Route Development Manager

Job Title:

Route Development Manager

Reports to:

Head of Air Freight Commercial Center

Location:

YYZ

DHL Global Forwarding (DGF) is a leader in managing the flow of goods and information across global supply chains, utilizing air, ocean, and ground transportation, customs brokerage services, and dedicated warehousing and distribution centers. As part of Deutsche Post DHL, the world's leading logistics provider with operations in over 220 countries, we are committed to excellence and growth.

Join our team as a  Route Development Manager  at  DHL Group ! In this pivotal role, you will Lead and execute Air Freight Route Development strategies, plans, and initiatives to drive profitable growth, optimize trade lane performance, and enhance network competitiveness across country, regional, or global scope. The role combines strategic route portfolio leadership with deep analytical expertise in trade lane development, route economics, market intelligence, and commercial-operational alignment.

The position acts as the primary focal point for identifying, evaluating, prioritizing, and implementing route opportunities while ensuring alignment between Sales, Pricing, Carrier Management, Gateway Operations, Product, and Customer Operations teams. The role is responsible for governing route development activities, driving execution of strategic initiatives, and enabling data-driven decision making that supports revenue growth, service excellence, and margin protection.

Key Responsibilities:

Route Development Strategy & Governance

Lead the Route Development Management (RDM) agenda for assigned regions, countries, or trade lanes.

Define trade lane priorities, route opportunity roadmaps, and route portfolio strategies aligned with business objectives.

Translate regional and global route development priorities into actionable execution plans with clear ownership, governance, milestones, and performance metrics.

Support regional and global route governance forums through data-based recommendations and decision-ready business cases.

Benchmark route development performance and implement scalable best practices across countries and teams.

Trade Lane Analysis & Route Economics

Conduct advanced trade lane analysis utilizing market intelligence, customer demand trends, route economics, carrier capacity, gateway capabilities, and competitive benchmarks.

Analyze route performance indicators including:

Conversion rates

Gross Profit per file

Capacity utilization

Paid-out quality

Consolidation ratios

Transit time reliability

Service performance

Exception trends

Identify opportunities for network optimization, route redesign, consolidation improvement, and margin enhancement.

Develop and maintain route development dashboards, databases, scorecards, and performance reporting tools.

Commercial & RFQ Support

Lead route development support for strategic RFQs, tenders, sector opportunities, and major customer pursuits.

Prepare comprehensive lane opportunity assessments, including:

Market demand analysis

Route options

Carrier and gateway dependencies

Historical performance

Gross profit analysis

Consolidation opportunities

Service feasibility reviews

Partner with Pricing teams to develop competitive and executable routing solutions that protect profitability and operational integrity.

Provide route development expertise supporting customer value propositions and growth strategies.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Coordinate closely with:

Sales and Growth teams

Pricing and RFQ teams

Supplier & Carrier Management

Gateway and Station Operations

Product & Services teams

Sector organizations

Customer Operations and Control Towers

Business Intelligence and Finance teams

Implementation and Project Management teams

Ensure route opportunities are operationally executable and aligned with network strategy and carrier capabilities.

Drive resolution of recurring route issues where commercial commitments, capacity, pricing, operational readiness, or customer requirements are misaligned.

Performance Improvement & Capability Building

Identify recurring lane challenges, including:

Low conversion performance

Margin erosion

Capacity constraints

Routing instability

Transit time failures

Poor service performance

Data quality issues

Escalate structural issues affecting route performance, such as system gaps, network bottlenecks, capacity shortages, or conflicting customer commitments.

Support capability development across Route Development Management teams through coaching, analytical standards, governance processes, and digital-first…