Freight Forwarding Operations Team Leader

First Logistics Australia | Prestons, NSW

Full-time | On-site

$95,000–$105,000 + super (dependent on experience)

Ready to lead from the front?

First Logistics Australia is growing, and we’re looking for an experienced Freight Forwarding Operations Team Leader to lead and develop our freight operations team across Airfreight, FCL and LCL.

We’re a second-generation, owned freight forwarding and logistics business that has been operating since 2004. Our team manages international air and sea freight, customs, transport and 3PL warehousing across Australia and New Zealand. As our business and freight volumes continue to grow, we’re looking for a hands-on freight leader who knows the operation, enjoys developing people and wants the opportunity to make a genuine impact.

The Opportunity

Reporting directly to our Operations Manager, you’ll lead and support our freight operations team across Airfreight, FCL, LCL, bookings and data entry, working with both our Australian and offshore team members.

This is a hands-on leadership role.

You’ll be the person your team turns to when a shipment becomes complicated, there’s a DAFF hold, a transhipment goes sideways or a customer needs a confident answer quickly. But great leadership to us isn't about taking every difficult file away and fixing it yourself. We want someone who works alongside their team, coaches them through challenges and builds their knowledge and confidence so they're better equipped to handle the next one.

Developing your team is a core part of this role.

You'll also remain operationally current and be comfortable stepping onto an Airfreight,



FCL or LCL desk when senior involvement or leave coverage is required.

What You'll Own

• Leadership & Development – coach, guide and develop our freight operators, building capability and confidence across the team

- Technical Guidance & Escalation – be the senior operational point of contact across Airfreight, FCL and LCL
- Operational Coverage – confidently step onto any freight desk when required
- Margin & Cost Discipline – maintain visibility over file margins and cost erosion and identify issues early
- Workload Management – understand team capacity, identify pressure points and work with the Operations Manager on appropriate resourcing
- Process Improvement – identify gaps and inefficiencies and help build better ways of working
- Commercial Awareness – recognise changing customer volumes, lanes and opportunities and connect these with our sales team

What We're Looking For?

You'll bring:

- Strong, current hands-on operational experience across Airfreight, FCL and LCL
- Genuine people leadership experience
- A natural coaching mindset and desire to develop others
- Solid grounding in Australian customs, DAFF/biosecurity compliance, dangerous goods and Incoterms
- Experience working effectively with offshore team members
- Strong problem-solving skills and the confidence to bring recommendations,



not just problems
- Commercial awareness and an understanding of freight margins and costs
- A willingness to take ownership when things don't go to plan

CargoWise experience is strongly preferred, but it isn't necessarily a deal-breaker. If you have excellent multimodal freight knowledge and strong leadership experience, we'd still like to hear from you.

Why First Logistics Australia?

We're big enough to provide variety, opportunity and career progression, but small enough that your ideas are heard and you can genuinely influence how things are done.

You'll have:

- Direct access to our Operations Manager and business owners
- A structured handover and training period alongside our Operations Manager and existing Freight Team Leader
- Genuine responsibility for developing your team
- The opportunity to influence and improve our freight operation
- A growing business where roles evolve as the business grows
- The freedom to identify something that isn't working and help us fix it
- A supportive, team-focused working environment

Most importantly, we're looking for someone who wants to lead from within the operation.

Someone who knows freight, enjoys solving problems, develops people and takes pride in building a strong team around them.

Interested?

If you're an experienced freight professional who knows Airfreight, FCL and LCL, enjoys developing people and is ready to take genuine ownership of a team and its operation, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply through LinkedIn with your CV and a brief introduction outlining your experience and what interests you about the prospect.

📌 Freight Forwarding Operations Team Leader (Sydney)
🏢 First Logistics Australia
📍 Sydney