Vice President​/Division President, Temperature-Controlled

Job Title

Job Title: Vice President / Division President, Temperature-Controlled (Reefer)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Stoneway Talent is conducting a confidential search on behalf of a well-established, financially backed freight and logistics company headquartered on the Gulf Coast. Our client has built a strong reputation in flatbed, heavy haul, and specialized freight serving the oil and gas, construction, industrial rental, and emergency response sectors, with a long track record of competitive rates, reliability, and deep carrier relationships.

With significant financial backing in place, the client is now making a deliberate and well-capitalized expansion into temperature-controlled (reefer) and dry van freight. This is a build-and-lead opportunity for a senior commercial leader who already lives in the temperature-controlled world and is ready to own a new vertical end to end. The successful candidate will bring an established book of business, recruit a team that follows them, build out carrier capacity, and own the division P&L, while being surrounded quickly with the carrier sales, operations, and support staff needed to scale rather than building alone.

• Bring and grow an established book of temperature-controlled freight, converting existing shipper relationships into immediate revenue for the new vertical.
• Lead from the front as a player-coach, personally producing on priority accounts while standing up the division around you.
• Develop and own a pipeline of temperature-sensitive shippers across food, produce, CPG, beverage, frozen, dairy, protein, and related verticals.
• Set pricing strategy, margin targets, and account growth plans for the reefer and dry van desks in coordination with ownership.

• Recruit, hire, mentor, and lead a team of sales and carrier representatives dedicated to the temperature-controlled and dry van business.
• Build and manage a reliable carrier network in the reefer space, establishing capacity, lane coverage, and committed-carrier relationships from the ground up.
• Stand up the desk structure, workflows, and KPIs for the new vertical, integrating it cleanly alongside the existing flatbed and heavy haul operations.
• Partner with ownership and finance to deploy the available backing efficiently, scaling headcount and capacity in step with revenue.

• Own the temperature-controlled division P&L, including revenue, gross margin, headcount, and profitability targets.
• Establish operational standards for cold chain integrity, including temperature monitoring, reefer pre-cooling, and continuity of the cold chain in transit.
• Implement compliance and risk controls specific to perishable freight, including FSMA requirements, carrier vetting, insurance verification, and cargo claims management.
• Maintain the service levels and communication standards the client is known for, extending its on-time and reliability reputation into the reefer market.

• Seven or more years in temperature-controlled freight, in brokerage, asset-based carriage, or a combination of both.
• A portable book of reefer business and the shipper relationships to activate revenue quickly in a new platform.
• Demonstrated experience building or scaling a freight vertical, branch, or division, rather than only managing a mature, established one.
• A strong carrier network in the temperature-controlled space, with the ability to secure capacity and committed lanes from a standing start.
• P&L ownership or branch and division leadership experience, including hiring, developing, and retaining a producing team.
• Working knowledge of cold chain operations, FSMA, and the service and claims dynamics that distinguish reefer from flatbed and dry van freight.
• An entrepreneurial, roll-up-your-sleeves mindset and the credibility to build a new vertical inside an organization with deep flatbed and heavy haul roots.
• Dry van experience and relationships are a strong plus, as the client intends to grow van freight alongside temperature-controlled.

This is a rare chance to build and own a greenfield vertical with the full weight of an established, profitable, and well-capitalized company behind it. The client has the brand, the carrier relationships, and the financial backing to move aggressively, and is looking for the right leader to put it to work in temperature-controlled freight. The successful candidate will have genuine ownership of the division, real autonomy to build it their way, the resources to staff and scale quickly, and a direct line to ownership.

For a proven reefer leader who has wanted to build something of their own without starting from zero, this is that opportunity.