Assistant Operations Manager

Executive recruitment company Monroe Consulting Group Malaysia's Logistic Division is partnering with an international 4PL logistics and supply chains company to hire an Assistant Operations Manager. Based in one of the regional Control Towers and reporting to the Control Tower Operations Manager, this role leads a team of Operations Coordinators in their daily operations within the control tower to ensure on time delivery and timely follow ups with suppliers and other stakeholders. This includes management of shipment booking, event (milestone) management, as well as timely resolution of issues escalated by the team. This role ensures operational services are executed in an effective and efficient manner across several transport service providers and different modes of transport, while maintaining a high level of quality and meeting performance and cost targets.

Customer Operations Management:

• Day-to-Day management of the THE COMPANY'S Control Tower operations team to ensure compliance with established work standards (SOPs and Work Instructions), with the aim to achieve delivery of high-quality Lead Logistics services to THE COMPANY'S customers
• Responsible for the fulfilment of agreed internal and customer quality metrics and KPIs (for example OTIF); in case of non-performance, support investigation process and align corrective actions with other involved THE COMPANY'S functions, such as Contract Management, BPE (Business Process Excellence) etc.
• Guide and oversee the operational teams on issue resolution and act as escalation point for unresolved operational problems with the customer
• Establish and manage a solid relationship with operational counterparts on customer side, manage regular exchanges with the customer on an operational management level

Operational Excellence and Control Tower Governance

• Ensure that all applicable company and quality policies are adhered to by all Control Tower staff
• Responsible for Document Management within the respective Control Tower scope: ensure that all applicable documentation (SOP, Guidelines, Work Instructions etc.) are kept up to date and all Control Tower resources are trained accordingly
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities and discuss suggestions with Operations Management
• Contribute to the design and implementation of improvements to processes or policies in collaboration with other CLL functions within the Control Tower or region

Customer Reporting, Vendor Management & KPI

• Deliver input for preparation of monthly and quarterly business review with customer, taking an active role during periodical review meetings with customers
• Monitor Customer & Operational KPIs
• Attend customer meetings on operational topics where required, provide input as required
• Act as back up for Operations Manager in case of absences
• Monitor and analyze compliance and performance of carriers and suppliers with the use of dashboards and reports, ensuring follow up with respective supply chain stakeholders

Team and People Management:

• Disciplinary and functional management of an operational team dedicated to one THE COMPANY'S customer, ensuring adherence of all team members to company values and policies
• Actively manage team performance through monitoring of internal team KPIs, tracking team productivity
• Identify resource needs and support Operations Manager and HR teams in recruiting and onboarding process for new hires
• Schedule and manage team workload, overtime and vacation planning to ensure business continuity and prevent disruption to operations
• Provide input to Operations Manager in performance evaluation and professional development of team members, including training / development plans and succession planning

Others

• Support Operations Manager in data collection & analysis as requested by internal or external stakeholders
• Support Operations Manager in ensuring quality metrics are achieved including on time performance, data accuracy, invoicing timeliness and accuracy
• Support implementation of internal and external optimization and improvement projects

Job Requirements:

Technical and Skills

• Minimum of 5 years' experience in Freight Forwarding (Air, Ocean)
• Proven track record in a similar role, including team leadership in an international customer service environment.
• Minimum of 3 years of 4PL or freight forwarding experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of customer service experience
• Experience within a 4PL / Control Tower Structure is a plus.

Specialist Knowledge & Skills

• Strong IT skills and working knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Ability to prioritize work and to assign workload to team members according to resource availability
• Good knowledge of office products, Excel, PPT, Word, Visio

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

• Openness to work in an international / multi-cultural environment
• Excellent communication skills with a customer service-oriented mindset high degree of self-motivation
• Proven ability to lead a team effectively
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment, good time management skills
• Highly dependable and reliable in ensuring priorities are met effectively
• Willingness to occasionally support work schedules outside of standard business hours (evenings / weekends).