Analyst, Inbound Transportation

Location:

Toronto, 100 Queens Quay East Toronto, Ontario M5E 1V3 Canada

Position Overview:

The Analyst, Inbound Transportation is responsible for the end-to-end execution and optimization of inbound transportation activities across global supply chains. This role ensures timely, cost-effective, and compliant movement of goods while driving performance visibility, vendor accountability, and continuous improvement. The Analyst, Inbound Transportation collaborates closely with internal teams and external partners, including freight forwarders, carriers, suppliers, and customs brokers, to enhance operational efficiency and transit performance.

• Own end-to-end shipment execution from booking through final delivery, ensuring adherence to service levels and timelines.
• Validate freight costs against rate agreements and perform cost-benefit assessments to recommend optimal modes, routings, and consolidation opportunities.
• Manage global transportation movements (Air, Ocean, Ground, and Intermodal) from origin to destination, ensuring compliance with trade regulations and internal SOPs.
• Track shipment milestones against KPIs and proactively resolve delays or discrepancies.
• Liaise with freight forwarders, carriers, customs brokers, suppliers, vendors, and warehouse teams to ensure seamless logistics execution.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Buyers, Capacity Planning, Trade Compliance, Sourcing, Sales, Marketing, Warehousing/3PL, and Order Management to ensure alignment on transportation needs and issue resolution.
• Ensure supplier compliance with Supplier Manual requirements, including documentation accuracy and shipping timelines.

• Drive performance against key KPIs (e.g., On-Time Delivery, Transit Time Reliability, Inbound Freight Cost, Damage Rate, and Cost Savings).
• Analyze carrier rate cards, quotations, and routing options, performing cost-benefit assessments to recommend the most efficient mode and route to meet business needs and timelines.
• Maintain and update dashboards and reports to provide visibility to leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Identify trends and variances in transportation performance and recommend corrective actions.

• Monitor and evaluate freight forwarder and carrier performance against defined KPIs.
• Escalate and resolve service failures, ensuring accountability and corrective actions.
• Support quarterly or periodic business reviews with logistics partners.

• Drive and support continuous improvement initiatives focused on cost reduction, service enhancement, and process optimization, such as optimizing transit times, consolidations, and routing strategies while enhancing operational efficiency.
• Support the development and refinement of SOPs and supplier manuals.
• Bring forward innovative ideas to improve logistics efficiency and customer satisfaction.
• Support implementation of new tools, dashboards, or process enhancements to improve data accuracy and operational efficiency.

• Act as a key point of contact for internal departments (e.g., Buyer, Planning, Sales, Production, Warehousing) regarding shipment status and logistics issues.
• Communicate clearly and professionally with external partners to resolve operational challenges.
• Provide timely updates on urgent shipments and potential disruptions.
• Escalate critical risks or delays to stakeholders with clear mitigation plans.

• Improved KPI performance across transit time, cost efficiency, and service reliability.
• Consistent on-time, in-full delivery of shipments to the correct destination at competitive freight costs.
• Accurate and timely reporting of logistics metrics.
• Timely and accurate freight cost analyses and recommendations for optimal shipping modes.
• Strong, trust-based relationships with forwarders and/or carriers, suppliers, brokers, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Full implementation and adherence to SOPs and Supplier Manual requirements by internal teams and external partners.