National Sales Director

Crane Worldwide Logistics is a leader in supply chain solutions with over 130 locations across 30 countries providing individual services that address our client's logistics challenges.

The role provides leadership, coaching and performance oversight across both profit-linked and commission-eligible commercial teams, in accordance with the applicable company incentive and commission plans:

Ess****ential Job Functions

• Account Executives, Business Development Manager, Global Sales Executives: new-business acquisition, pipeline conversion and revenue generation.
• Business Development Executives and Managers: strategic prospecting, solution development and complex opportunity conversion.
• Account Management and Key Account Management: retention, organic growth, profitability, service reviews and contract renewal.
• Commercial and Country Sales leadership: regional prioritisation, governance, performance rhythm and commercial capability building.
• Tender, Pricing and Procurement support: competitive solution design, bid governance and margin protection.
• Product-aligned commercial resources supporting Air Freight, Ocean Freight, Road and Domestic Transport, Customs Brokerage, Contract Logistics, Warehousing and Project Cargo.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the South African sales strategy and translate country objectives into clear regional, team and individual commercial plans.
• Recruit, onboard, coach, develop and retain high-caliber sales and account-management talent.
• Set measurable targets for revenue, gross profit, new logos, customer retention, appointments, qualified pipeline and conversion.
• Own the commercial operating rhythm, including pipeline reviews, forecast accuracy, sales activity reviews, win/loss analysis and corrective actions.
• Drive profitable growth by balancing volume, margin, credit risk, operational capacity and customer value.
• Establish clear account ownership and ensure commission and profit-linked performance is governed consistently under approved company plans.
• Partner with Operations, Pricing, Procurement, Finance, Product, Marketing, QHSSE and Compliance to build executable, competitive customer solutions.
• Support strategic tenders, pricing reviews, contract negotiations, implementation handovers and executive customer engagements.
• Develop growth plans for priority verticals and trade lanes relevant to South Africa and the broader Southern African market.
• Promote cross-selling across air, ocean, road, customs, warehousing, contract logistics and project-forwarding solutions.
• Monitor market conditions, competitor activity and customer trends, converting insight into practical commercial action.
• Ensure CRM data quality, opportunity hygiene, timely updates and disciplined use of approved sales tools and processes.
• Maintain full compliance with company governance, anti-bribery, data-protection, competition-law, credit and procurement requirements.
• Represent the business professionally at customer meetings, industry events and internal regional forums.
• Undertake other reasonable duties aligned with the scope and seniority of the position.

Leadership and Performance Accountabilities

• Create a high-accountability culture with clear expectations, regular coaching and documented development plans.
• Recognize strong performance while addressing underperformance promptly, fairly and consistently.
• Build collaboration between commissionable acquisition teams and profit-linked retention and operational stakeholders.
• Ensure rewards never override margin discipline, service quality, ethical selling or long-term customer value.
• Provide concise performance reporting and actionable recommendations to country and regional leadership.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Experience and Qualifications

• Relevant tertiary qualification in Business, Commerce, Supply Chain, Logistics or a related discipline.
• Equivalent demonstrated experience will be considered.
• Substantial commercial leadership Minimum 10 years experience in freight forwarding, logistics, supply chain or a related B2B services environment.
• Proven success leading multi-role commercial teams and delivering revenue and gross profit growth.
• Strong understanding of air freight, ocean freight, road transport, customs, warehousing, contract logistics and project cargo solutions.
• Demonstrated Minimum 10 years experience with strategic account management, tendering, pricing, contract negotiation and solution selling.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including margin management, forecasting, budgeting and customer profitability.
• Proficiency in CRM platforms and Microsoft 365 applications.
• Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel within South Africa and the region, as business needs require.

Please submit a comprehensive CV and a short motivation outlining your relevant commercial leadership experience and track record of profitable growth. Crane Worldwide Logistics supports fair and equitable recruitment. Appointments will be made on merit, taking into account the requirements of the role and the company’s Employment Equity objectives. All personal information will be processed in accordance with applicable South African data-protection requirements.

Disclaimer:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

Recruitment Agency Policy:

At Crane Worldwide Logistics we manage all hiring directly and do not accept unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles from recruitment agencies or search firms. Agencies must not contact our employees or managers directly with candidate details.

Where recruitment support is required, we will engage trusted partners through a formal written agreement. We will not be liable for be liable for any associated placement fees for any CVs received without such an agreement.

We appreciate your cooperation in respecting this policy.