Operational Lead – Strategic Accounts

Would you like to be part of a value-driven, commercially oriented international environment where we enable global trade every day? We have an opportunity for an Operational Lead to join our team in either Durban or Cape Town, South Africa.

Lead the end‑to‑end operational coordination for a key strategic account across imports, exports and cross‑border movements assuring accurate inbound visibility, timely customs clearance, carrier release, and on‑time delivery—while overseeing customer specific Customer Experience (CX) agents, to deliver excellent business results and customer required outcomes. The role combines lead operational control, issue resolution, daily external and internal stakeholder meetings and communication, KPI ownership, and disciplined cost governance, cohesive CX daily deliverables across product portfolios and functions.

The Operational Lead will lead a small team of CX agents and transport planners.

When you join Maersk, you’ll find that the world is your workplace. You’ll work in a culturally diverse, stimulating environment, surrounded by new ideas and different ways of doing things. We believe in individual performance within highly professional teams supported by our distinctive values. To us teamwork means acceptance, respect, dedication, and the idea that we can achieve more when we all pull together.

Living our values means competing in the marketplace in an ethical way so our name is synonymous with being a credible and valuable business partner. Through Constant Care and Humbleness, we strive to prepare for the future, while never forgetting that our customers and competitors are key to our ability to improve. In our daily work Uprightness and Our Employees mean that transparency and accountability in everything we do go hand in hand with being an inspiring, challenging place to work.

At Maersk, we take pride in hiring the best person for the job – irrespective of gender, age, nationality, or religious belief.

Inbound Visibility & Data Integrity:

• Validate and sustain accurate recording on inbound schedules; monitor and communicate daily shipment progress to the client in daily meetings.
• Receive shipment plans and resolve escalations promptly; keep internal teams and the customer aligned on updates.

Documentation Governance:

• Drive supplier documentation timelines and accuracy; proactively resolve discrepancies and elevate late documentation early.
• Coordinate onboarding of new vendors with Finance/Procurement and notify internal stakeholders as required.

Clearing Instructions & Customs Interface:

• Serve as the escalation point for tariff or documentation concerns raised by Customs House Brokerage (CHB).
• Ensure corrective actions and quality checks are completed prior to submission and release.

OGA/CBCU Processes (where applicable):

• Coordinate and oversee inspections and sampling, ensuring CX alerts CHB, documentation is shared with authorities, and stakeholders are kept informed.
• Oversee lab quotation and approvals, payment processing, proof of payment, and distribution of test results.

Delivery & Customer Booking:

• Act as the escalation point for storage, agent payments, or last‑mile delivery and collection issues.
• Oversee transporter arrangements for Air, FCL, LCL, and cross‑border deliveries in collaboration with transport planners and transport teams.

Invoicing, Statements & Reporting Cadence:

• Manage exceptional cost tracking and communicate on‑billing decisions to the customer; support weekly billing and monthly consolidation.
• Support monthly invoice reporting and customs entry reporting cadence; ensure AR statements carry required references, etc.

KPI Ownership:

• Own and prepare operational KPIs (e.g., On‑Time Collection, Inbound Delivery On‑Time) and analyze failure reasons.
• Support utilization and vehicle availability analysis with transport teams; support OTIF, quality, security incident and supplier feedback KPIs.
• Present updates in daily client and vendor meetings.
• Present monthly KPI and business review reports to the client at a strategic level.

Daily Management System (DMS/DDS):

• Prepare and participate in internal and…