Manager Carrier Procurement

Overview

The Carrier Procurement Manager is responsible for developing, implementing, and championing a carrier management strategy for NFI Non-Asset services that drives carrier compliance and sets NFI and our overarching customers up for success.

• Lead and facilitate domestic multi-modal annual RFPs (Full Truckload, LTL, Intermodal, Dedicated Fleet, LTL, etc.) across national and regional networks.
• Execute rapid tactical mini-bids to resolve routing guide failures, capture favorable market spot shifts, or support seasonal volume spikes.
• Establish sourcing timelines, bid rules, baseline target rates, and scoring weights tailored to individual domestic client SLAs.
• Extract, scrub, and normalize historical domestic shipment data, origin-destination lane profiles, seasonal volume distributions, and facility dwell metrics.
• Build standardized procurement bid packages including electronic RFP templates,lane matrices, baseline fuel/accessorial schedules, and operational profilequestionnaires.
• Audit raw data to eliminate anomalies, ensure high carrier bid participation, and reduce post-award price revisions.
• Manage bid communication, pre-bid Q&A windows, carrier addendums, and multi-round bidding events via e-procurement software or native TMS sourcing modules.
• Conduct advanced rate normalization, capacity scenario analysis, and optimization modeling evaluating tradeoffs between best-cost, primary carrier retention, transit times, and service reliability.
• Deliver data-backed executive presentations and consultative guidance to internal account leaders and external 4PL clients to secure bid award approvals.
• Lead multi-round rate negotiations with domestic asset carriers, dedicated fleets, and strategic 3PL partners to optimize base freight rates and accessorial fee schedules.
• Run various award scenarios and present recommendations to customers that drive favorable outcomes and maximizes route guide value.
• Negotiate rate addendums, and Service Level Agreement (SLA) terms in coordination with legal counsel.
• Finalize lane awards, execute award notification letters, and communicate expectations to participating providers.
• Maintain an organized central repository of active carrier rates, accessorial schedules, fuel formulas, and tariff structures including SMC3 CZAF base rate matrices.
• Audit and load awarded carrier rates and tendering logic directly into the 4PL Transportation Management System.
• Partner with the Carrier Operations team to transition awarded providers into live execution.
• Manage and evaluate domestic routing guide sequencing (primary, secondary, backup) and conduct post bid hyper care to ensure automated load tendering and TMS pricing aligns strictly with awarded bid matrices.
• Assist in carrier service packet assembly, rate logic verification, EDI/API setup(204/214 feeds), and visibility platform integration (e.g., MacroPoint, Project
  44).
• Facilitate carrier kickoff calls to align dispatch teams on client-specific facility rules, appointment scheduling protocols, and SLA expectations.
• Evaluate post-bid carrier performance specifically to analyze and validate actual results against initial expected bid models.
• Build closed-loop financial tracking dashboards, with the support of analytic team, comparing Expected (Modeled) Savings vs. Actual Freight Spend post-implementation.
• Monitor Primary Tender Acceptance rates, Route Guide Depth, and spot market leakage strictly to measure financial and bid adherence against baseline projections.

• BA or BS Degree preferred
• 7+ years’ experience in the transportation operations with a proven track record of success
• Familiar with a variety of transportation concepts, practices and procedures
• Possesses strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate organization visions and values
• Able to demonstrate a high degree of planning, organizational, analytical, and financial skills
• Carrier engagement and domestic logistics pricing experience
• Proficient computer skills especially with RFP/RFX procurement platforms, Google Suite;
  Microsoft Suite; business intelligence platforms
• Conceptual, strategic thinker with demonstrated ability to define problems,…