams, tender teams, commercial leadership and operations).
- Provide consistent market updates, including insights on pricing trends, capacity changes and commercial route developments, to support strategic decision-making.
- Develop & Maintain pricing strategy on selected trades.
- Drive marketing on key commercial routes, promoting competitive advantages, and valued propositions to internal & external customers.
- Lead initiatives for forecasting and projecting rates on critical commercial routes to maintain competitiveness and profitability.
- Monitor and communicate market trends, competitor activities, and work alongside Sales to monitor customer needs to identify growth opportunities.
- Collaborate with Sales teams to align product offerings with customer requirements and support business development efforts.
- Provide guidelines and support for the implementation of programs to ensure compliance with international / regional / country mandated regulatory requirements and company policies.
- Develop new products and services to increase volumes while still protecting existing businesses.
- Develop strategies to optimize cargo and carrier mix to improve profitability.
- Maintain extensive knowledge of designated commercial routes including ports, cities, and JAS offices.
- Provide leadership in the areas of product and business development, resource utilization, regional / country / branch organization and activities.
- Involvement in carrier contracts, relationships, and performance management.
- Awareness of key vertical markets to work closely on strategic development.
- Manage and develop an efficient and effective flow of work to attain optimum efficiency and productivity.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
High school or GED
