The Manager, Account Operations serves as the customer relationship owner and account operations leader within an assigned operations location. They are responsible for overseeing customer satisfaction, service performance, account retention, and operational alignment across the Company''s transportation and logistics services. They lead a team of account management professionals while partnering with operational leadership, customers, carriers, vendors, and commercial stakeholders to ensure exceptional service delivery and long-term account success. They provide strategic direction for customer engagement, issue resolution, process improvement, and account growth initiatives. They are accountable for fostering strong customer partnerships, optimizing operational performance, and driving a culture of service excellence.
Base Pay: $70,000-79,000
Incentive Eligible
Schedule: Monday- Friday 1st shift/ Mid-day, exact hours tbd, onsite
Responsibilities
Serve as the senior customer relationship owner for assigned accounts and customers within an operations location.
Lead, coach, and develop Operations Account Managers, Operations Account Coordinators, and other account operations personnel to drive performance, service excellence, and professional growth.
Establish and maintain executive-level and operational customer relationships to support account retention, satisfaction, and long-term partnership development.
Partner with site and regional operational leadership to align customer expectations with operational execution and business objectives.
Oversee customer service performance, account health, operational metrics, and customer feedback to identify risks, trends, and opportunities for improvement.
Lead resolution efforts for significant customer concerns, service failures, escalations, and complex operational issues.
Conduct and oversee customer business reviews, performance meetings, and strategic account planning discussions.
Ensure account-specific service requirements, operating procedures, KPIs, reporting obligations, and contractual commitments are consistently executed.
Analyze service, operational, financial, and customer performance data to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and account growth.
Collaborate with Sales, Operations, Finance, and other functional leaders to support customer retention, business development, and service expansion initiatives.
Provide strategic guidance on customer onboarding, account transitions, new service implementations, and operational change management activities.
Monitor labor utilization, team workload, and account support resources to ensure effective customer coverage and service delivery.
Champion customer advocacy within the organization while balancing operational capabilities, service commitments, and business objectives.
Ensure compliance with company policies, customer requirements, contractual obligations, and applicable regulatory standards.
Build and maintain productive relationships with customers, carriers, vendors, warehouse partners, and key internal stakeholders.
Develop and implement corrective action plans, service recovery initiatives, and performance improvement strategies when necessary.
Participate in forecasting, budgeting, and business planning activities related to customer operations and account support functions.
Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, operational excellence, and customer-focused decision-making.
All other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.
Qualifications
Education: Undergraduate degree in Business, Logistics, Supply Chain, Transportation, or a related field from an accredited college or university preferred; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience considered.
Certification/Licensure: Industry certifications related to transportation, logistics, freight forwarding, customs, TSA, IAC, supply chain operations, or leadership development are a plus.
Experience: Five (5)+ years of experience in transportation, logistics, freight forwarding, supply chain operations, account management, customer success, or a related customer-facing operational environment required, including experience leading customer relationships and developing team members.
Demonstrated success managing complex customer relationships, service delivery performance, account retention initiatives, and operational issue resolution.
Prior leadership experience with responsibility for coaching, developing, mentoring, or directly supervising employees preferred.
Strong knowledge of transportation, warehousing, freight forwarding, contract logistics, supply chain operations, and related service delivery processes.
Proven ability to analyze operational, financial, and customer performance data to drive process improvements and business results; Prior experience leveraging and/or building KPI visualizations/dashboards preferred.
Strong business communication, relationship management, negotiation, conflict resolution, and leadership skills with the ability to influence stakeholders at all organizational levels.
Demonstrated ability to balance customer expectations, operational realities, and financial objectives while making sound business decisions.
Experience partnering cross-functionally with operations, sales, finance, and leadership teams to achieve customer and organizational goals.
Strong technical skills with the ability to quickly learn and leverage business systems and applications; prior experience with McLeod, CargoWise, Salesforce, or similar transportation and customer relationship management platforms highly preferred.
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: Comfort commuting to/from and working in a 100% on-site setting (listed in this posting), with travel for related meetings/events.
#LI-onsite
#LI-MP3
| Location | Nashville, TN |
| Industry | Transport and Storage - Materials |
| Salary | $70,000–$79,000 Per Year |
| Company Size | 2,500 to 4,999 employees |
| Year Founded | 1981 |
| Website | https://www.forwardair.com/content/careers-0 |
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.
Browse dozens of recruiter approved resume templates, layouts and formats. Choose your favorite and make it your own in minutes.
Free resume templatesImprove your existing resume or start from scratch and create a standout, ATS-friendly resume. Add job-specific content, download and apply.
Free resume builder