Freight Forwarding Coordinator

Ashton Recruitment is working with an established and growing freight forwarding business to recruit an experienced Freight Forwarding Coordinator for its Belfast City Centre operation.

Freight Forwarding Coordinator

Location: Belfast City Centre
Salary: £32,000 - £38,000 DOE - flexibility for the right candidate
Hours: Monday to Friday, 08:30 - 17:30, with some flexibility
Contract: Full-Time, Permanent

Role

This is a hands-on forwarding position offering responsibility for managing shipments end-to-end, from initial customer enquiry and quotation through to booking, transportation, delivery and invoicing.

The role is predominantly focused on sea freight, including RoRo and deep-sea movements, alongside the road transport required to provide complete door-to-door solutions.

Working with an established customer base across sectors including engineering, manufacturing, heavy equipment and quarrying, you will coordinate a varied range of international freight movements while maintaining strong relationships with customers, carriers, hauliers and logistics partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage freight movements end-to-end, from initial enquiry and quotation through to final delivery and invoicing.
• Coordinate RoRo and deep-sea freight movements, alongside associated road transport.
• Arrange collections and deliveries to provide complete door-to-door freight solutions.
• Liaise with shipping lines, hauliers, suppliers and international logistics partners.
• Source competitive freight rates and prepare customer quotations.
• Manage designated customer accounts and act as a key point of contact throughout the shipment process.
• Track shipments and provide customers with proactive updates.
• Coordinate shipping documentation and proof of delivery (POD).
• Investigate and resolve delays, service issues and invoice queries.
• Complete job costing, accruals and invoicing accurately and within required timescales.
• Maintain accurate shipment files and update internal systems.
• Build strong relationships with existing customers and identify opportunities to support account growth.
• Provide operational and administrative support across the wider forwarding team.

About You

The successful candidate will ideally have previous experience within freight forwarding and be comfortable taking ownership of shipments from start to finish.

You will be organised, commercially aware and confident communicating with customers and suppliers while managing multiple freight movements in a fast-paced environment.

Essential Criteria

• Previous experience within freight forwarding, shipping or international logistics.
• Strong understanding of freight movements and the shipment lifecycle.
• Excellent organisational and problem-solving skills.
• Strong attention to detail and numerical accuracy.
• Confident communicating with customers, shipping lines, hauliers and suppliers.
• Ability to manage multiple shipments and competing priorities.
• Strong IT skills, including Microsoft Excel, Outlook and Word.
• Ability to work independently while contributing to a close-knit team.

Highly Desirable

• Direct experience working within a freight forwarding environment.
• Experience coordinating sea freight, RoRo and/or deep-sea movements.
• Experience arranging associated road freight and door-to-door deliveries.
• Experience managing freight movements end-to-end.
• Exposure to project cargo, heavy equipment, machinery or oversized freight.
• Experience preparing freight quotations and managing customer accounts.

What's on Offer

• £32,000 - £38,000 DOE, with flexibility for an experienced candidate who can bring strong freight forwarding knowledge.
• Full-time, permanent employment.
• Monday to Friday working hours.
• Some flexibility around the standard 08:30 - 17:30 working day.
• Belfast City Centre location.
• Opportunity to join an established forwarding operation with a strong customer base and varied international freight movements.
• Exposure to a mixture of standard freight and more specialist/project-based movements.

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