Pipeline role. Skypace interviews on a rolling basis and hires when a matching customer program is confirmed.
Skypace is the ocean freight division of Maxton Shipping Inc., an FMC-licensed NVOCC (OTI license 027662) headquartered in California. Skypace runs ocean freight and 4PL programs for 200+ organizations in 20+ countries, under commercial contracts with nine ocean carriers.
Vehicle and battery plants run on sequenced inbound material. Ocean containers from suppliers in Asia and Europe feed deconsolidation centers and plant docks on a planned transit float, and a container that misses its window turns into premium freight or a line stoppage. Because a late container is counted in expedites and lost production, OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers hold their ocean providers to transit float, premium freight and container utilization, often through a lead logistics provider.
The Global Logistics Program Manager, Automotive and EV Inbound is the named owner of those programs at Skypace. The role manages forwarding operations in coordination with the shipper's designated parts suppliers, lead logistics provider, trade partners and logistics service providers (LSPs), and answers for the program scorecard in every business review.
Compensation: $115,000 to $150,000 base salary, plus an annual bonus tied to the program scorecard.
Location: Remote. Candidates must be located in Michigan, Texas or California.
Program Scorecard:
- Ocean transit float against plan, by lane and supplier;
- Critical containers recovered before production impact;
- Premium freight avoided, with cause codes;
- Container utilization and consolidation performance;
- Schedule reliability against the market figure, by lane and carrier;
- Charge exposure per container: dwell, demurrage, detention and accessorials;
- Invoice variance against contract terms, and dispute cycle time;
- Records complete: ISF and AMS timeliness, origin and free trade agreement documents on file.
What You Will Do:
Program ownership
- Own the ocean freight programs of automotive and EV customers from award through steady state;
- Maintain the routing guide, SOPs and escalation matrix for each program;
- Report the scorecard in monthly and quarterly business reviews and agree corrective actions.
Execution control
- Monitor bookings, sailings, milestones and exceptions across customer lanes in the Skypace platform;
- Identify critical containers against plant need dates and lead recovery with carriers, rail, drayage and customs brokers;
- Manage free time and dwell before demurrage, detention and storage accrue;
- Coordinate dangerous goods shipments, including lithium batteries under IMDG, with operations and carriers.
Supplier and LSP coordination
- Work with the shipper's parts suppliers, consolidators, lead logistics provider and LSPs on cargo readiness, documentation and handover points;
- Align destination drayage, transload and deconsolidation with plant delivery windows.
Commercial and compliance interface
- Plan contract rates, allocations and MQC for customer volumes with carrier procurement;
- Validate invoices against contract terms and resolve variances with finance;
- Keep shipment records complete under customer and regulatory requirements, including the origin documents supplied by the importer.
Program development
- Identify lanes and plants where the program scope can extend, together with the sales lead for the account.
Operational Interfaces:
- Customer side: material planning and logistics, logistics purchasing, plant logistics, trade compliance, accounts payable;
- Skypace side: operations and booking teams, carrier procurement, drayage coordination, customs brokerage and overseas partners.
You're a Fit If:
- 7+ years in inbound logistics for automotive, EV, battery or heavy equipment manufacturing, at an OEM, Tier 1 supplier, lead logistics provider or forwarder;
- Experience managing forwarders, carriers or 3PLs through scorecards, SLAs and business reviews, or being managed through them;
- Working knowledge of ocean freight execution: service contracts, allocations, free time, demurrage and detention, ISF and AMS, Incoterms 2020;
- Experience with plant material flow, premium freight control and MMOG/LE practice;
- Familiarity with dangerous goods rules for batteries and with import compliance: HTS classification, USMCA, foreign trade zones;
- Fluency in data: advanced Excel, a BI tool such as Power BI or Tableau, ERP exposure with SAP preferred;
- Clear communication with logistics, purchasing and finance stakeholders at manager and director level.
This role carries the customer's program inside Skypace. Its decisions show up in the customer's own scorecard: transit float, premium freight, charges, invoices, records. Skypace applies structured systems to booking, tracking and audit, and relies on experienced program managers to read conditions and act before a plant is at risk.
Professionally, the role gives continuous exposure to carrier markets, automotive supply chains and the way contract terms meet live shipment execution.
