Specialist - Air Category Manager

Responsibilities

• Air Category Strategy: Develop and implement global air freight strategies that balance speed, cost, and reliability to meet the changing needs of the business.
• Sourcing & Tender Management: Lead regular air freight RFIs/RFPs, managing the full procurement lifecycle from market analysis to carrier award.
• Rate & Surcharge Management: Drive negotiations for spot and contract rates, including fuel surcharges (FSC) and security fees, ensuring competitive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
• Carrier Performance (SRM): Partner with the business to Establish robust Supplier Relationship Management frameworks to drive accountability and service excellence with air freight forwarders and integrators.
• Capacity Planning: Partner with the business and logistics teams to secure critical air uplift capacity during peak seasons and product launches to support multi-channel operations.
• Market Intelligence: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of global air cargo trends, geopolitical situation and jet fuel market volatility to provide operational visibility to leadership.
• Continuous Improvement: Proactively identify value-engineering opportunities, such as air-to-sea conversion programs or lane optimization, to drive cost savings.
• Operational Reporting: Create and maintain standardized reporting to track air spend, weight-break utilization, and carrier performance against SLAs.
• Emergency & Charter Management: Provide ad-hoc procurement support and analysis for critical path shipments or emergency charter requirements when necessary.
• The Successful Candidate Will Demonstrate:
• Air Freight Expertise: Strong knowledge of air cargo operations, IATA regulations, and air freight pricing structures.
• Commercial Credibility: Skill to quickly build credibility and trust with external carriers and internal stakeholders through data-driven recommendations.
• Analytical Precision: Ability to manage data-intensive projects and provide root cause analysis for budget variances or service disruptions.
• Resilience: Capacity to act as a change agent, demonstrating persistence when navigating the fast-paced and volatile air freight environment.
• Strategic Influence: Ability to understand cross-functional impact and interconnected dependencies to drive consensus across global teams.

Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree; however, a combination of college education and related work experience may be used as a substitute.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in strategic procurement, category management, or air freight forwarding in a fast-paced environment.
• Proven track record in Air Freight Experience (AF), working directly within air cargo operations, freight forwarding, or managing air transportation procurement.
• Expert knowledge and proficiency with MS Office applications.
• Proficiency with modern sourcing and procurement tools (e.g., Ariba, Coupa , or similar platforms).
• Additional Skills:
• Strong demonstrated ability to work independently, manage data-intensive projects, and engage remote teams.
• Excellent discretion, judgment, tact, and diplomacy when dealing with sensitive commercial negotiations.
• Solid business judgment, including the ability to anticipate the impact of procurement decisions on the global supply chain.
• Must demonstrate an energetic, positive, helpful demeanor and a passion and interest in On Running.
• Experience leveraging AI and automation to streamline processes within a complex, global environment.

Benefits

Additional Information

Specialist - Air Category Manager At a Glance: Available today in over 50 countries and cited as "the fastest growing sports company in the world", On's success comes down to two reasons: incredible products - and incredible people. It has one simple mission: Ignite the Human Spirit Through Movement. As our Specialist Air Category Manager , you will be responsible for the strategic sourcing and execution of On's global air freight portfolio. You will be tasked with managing a high-velocity category that ensures our performance gear reaches athletes and enthusiasts with speed and precision. Your Team: You are part of the Global Supply Chain team, reporting into the Lead - Ocean Procurement Category Manager . In this role, you will work and collaborate with various functions, including Inbound/Outbound Logistics, Finance, IT, and Legal . You will be actively collaborating with team members across both regional and global teams , as well as our global air carriers and freight forwarding partners.

Your Match

How well this role fits your profile.

Company Intel

What employees say

Worked at onrunning? Share your experience