Implementation Manager

Job Description

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Position: Implementation Manager

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Compensation: $110,000 - 120,000 Annually

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Job Description

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The Implementation Manager will act as a senior project owner, facilitator, and leader to ensure a seamless and sustainable handoff from Sales to Operations for new domestic and international forwarding and freight business. This role is critical in setting up operations for long-term success by coordinating stakeholders, managing timelines, and translating customer requirements into executable operational, systems and compliance solutions, while ensuring the customer experience remains exceptional throughout the onboarding process.

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You will serve as the “air traffic controller” for implementation projects—owning implementation strategy and readiness, facilitating discussions between internal teams and clients, challenging assumptions and resolving issues proactively, and ensuring every detail is aligned before operations take over.

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Core Responsibilities & Duties

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• Own end-to-end implementation strategy and execution for new business, both domestic and international - with a significant focus on international solutions
• Act as the central point of contact between Sales, Operations, IT, and external stakeholders ensuring clarity of ownership and process
• Assess customer requirements and operational needs, translating them into clear project plans, including implementation actions, risks and readiness criteria that must be addressed prior to go-live
• Facilitate communication across multiple functions and global teams to ensure alignment
• Lead implementation of international forwarding processes, including coordination across customs, trade compliance, documentation, and multi-country stakeholders
• Develop working knowledge of Forward, Omni, and partner transportation management systems (TMS), as well as EDI/API integration capabilities, to ensure customer requirements for rating, booking, visibility, and tracking are fully supported prior to go-live
• Partner with Sales, Operations, and Finance to review post-implementation performance, including realization, profitability, and customer experience metrics, identifying gaps between what was sold and what is being executed
• Facilitate cross-functional discussions when post-launch performance, customer experience, or operational outcomes indicate misalignment, driving corrective actions
• Serve as a trusted advisor during onboarding, creating a positive customer experience and setting relationships up for long term success
• Recommend process enhancements to improve implementation efficiency and scalability
• Other duties as assigned

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Qualifications

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• Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Industrial Engineering, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience)
• 5+ years in freight forwarding, logistics, or transportation operations or account management with demonstrated exposure to international forwarding
• Desk-level operations experience strongly preferred, with the ability to assess downstream operational impact of implementation decisions
• Written bilingual skills are a plus
• Strong project management and organizational skills, including building new processes, managing cross-functional dependencies, and competing priorities
• Excellent communication and facilitation abilities across diverse teams and personalities
• Strong technical and analytical aptitude including ability to interpret operational and financial data and understand TMS and integration capabilities
• Highly collaborative and proactive communicator
• Strong problem-solving skills and ability to anticipate challenges
• Comfortable working in a global environment with multiple time zones

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Forward Air is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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About Us

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Since 1990, Forward Air has been a leading provider of ground transportation and related logistics services to the North American air freight and expedited LTL market. We offer surface shipping on an accelerated “time-definite” basis, delivering cargo at a specific time, but under less time-sensitive situations – supplying you with a cost effective, reliable alternative to air transportation. We work with companies of all sizes to develop tangible advantages and build the best products to meet your specific needs. Forward Air presents to the wholesale transportation community (logistics companies, freight forwarders, integrated air cargo carriers, passenger/ cargo airlines, and non-traditional shippers), a single-source provider that can deliver more supply chain services and a superior menu of choices. Throughout the years we have added supplementary lines to our linehaul service, such as full truckload operations (Truckload Services), final-mile coverage (Complete® Cartage), and an Airline Logistics program, and we will continue to expand our services to meet the changing needs and growth of our customer base.

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Forward Air is structured to optimize both savings and service to our customers. Direct partnerships with owner-operators and other surface transportation providers, enable us to remain cost-competitive. The Forward Air network is designed with over 90 facilities located at or near major U.S. and Canadian airports, 12 regional sort centers and over 300 beyond points (secondary airports provided through our Complete Cartage service), creating one of the most comprehensive linehaul networks in the industry.

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Ranked 3rd in Newsweeks 2022 " Americas Most Trustworthy Companies " publication