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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Cargo Planning Analyst

💰 $ - $

LogisticsSupply ChainOperationsTransportation

🎯 Role Definition

The Cargo Planning Analyst is responsible for end-to-end cargo capacity and load planning activities that maximize revenue, utilization and on-time performance while ensuring regulatory compliance and operational safety. This role blends advanced data analysis, commercial awareness and operational coordination to create load plans, manage bookings and resolve disruptions across multimodal networks (air, ocean, road). The Cargo Planning Analyst partners with operations, commercial teams, ground handling agents and external carriers to translate demand forecasts into actionable capacity plans, monitor KPIs (OTIF, utilization, yield), and drive process improvements through systems (TMS/CargoWise/SAP), analytics (Excel/SQL/Python) and cross-functional stakeholder management.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Logistics Coordinator / Operations Coordinator
  • Freight or Cargo Customer Service Representative
  • Junior Supply Chain or Network Planner

Advancement To:

  • Senior Cargo Planner / Lead Cargo Planning Analyst
  • Capacity Planning Manager or Network Planning Manager
  • Operations Manager / Head of Cargo Operations

Lateral Moves:

  • Revenue Management / Commercial Planning
  • Network Operations / Flight/Route Planner
  • Customs & Compliance or Trade Services

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop and maintain daily and long-term cargo load plans that optimize space utilization, weight and balance, and revenue yield across air, ocean and intermodal services, ensuring plans meet safety and regulatory requirements.
  • Analyze booking patterns, demand forecasts and historical data to recommend capacity allocations by route, flight/vessel departure and service class, using statistical forecasting and scenario modelling to support commercial decisions.
  • Coordinate inbound and outbound slot and capacity confirmations with carriers, ground handlers, freight forwarders and sales teams to guarantee space commitments, minimize rejections and protect contracted volumes.
  • Create and validate detailed pallet/containerization and load manifests, including stack plans, ULD/container build instructions and wagon/trailer load sequences to maximize cubic utilization and minimize unit costs.
  • Perform weight & balance calculations and prepare mass & balance documentation for air shipments or equivalent load distribution requirements for other modes, liaising closely with loadmasters and ground operations to verify compliance.
  • Manage cut-off, gate-in, and staging schedules; monitor cargo acceptance windows and adjust plans dynamically to accommodate late bookings, cancellations and operational disruptions.
  • Input, maintain and reconcile bookings, allocations and capacity blocks in TMS / CargoWise / SAP or proprietary planning systems; ensure data integrity and auditability for downstream billing and customs processes.
  • Track and report KPI performance (OTIF, load factor/utilization, revenue per ton-km, dwell time, handling cost per TEU/ULD) and generate weekly and monthly reports for commercial and operations leadership.
  • Lead capacity reallocation and rebooking decisions during disruptions (weather, AOG, port congestion), executing contingency plans and communicating alternatives to sales and customers to minimize revenue loss and service impact.
  • Conduct root-cause analysis on recurring planning issues (mis-shipments, space shortfalls, slow-moving lanes) and implement corrective actions, SOP updates and cross-functional process changes to reduce rework and exceptions.
  • Collaborate with commercial and network planning teams to evaluate new routing options, frequency changes or equipment swaps, providing cargoability assessments and cost/revenue impact models.
  • Negotiate and manage space and hub agreements with carriers, terminals and third-party logistics providers to secure capacity, favorable terms and operational priority when required.
  • Ensure all cargo movement adheres to international and domestic regulations (IATA, IMDG, ADR, customs, export controls) and coordinate Dangerous Goods (DG) declarations, segregation and special handling requirements with safety and compliance teams.
  • Prepare and review customs documentation, manifests and export/import paperwork; escalate discrepancies to trade compliance and resolution teams to avoid clearance delays and fines.
  • Design and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs), checklists and planning playbooks for route/capacity changes, unexpected demand spikes and high-volume events (peak season, promotions).
  • Support commercial pricing and revenue management by providing capacity constraints, loadability insights and surcharge/space availability inputs to commercial and pricing teams.
  • Drive automation and analytics initiatives to reduce manual planning effort — build Excel models, SQL queries or Python scripts to accelerate reporting, scenario simulation and decision support.
  • Manage vendor performance for ground handling, warehousing and feeder carriers — monitor SLA compliance, investigate performance gaps and drive corrective action plans.
  • Act as primary planner during daily operations meetings and incident response calls, presenting clear status updates, risk assessments and recommended mitigations to stakeholders.
  • Support network orchestration activities: plan feeder connections, transshipment windows and hub operations to reduce transit time and improve on-time connections.
  • Oversee inventory staging and warehouse release schedules to ensure availability aligns with vessel/flight departures and minimize container dwell and demurrage.
  • Facilitate cross-functional training for operations, sales and customer service on planning tools, constraints and booking rules to improve first-time-right booking accuracy.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Advanced Excel (pivot tables, INDEX/MATCH, Power Query, VBA macros) for complex load planning, scenario modelling and reporting.
  • Proficiency with Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and cargo systems such as CargoWise, CHAMP, IBS, or airline-specific planning platforms.
  • Experience with weight & balance and load planning software/tools used in airline or ocean container planning.
  • SQL for extracting, joining and transforming booking, capacity and transactional data from operational databases.
  • Data analysis and scripting skills (Python or R) to build automation, forecast models and analytics pipelines.
  • Familiarity with BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker) for KPI dashboards and ad-hoc visualization.
  • Knowledge of import/export regulations, customs processes and dangerous goods (IATA/IMDG/ADR) compliance.
  • Understanding of unit load devices (ULDs), containerization, pallet patterns, TEU/LDT concepts and cargo hold/trim constraints.
  • Capacity and revenue optimization techniques, yield management basics and commercial space allocation processes.
  • Experience using ERP systems such as SAP (MM/SD modules) or NetSuite for booking and billing reconciliation.
  • Strong understanding of Incoterms, shipping documentation (bill of lading, AWB), manifest creation and customs declarations.
  • Familiarity with transportation KPIs (OTIF, load factor, dwell time, demurrage) and statistical methods for forecasting and variance analysis.

Soft Skills

  • Analytical mindset with the ability to translate complex datasets into actionable operational decisions.
  • Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy under time pressure.
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills for cross-functional coordination and stakeholder briefings.
  • Proactive problem-solver who can prioritize multiple competing requests and make data-driven trade-offs.
  • Collaborative team player who builds trust with operations, commercial and vendor partners.
  • Adaptability to rapidly changing schedules and last-minute operational disruptions.
  • Project management and execution discipline to drive implementation of process improvements.
  • Negotiation skills when managing carrier/handler agreements and resolving capacity conflicts.
  • Customer-focused orientation to balance revenue objectives with service-level commitments.
  • Conflict resolution and escalation management to lead incident response calls and remediate service failures.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering, Transportation Management, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Supply Chain, Logistics, Business Analytics, or MBA with a focus on operations or transportation.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Supply Chain Management
  • Logistics & Transportation
  • Industrial or Systems Engineering
  • Business Analytics / Data Science
  • International Trade / Maritime Studies

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years of planning, logistics, cargo operations or supply chain analysis in an airline, shipping line, freight forwarder, 3PL or large retail distribution environment.

Preferred: 3–7+ years of progressive experience in cargo planning, capacity allocation or network operations with demonstrable success in load optimization, KPI ownership and stakeholder management. Experience with TMS/CargoWise, advanced Excel and SQL or Python is highly desirable.

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