Sales Executive (Clearing and Forwarding)

Role Overview

This role sits at the front end of the freight business, where new import and export accounts are won. Day to day, the sales executive works the phones, visits client offices, and travels to prospect sites to find corporate shippers that need air, sea, or road movement paired with customs clearance, then converts those conversations into priced proposals and signed service agreements. The position matters because every consignment the clearing and forwarding desk handles begins with a commercial relationship — the stronger the pipeline built here, the fuller the operational calendar.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and work a prospect list of corporate importers and exporters, cold-calling, networking, and qualifying leads across local and regional trade lanes.
• Arrange face-to-face pitch meetings and field visits with logistics, procurement, and supply chain decision-makers, presenting the company's capability across air freight, sea freight, road haulage, and customs clearance.
• Collect shipment specifications from each prospect and prepare accurate rate quotations, demurrage calculations, and service proposals reflecting routing, volume, and cargo type.
• Negotiate pricing, credit terms, and service scope within agreed profitability limits, then secure the client's commitment.
• Hand closed deals over to the operations and clearing desk with clear documentation requirements, timelines, and client expectations so execution runs without friction.
• Manage the accounts you win — encourage repeat shipments, respond to service queries, and keep importers and exporters informed on cargo status and customs processing progress.
• Track sea and air freight market movements, port charge revisions, and competitor rate benchmarks so quotations stay commercially competitive.
• Maintain the lead register and quotation records, track pipeline conversion, and submit periodic performance reports to management.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Diploma or bachelor's degree in sales and marketing, business administration, logistics, supply chain management, or a related discipline.
• A direct business-to-business sales track record, ideally gained inside clearing and forwarding, shipping, freight brokerage, or another supply chain logistics setting.
• Working knowledge of customs clearance procedures, East African Community tariff codes and commodity classification, port and terminal formalities, and multimodal freight routing.
• Comfort with commercial numbers — building freight rates, comparing carrier pricing, and working out margins without close supervision.
• Demonstrated negotiation and closing ability with corporate clients, and the persistence to carry a long sales cycle through to signature.
• Clear written and spoken communication for proposals, client correspondence, and internal handover notes.
• Self-directed and target-focused, suited to a performance-linked commission structure.

What We Offer / Why Join

• A commission-based compensation structure in which earnings scale directly with sales performance, giving consistent closers strong upside.
• A full-time role based in Nairobi, combining office-based commercial work with client field visits.
• Exposure to a broad mix of freight modes — air, sea, road, and customs clearance — across regional trade routes.
• Ownership of the full commercial cycle, from first prospect contact through to handover and account retention.

Candidates who meet these requirements are invited to submit an updated CV and application details through the designated recruitment portal or application email.