Rail / Marine Logistics Manager

National Gypsum Company•Charlotte, NC

About The Position

The Freight Sourcing Manager – Marine and Rail is responsible for carrying out bidding and contract processes for our Marine and Rail Transportation Network, allowing both savings and service improvements related to Rail and Marine deliveries. This position is primarily responsible for ensuring optimization of our rail fleet and ensuring full and cost-effective utilization of the rail fleet, as well as the optimization of all marine movements and stevedoring activities of rock and other materials, be it ocean, Great Lakes, or barge shipments. This position also assists the Freight Sourcing Manager – Road, for freight RFP’s and analysis for flatbed, van and intermodal shipments.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Finance, Business, or other closely related fields preferred
10-15+ years of logistics, freight sourcing and negotiating agreements with carriers
Extensive experience sourcing and qualifying carriers – across all rail, marine and road / flatbed means of transport
Ability to perform 25% travel
Basic knowledge of laws and regulations at the global, country, and local levels relevant to the logistics industry to ensure that the behavior of the organization is honest, ethical and professional
Solid negotiation skills with the ability to persuade, influence and explore alternatives to reach an outcome that will gain acceptance of all parties and meet the organization's strategic freight procurement objectives
Strong analytical skills with a high capacity to synthesize complex and diverse information relative to sourcing processes
Demonstrated strong skills in analysis tools such as Excel and Access, and with data visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau
Self-starter with proven ability to challenge the status quo, prioritize and execute activities independently and proactively anticipate potential disruptions
Demonstrated leadership skills with the ability to identify and enact improvement opportunities
Experience with SAP / ERP and TM systems is beneficial

Responsibilities

Manage sourcing of over $35 million annual planned marine freight expense, and $29 million annual planned rail and container freight expense
Responsible for NGC rail fleet management
Works with Finance, Treasury and Demand Management to ensure fleet is properly sized, and rail car utilization stays high
Proposes and enacts approved fleet changes such as returns of cars to lessor, acquisition of additional rail cars through lease and or purchase
Monitors rail car utilization for finished goods and raw material movements and makes decisions on placing cars in storage or returning cars which are on month-to-month lease, to minimize rail car lease expense, demurrage and storage costs, and dead freight
Handles / approves all rail car repairs
Reports monthly rail fleet utilization and metrics in Finance-Logistics-BU meeting
Leads the negotiation process and decisions about supplier / partner selection with a cross-team perspective [logistics, customer service, finance], for all rail and marine freight and associated services
Develops and implements freight procurement strategies for key freight spending categories for marine and rail freight, including optimizing long distance movements of plaster / rock / FGD and other materials from NGC plants, quarries, or raw material providers to NGC plants and warehouses
Monitors and controls and reports the performance of key rail and marine expenditure categories and the respective impact on EBITDA. Distinguishes between rate impact and actual distribution/lane usage impact
Ensures efficient marine freight movements. Manages / owns NGC ship scheduler solution. Works with engineering, and marine carriers to eliminate dead freight and split cargos
Drives the necessary improvements that impact the productivity of spending categories within rail and marine freight [line haul, fuel, demurrage, split cargos, dead freight, stevedoring]
Enforces internal and external policies
Administers/manages marine and rail supplier/carrier contracts and rate changes, as well as continuous supplier performance
Follows up on the price variation versus contracted rates and maximize the savings
Manages the competitive marine and rail freight and services sourcing process with internal stakeholders (RFI/RFQ/RFP)
Works with Freight Sourcing Manager-Road, on freight RFP’s involving flatbed, van, container, and intermodal shipments
Monitors major marine and rail vendor/carrier performance with logistics managers and business unit relationship owners
Develops, implements and improves strategic freight sourcing processes and tools
Delivers and Reports Sustainable Rail and Marine Freight Cost Reduction and Cost Avoidance Achievements
Other duties as assigned