Forward Air logo

Vice President, Global Sales - International Forwarding, North America

Forward Air

  • Minneapolis, MN
  • Today
  • Remote

    Highlights

    They balance direct sales leadership with broad commercial influence across Product, Operations, Pricing, Solutions Engineering, and Regional Sales leadership teams. Act as the international forwarding subject matter expert for the broader North American sales organization by providing coaching, deal strategy, and executive support on complex opportunities.

    Numbers & Facts

    LocationMinneapolis, MN (
    Remote
    )
    IndustryTransport and Storage - Materials
    Company Size2,500 to 4,999 employees
    Year Founded1981
    Websitehttps://www.forwardair.com/content/careers-0

    Description

    The Vice President, Global Sales - International Forwarding is responsible for leading the commercial growth strategy for Air and Ocean freight across the region. They will develop and execute strategies that accelerate profitable international revenue growth while leading a team of dedicated international sales professionals. They balance direct sales leadership with broad commercial influence across Product, Operations, Pricing, Solutions Engineering, and Regional Sales leadership teams. They serve as the commercial champion for international forwarding solutions, ensuring Air and Ocean capabilities are fully integrated into customer strategies and go-to-market efforts. They drive market expansion, strengthen global collaboration, improve commercial effectiveness, and enable all sales channels to successfully position international solutions. The role also serves as a key executive partner to customers and global stakeholders, supporting multinational growth initiatives and long-term business performance.

     

    Responsibilities

    • Develop and execute the North American commercial strategy for Air and Ocean Freight, aligning growth priorities with corporate objectives.
    • Create annual and multi-year business plans that drive profitable revenue growth while maintaining disciplined margin performance.
    • Identify target industries, customer segments, trade lanes, and strategic market opportunities to expand international forwarding business.
    • Lead, coach, develop, and retain a high-performing North American International Sales organization.
    • Establish sales goals, pipeline management expectations, forecasting discipline, and performance management processes that drive accountability and results.
    • Partner with Sales Enablement to strengthen international sales capabilities, solution selling effectiveness, and commercial excellence.
    • Collaborate closely with Product, Pricing, Solutions Design, Operations, Customer Experience, and Implementation teams to deliver innovative customer solutions.
    • Serve as the voice of the customer by ensuring commercial feedback influences product development, service enhancements, and business priorities.
    • Build strong relationships with commercial leaders across EMEA, APAC, and Latin America to support multinational account strategies and revenue growth opportunities.
    • Act as the international forwarding subject matter expert for the broader North American sales organization by providing coaching, deal strategy, and executive support on complex opportunities.
    • Drive greater penetration of international solutions within existing customer portfolios through strategic account planning and cross-selling initiatives.
    • Personally engage with executive stakeholders and key customers to support major pursuits, solution design, and long-term account growth.
    • Monitor market trends, competitive activity, industry developments, and emerging opportunities to strengthen commercial performance and market position.
    • Own international sales forecasts, pipeline quality, revenue attainment, business reviews, and executive reporting through effective use of CRM and commercial analytics.
    • All other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.

     

    Qualifications

    • Education: Undergraduate degree in a related field from an accredited college or university required. 
    • Experience: 10+ years of progressive commercial leadership experience within international freight forwarding, logistics, transportation, or global supply chain organizations.
    • Demonstrated success leading Air and Ocean Freight sales organizations and delivering sustained revenue and profit growth.
    • Extensive knowledge of international transportation, global forwarding, customs processes, trade compliance, and worldwide logistics solutions.
    • Experience leading geographically dispersed teams within complex matrixed organizations.
    • Proven ability to develop high-performing sales organizations through coaching, talent development, succession planning, and performance management.
    • Executive-level customer relationship management experience with the ability to influence internal and external stakeholders.
    • Strategic thinker with strong commercial acumen, executive presence, and the ability to align diverse stakeholders around common objectives.
    • Demonstrated discretion and confidentiality in handling and protecting sensitive information.
    • Technical: Proficient with common office technologies, including Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and web conferencing (Teams, Zoom, Webex, etc.).
    • Environment: Remote; must be comfortable with travel for related meetings/events.

     

    #LI-Remote #LI-RA1

    About Company

    Since 1990, Forward Air has been a leading provider of ground transportation and related logistics services to the North American air freight and expedited LTL market. We offer surface shipping on an accelerated “time-definite” basis, delivering cargo at a specific time, but under less time-sensitive situations – supplying you with a cost effective, reliable alternative to air transportation. We work with companies of all sizes to develop tangible advantages and build the best products to meet your specific needs. Forward Air presents to the wholesale transportation community (logistics companies, freight forwarders, integrated air cargo carriers, passenger/ cargo airlines, and non-traditional shippers), a single-source provider that can deliver more supply chain services and a superior menu of choices. Throughout the years we have added supplementary lines to our linehaul service, such as full truckload operations (Truckload Services), final-mile coverage (Complete® Cartage), and an Airline Logistics program, and we will continue to expand our services to meet the changing needs and growth of our customer base.

    Forward Air is structured to optimize both savings and service to our customers. Direct partnerships with owner-operators and other surface transportation providers, enable us to remain cost-competitive. The Forward Air network is designed with over 90 facilities located at or near major U.S. and Canadian airports, 12 regional sort centers and over 300 beyond points (secondary airports provided through our Complete Cartage service), creating one of the most comprehensive linehaul networks in the industry.

    The foundation product for Forward Air is our expedited linehaul service, offering consistent and reliable transit and on-time, damage-free deliveries. By locating terminals on or near airports and maintaining a scheduled transportation network, we are able to arrange for convenient and consistent service with broad geographic coverage. Shipments of varying sizes (TL/LTL) are received at our terminals and transported by contracted service providers either (1) on a direct truck to the destination terminal, (2) through our Columbus, Ohio central sorting hub, or (3) through one of our 12 regional hubs, where they are unloaded, sorted, and reloaded in rapid fashion. After reloading the shipments, our contracted service providers deliver them to the destination city for early morning recovery. Through our Forward Air Complete® cartage service, customers also can have shipments picked up from the shipper, delivered to the final consignee, or transferred at the airport, simplifying the freight management processes. These options allow us to maximize handling efficiency of each shipment while minimizing freight loss and damage, improving transit times over traditional ground transportation.

    Similar Jobs

    See more jobs