Country Head of Road Logistics / Trucking

Our customer is a leading global logistics company seeking an experienced Head of Road Logistics – Japan to lead, develop and grow its domestic road transportation business.

A key requirement for this position is strong, established relationships with trucking companies and carriers across Japan. The successful candidate should understand the domestic trucking market in depth and be able to leverage their carrier network to secure capacity, develop competitive solutions and support future business growth.

We are looking for a senior logistics executive combining extensive trucking relationships, deep road logistics expertise and a strong commercial mindset. The successful candidate will have experience managing large logistics operations, while also possessing the commercial drive to develop new customers and revenue streams.

Knowledge of project logistics, including specialist and complex movements such as data centre equipment, would be particularly valuable.

This is a senior leadership role combining commercial development, carrier strategy, operational management and people leadership, with responsibility for the overall performance and future growth of Road Logistics in Japan.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the Road Logistics business in Japan, with responsibility for commercial, financial and operational performance.
• Build, maintain and further develop strong relationships with Japanese trucking companies and carriers.
• Leverage the carrier network to secure capacity, competitive pricing and consistently high service levels.
• Develop and execute the strategy for further growth of the business.
• Identify and develop new business opportunities across domestic transportation and related logistics services.
• Lead and support tender analysis, solution design and pricing.
• Develop and diversify the carrier base to improve capacity, resilience and competitiveness.
• Monitor trucking market developments, capacity, pricing and competitor activity.
• Work closely with sales, operations and specialist teams to develop commercially attractive customer solutions.
• Drive operational excellence through standardized processes, best practices and continuous improvement.
• Support complex transportation requirements, including project logistics and data centre-related movements.
• Build strong relationships with key customers and manage significant service or operational issues.
• Lead, motivate and develop the Road Logistics team.
• Collaborate effectively within a regional and global matrix organization.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will bring:

• An established network and strong relationships with trucking companies and carriers throughout Japan.
• Deep knowledge of the Japanese road transportation and trucking market.
• Significant experience in road logistics, domestic transportation or related logistics operations.
• A strong commercial and business-development mindset.
• Experience managing large and complex logistics operations.
• Strong knowledge of carrier procurement, capacity management and transportation pricing.
• Experience developing new customers and transportation solutions.
• Knowledge of project logistics, ideally including complex or high-value movements such as data centre equipment.
• Proven leadership and people-management capability.
• Strong customer and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to operate successfully within a large international organization.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is an opportunity to lead an important business unit within a major global logistics organization and play a central role in expanding its Road Logistics capabilities in Japan.