Account Manager – Freight Forwarding

Position: Account Manager – Freight Forwarding
Location: Southampton
Hours: Monday-Friday, 09:00-17:30 (37.5 hours)
Salary: up to £50,000

We are recruiting on behalf of a well-established global freight forwarding organisation for an Account Manager to join their Southampton team.

This role is firmly focused on account management and customer care, rather than new business sales. It would suit someone who enjoys building relationships, managing accounts day to day, and acting as the main point of contact for customers – without the pressure of sales targets.

The Role

Reporting into the Commercial function, you will be responsible for the ongoing management of a portfolio of existing customer accounts (circa 20 smaller accounts).

New business generation will be handled by the commercial team; once accounts are onboarded, ownership will pass to you for day-to-day management, coordination, administration, and customer engagement. The commercial lead will remain involved at a high level, stepping in where required, but you will be the primary operational and commercial contact.

This is a hands-on, detail-driven role with a strong administrative element, requiring someone who is commercially aware but customer-led rather than sales-focused.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the main point of contact for allocated customer accounts
• Manage day-to-day account activity, communication, and administration
• Produce and maintain customer tariffs and rate sheets
• Ensure agreed KPIs, service levels, and deliverables are met
• Liaise closely with internal operations teams to ensure smooth service delivery
• Engage with debtor reports and query logs to support on-time payment
• Identify opportunities to add value and improve service, rather than sell aggressively
• Document and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Produce and review customer reports and performance data
• Support issue resolution and escalation where required

About You

• Proven experience within freight forwarding (operations, customer service, or commercial)
• Strong knowlege of sea freght operations
• Comfortable in an account management or customer-facing role
• May suit someone from a BDM or sales background who prefers relationship management over sales targets
• Equally open to candidates from a strong operations background with good commercial awareness
• Highly organised, detail-focused, and confident handling administration
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Commercially minded without being sales-driven

Working Pattern & Benefits

• Office-based role (with potential for hybrid working)
• 25 days holiday
• Private Medical Cover
• Death in Service (4 x salary)
• Discretionary bonus
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Contributory Pension Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Eye test contribution
• Employee referral scheme
• Free parking
• Christmas “thank you” bonus

WR Logistics are the #1 recruitment partner for all vacancies in the logistics industry. We recruit in the UK & USA for permanent jobs.

WR is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.