Principal, Ocean Freight Business Development, Amazon Global Logistics

Amazon.com Inc

Bellevue, WA

JOB DETAILS
SKILLS
Alliance/Partner Management, Business Development, Cargo/Freight, Competitive Analysis/Strategy, Cost Control, Cross-Functional, Customer Experience, Economics, Finance, Freight Forwarding, Industry/Trade Analysis, Leadership, Legal, Logistics, Marine Cargo, Negotiation Skills, Performance Analysis, Product Planning, Product Positioning, Regulations, Revenue Sharing, Strategic Planning, Supply Chain, Supply Chain Optimization, Technical Operations, Trading/Stockbroking
LOCATION
Bellevue, WA
POSTED
30+ days ago

Amazon Global Logistics is reshaping how goods move across the world"s oceans, and this Principal role is central to that transformation. By driving strategic carrier partnerships and optimizing ocean freight economics, you will directly lower Amazon"s cost structure, fueling the flywheel of lower prices, broader selection, and better customer experience.

As Principal, Ocean Freight Business Development, you will own Amazon"s non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) commercial strategy across multiple geographies and trade lanes. You will serve as the recognized authority on ocean freight partnerships, influencing VP-level leaders, shaping competitive positioning, and setting the strategic direction for how Amazon procures and manages ocean capacity. This is a high-impact individual contributor role requiring deep industry expertise, commercial rigor, and the ability to drive alignment across complex, cross-functional organizations without direct authority.

Key job responsibilities

  • Own and set the multi-year ocean freight strategy, defining the roadmap for carrier partnerships, rate structures, and market expansion across global trade lanes, with measurable impact on cost and capacity at the division level
  • Lead high-value negotiations with carrier C-suite executives, structuring Negotiated Rate Arrangements and service agreements that balance cost optimization with supply chain resilience across 20+ trade lanes
  • Serve as the enterprise-wide authority on NVOCC market dynamics, advising senior leadership on competitive positioning, regulatory shifts, and emerging opportunities that influence logistics strategy across multiple organizations
  • Drive cross-functional alignment across operations, finance, legal, and technology, building frameworks and mechanisms that scale carrier partnerships while influencing product and systems roadmaps
  • Identify and incubate new commercial models (capacity guarantees, revenue-sharing arrangements, co-investment structures) that differentiate Amazon"s freight forwarding capabilities and create durable competitive advantage

A day in the life

You open the day analyzing trade lane performance data and market rate movements to inform a strategic recommendation. Mid-morning, you lead a negotiation with a major carrier"s commercial leadership to finalize terms on a multi-market agreement. After lunch, you join a cross-functional working session with operations and technology teams on a new carrier integration. You close the day preparing a strategic brief for your VP on a market entry opportunity you identified through competitive analysis.

About the team

Amazon Global Logistics moves freight across oceans, skies, and continents to deliver for customers worldwide. Our NVOCC team builds and manages the carrier relationships that keep goods flowing through Amazon"s international supply chain. We combine deep industry expertise with Amazon"s technology and scale to challenge how global freight forwarding works. We are builders, negotiators, and strategists who obsess over cost, speed, and reliability.

About the Company

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Amazon.com Inc

At Amazon, we don’t wait for the next big idea to present itself. We envision the shape of impossible things and then we boldly make them reality. So far, this mindset has helped us achieve some incredible things. Let’s build new systems, challenge the status quo, and design the world we want to live in. We believe the work you do here will be the best work of your life.

Wherever you are in your career exploration, Amazon likely has an opportunity for you. Our research scientists and engineers shape the future of natural language understanding with Alexa. Fulfillment center associates around the globe send customer orders from our warehouses to doorsteps. Product managers set feature requirements, strategy, and marketing messages for brand new customer experiences. And as we grow, we’ll add jobs that haven’t been invented yet.

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At Amazon, it’s always “Day 1.” Now, what does this mean and why does it matter? It means that our approach remains the same as it was on Amazon’s very first day – to make smart, fast decisions, stay nimble, invent, and stay focused on delighting our customers. In our 2016 shareholder letter, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared his thoughts on how to keep up a Day 1 company mindset. “Staying in Day 1 requires you to experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight,” he wrote. “A customer-obsessed culture best creates the conditions where all of that can happen.” You can read the full letter here

Our Leadership Principles
Our Leadership Principles help us keep a Day 1 mentality. They aren’t just a pretty inspirational wall hanging. Amazonians use them, every day, whether they’re discussing ideas for new projects, deciding on the best solution for a customer’s problem, or interviewing candidates. To read through our Leadership Principles from Customer Obsession to Bias for Action, visit https://www.amazon.jobs/principles
COMPANY SIZE
10,000 employees or more
INDUSTRY
Retail
FOUNDED
1994
WEBSITE
http://Amazon.com/militaryroles