Lead Specialist Freight Payment

Job description

ROLE SUMMARY Responsible for end-to-end execution and governance of freight claims operations, including damage, shortage, pilferage, seal discrepancies, liability determination, carrier/vendor follow-up, and recovery activities. The role coordinates with Field Operations, Accounts Payable, carriers, decon/consol partners, vendors, and US stakeholders to ensure claims are investigated, documented, communicated, and progressed to resolution in a timely manner. Acts as a key control point for claim accuracy, supporting documentation, C3 incident traceability, liability decisions, recovery/chargeback actions, and aging follow-up. Drives disciplined case management, escalation, reporting, and continuous improvement across the freight claims process. PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Freight Claim Intake & Case Management: Own and coordinate freight claim cases arising from damage, shortage, pilferage, missing seals/seal discrepancies, and received-versus-invoiced quantity discrepancies. Ensure cases are categorized, documented, and moved through the defined workflow. 2. Investigation & Documentation: Review available shipment, receiving, invoice, incident, and supporting documentation; coordinate investigation activities and ensure required C3 incidents and claim records are created and maintained for traceability. 3. External Notification & Disposition: Coordinate timely external damage notification and ensure collect carriers and relevant decon/consol partners are notified within the required process window for disposition and next steps. 4. Liability Determination: Support evaluation and routing of claims based on collect vendor, prepaid vendor, carrier, decon/consol, collect vendor, or import vendor liability. Validate that the claim path and responsible party are supported by available evidence. 5. Recovery & Chargeback Execution: Drive claims toward recovery when liability is accepted, including tracking vendor checks or applicable automatic chargebacks. Where vendor liability applies, coordinate generation and follow-through of chargebacks in line with the process. 6. Carrier / Partner Follow-up: Research carrier responses and proactively follow up with carriers, decon/consol partners, and other responsible parties on pending or denied claims. Maintain clear status, next action, and aging visibility until resolution or formal closure. 7. Issue Resolution & Escalation: Identify disputed liability, repeated denials, stalled claims, documentation gaps, and other barriers to recovery. Escalate unresolved/high-risk items with a clear summary of evidence, prior follow-ups, financial exposure, and recommended next action. 8. Process Governance & Controls: Maintain consistent claim handling, documentation, approvals, and audit trail. Ensure claim decisions and recovery outcomes are traceable and aligned with defined policies and controls. 9. Performance Management & Reporting: Monitor claim volumes, aging, recovery status, denial trends, pending follow-ups, and unresolved exposure. Provide regular operational updates and actionable insights to stakeholders. 10. Continuous Improvement: Identify process gaps that lead to delayed or missed recoveries, including follow-up gaps on carrier refusals. Drive standard work, clearer escalation paths, root-cause actions, and opportunities for automation or workflow improvement. 11. Stakeholder Management: Partner with Field Operations, Accounts Payable, Finance, vendors, carriers, decon/consol partners, and US-based stakeholders to resolve discrepancies and improve claim outcomes. REPORTING / WORKING RELATIONSHIPS Reports to Manager - Finance / Freight Claims Operations (final reporting line to be confirmed by the business). Works closely with Field Operations, Accounts Payable, Finance, freight carriers, vendors, decon/consol partners, and US-based stakeholders involved in freight claim investigation, liability, recovery, and resolution. JOB REQUIREMENTS Minimum Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Commerce, Finance, Supply Chain, Logistics, or equivalent. 3-5 years of relevant experience in financial operations, freight claims, transportation/logistics operations, Accounts Payable, or a related operational finance environment. Core Competencies Strong understanding of claim investigation, discrepancy resolution, liability assessment, and recovery workflows. High attention to detail and accuracy in financial and operational case handling. Strong analytical, research, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to evaluate supporting evidence and disputed claims. Ability to manage multiple claims, priorities, aging items, and follow-ups within defined timelines. Effective written and verbal communication with internal stakeholders, vendors, carriers, and external partners. Strong ownership mindset with disciplined follow-through on unresolved or denied claims. Working knowledge of ERP/financial systems and MS Excel; familiarity with incident/case-management tools is beneficial. Focus on controls, documentation, audit readiness, continuous improvement, and recovery outcomes. KEY OUTCOMES Timely progression and resolution of freight claims from identification through recovery or documented closure. Improved recovery of valid carrier/vendor liabilities through structured follow-up and escalation. Accurate, complete, and audit-ready claim documentation and status tracking. Reduced aging and unresolved claim exposure through proactive case ownership. Actionable reporting on claim trends, denials, root causes, and process improvement opportunities.