Job Opportunities at Pacific International Line(PIL)

• We’re seeking a National Customer Service and Documentation Manager to build, lead and embed a centralised function that delivers consistent, high quality service across all branches. This role owns end‑to‑end customer service performance while driving standardisation, capability uplift, and continuous improvement. It also leads the national documentation function, ensuring governance, compliance, and effective risk and exception management.

Key Responsibilities:

National Customer Service:

Transformation & Centralisation

• Establish and embed a centralised national Customer Service model based in the PIL Durban head office, transitioning from branch-based practices to a standardised, national operating model.
• Establish and lead a specialised reefer customer service vertical with national coverage of the perishable and deep-frozen reefer markets, ensuring compliance and risk management.
• Ensure gradual reefer Customer Service knowledge transfer to enable customer service provision (complementing Cape Town when needed) to the reefer vertical from the national Customer Service centre in Durban too.
• Introduce industry best practice in customer service processes, governance, escalation and communication.
• Lead customer sensitisation and change management to ensure a smooth transition with no service disruption.

Operations & Performance Ownership

• Lead, coach and manage the national CS team, including redeployed staff, with full accountability for service quality, responsiveness and data accuracy.
• Own the team structure, capacity planning, performance management and skills development.
• Act as the senior escalation point for key customers and complex service issues.
• Ensure all bookings are processed accurately and on time, aligned with internal processes, commercial priorities, equipment availability and network constraints.
• Own the customer service data quality and system discipline, ensuring accuracy across bookings, documentation and downstream processes.
• Drive proactive customer communication, defining clear standards for updates, exceptions and escalations.
• Resolve recurring service issues through root-cause analysis and measurable corrective actions. Drive adoption of digital customer service tools and ensure CRM discipline.
• Monitor and report on Customer Service KPI’s, trends and risks, recommending improvements as the business evolves.

National Documentation: 

Leadership, Governance & Oversight

• Lead and supervise the in-country documentation function, ensuring strong performance, service continuity, and compliance with company standards.
• Own and maintain documentation controls, policies, and escalation processes.
• Provide day-to-day oversight of any outsourced documentation functions, ensuring service quality, turnaround times, accuracy, and adherence to SOPs.

Exception Handling & Operational Support

• Manage complex or non-standard documentation cases, such as:
• Customs stops / detentions
• Long-stay cargo
• Legal or regulatory document holds
• Shipment disputes or corrections
• Release issues or fraud-risk cases
• Destruction of abandoned cargoes
• Act as the in-country escalation point for documentation queries from internal and external stakeholders.

Stakeholder & Customer Engagement

• Work closely with other internal departments and external authorities to resolve documentation issues quickly and effectively.
• Support key customer relationships where documentation handling impacts service delivery.

Compliance, Risk & Quality Control

• Ensure strict compliance with statutory regulations, customs and port authority requirements, internal policies and global trade documentation standards across all applicable activities.
• Support audit readiness and provide documentation for inspections or regulatory queries.
• Identify documentation-related risks and implement preventative controls.

Performance & Process Improvement

• Monitor performance metrics (quality, timeliness, exceptions, rework rates, etc.) for both local teams and any outsourced providers.
• Identify recurring issues and drive continuous improvement, standardisation, and simplification of documentation processes.
• Support digitisation and automation initiatives where applicable.

Cold chain & regulatory compliance

• Ensure PPECB requirements and reefer settings (set-points, ventilation, CA/cold treatment, inspections) are correctly captured and documented; maintain audit-ready records.

Risk reduction & quality assurance

• Prevent any avoidable errors in documentation that leads to rollovers, storage, demurrage, or cargo quality claims; lead root-cause fixes.

Stakeholder alignment

• Coordinate with Ops, CS, Sales, depots, terminals, PPECB, and customers to ensure documentation meets cut-offs and vessel windows.

Key Relationships

• Work closely with Operations, Sales, Logistics and Documentation to deliver seamless customer outcomes.
• Build strong relationships with key customers to support retention, loyalty and long-term partnerships.
• People Leadership
• Lead, coach, and develop the local documentation team to build strong capability, motivation, and service discipline.
• Support knowledge transfer and training between local staff and the offshore back-office.
   

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• We’re seeking a a proactive Internal Sales Executive to manage inbound and outbound sales, develop qualified leads, prepare quotations, and support customer retention and portfolio growth. You’ll collaborate closely with external sales, pricing, and trade teams to drive a strong pipeline, accurate rate submissions, and a balanced customer mix aligned with our commercial strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

Sales Support, Lead Development & Prospecting

• Manage a defined sales portfolio covering both import and export customers to ensure balanced growth across trades.
• Own the sales process from initial customer engagement through quotation and RFA submission under agreed commercial guidelines.
• Respond to and qualify inbound enquiries while maintaining a structured outbound telesales and prospecting plan to support new business generation and portfolio diversification.
• Promote and sell PIL’s core ocean products together with value-added services including intermodal transport solutions, cross-border TBL and container protection offerings.
• Ensure all sales activity, opportunities, quotations and customer engagement are accurately captured within the CRM system to support pipeline visibility, forecasting accuracy and performance monitoring.

Booking, Allocation & Space Management Support

• Support customers with the placement of bookings in line with available capacity.
• Monitor booking performance against agreed allocations and proactively highlight shortfalls, upside opportunities or risks for follow-up with relevant stakeholders.
• Take responsibility for daily monitoring of booked tonnage on all services to maximise space utilisation. Where capacity constraints occur, coordinate additional space requests with other branches. Where available space exceeds bookings, escalate to the National Sales Manager and ensure the capacity is promoted nationally across all three branches.
• Assist with coordination of approvals for special cargo including hazardous and out-of-gauge when required through the appropriate internal channels.
• Support internal reporting on space utilisation, allocation performance and booking trends to assist commercial decision-making.

Pipeline Management & CRM Discipline

• Ensure disciplined CRM usage and high standards of data quality to support business intelligence and decision-making.
• Maintain regular structured engagement with assigned portfolio accounts to support loyalty and business continuity.
• Actively develop new accounts to increase the number of active customers managed within the portfolio.
• Manage allocated sales leads within agreed timelines, tracking conversion activity and outcome status through CRM.

Commercial Coordination & Market Intelligence

• Engage with Trade and Pricing teams on rate requests, approvals and commercial opportunities to support competitive and profitable quotations.
• Share timely market intelligence including rate trends, demand developments and competitor activity to support informed decision-making.
• Contribute towards the delivery of branch and national commercial performance targets through revenue, volume and portfolio growth.

Operational & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the Customer Service department to ensure that customer feedback, concerns and requirements are actioned promptly and effectively, and that insights are shared both ways to continuously improve service delivery.
• Collaborate proactively with the Equipment department to ensure availability of containers to support confirmed and forecasted bookings, and to identify and resolve any potential equipment supply risks in advance.
• Maintain effective working relationships with internal departments to ensure that customer commitments are fully understood and supported operationally.

Governance, Data & Compliance

• Ensure all customer onboarding documentation is obtained and processed in accordance with company requirements and approval procedures.
• Maintain accurate and current customer records across all applicable systems and platforms.
• Ensure high standards of data integrity, compliance and confidentiality are maintained at all times.

Core Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Relevant experience in shipping, liner agency, or logistics is preferred.
• Proven capability in inside sales, telesales or sales support roles.
• Strong commercial awareness and relationship-building capability.
• High level of proficiency in CRM platforms and Microsoft Office tools.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong attention to detail and process discipline.

Personal Attributes

• Customer-focused and commercially driven with a strong sense of ownership.
• Disciplined, organised and able to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Collaborative team player with strong interpersonal and influencing skills.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret data and support decision-making.
• High levels of integrity, professionalism and accountability.
   

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• We’re seeking a driven Sales Manager to lead and grow our Durban-based sales team. This role focuses on delivering profitable growth, strengthening customer relationships, and expanding market share across PIL South Africa’s trade lanes and logistics offerings, while providing clear leadership, coaching, and direction aligned to the national commercial strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

Sales Leadership, Strategy & Growth

• Develop and execute the Durban branch sales plan in alignment with national commercial strategy.
• Drive delivery of volume, revenue, and product-mix targets across all trade lanes and value-added services including intermodal.
• Identify, prioritise, and convert new business opportunities into profitable accounts.
• Ensure consistent, disciplined pipeline management, account planning, and opportunity tracking.
• Lead major customer negotiations and support sales executives in structuring commercial proposals.
• Monitor competitor activity, market conditions, and pricing dynamics and share actionable intelligence with national leadership.
• Promote PIL’s full product suite including ocean, intermodal, cross-border TBL, and value-added services.

Customer & Key Account Management

• Maintain oversight of key customer relationships within the branch portfolio.
• Support customer-centric engagement through professional interaction and after-sales service.
• Ensure retention of existing business through structured relationship management, service recovery, and periodic performance reviews.
• Oversee preparation and submission of quotations, approvals, forecasts, and marketing reports.

Booking, Allocation & Space Management Support

• Own the national coordination of daily booked tonnage for all services managed through Durban, ensuring space utilisation is maximised. Take the lead in arranging additional space through other branches where required and escalate any space surpluses or booking gaps to the National Sales Manager for national promotion and allocation across the three branches.
• Lead on internal reporting on space utilisation, allocation performance and booking trends to assist commercial decision-making. 

Team Leadership & People Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the Durban sales team to high-performance standards.
• Set clear objectives, KPIs, and expectations aligned with national goals.
• Conduct regular performance reviews, identify skills gaps, and drive training and development initiatives.
• Foster collaboration with national sales, operations, documentation, finance, and logistics teams to ensure seamless customer delivery.
• Embed a culture of CRM discipline and data-driven decision-making across the branch sales team.
• Promote a culture of accountability, professionalism, and strong ethical compliance.

Marketing & Commercial Execution

• Prepare and present marketing material, performance reviews, and customer presentations.
• Support regional and national campaigns, events, tenders, and brand-building initiatives.
• Contribute to strategy initiatives aimed at market share and service improvement.

Operational & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Maintain close working relationships with internal departments to ensure service excellence.
• Act as escalation point for branch-level customer concerns impacting performance or delivery.
• Work closely with the Customer Service department to ensure that customer feedback, concerns and requirements are actioned promptly and effectively, and that insights are shared both ways to continuously improve service delivery.
• Collaborate proactively with the Equipment department to ensure availability of containers to support confirmed and forecasted bookings, and to identify and resolve any potential equipment supply risks in advance.

Administration & Performance Control

• Track branch sales performance against targets and contribute to national reporting.
• Ensure timely submission of weekly call plans, sales reporting and customer engagement updates.
• Maintain structured filing and documentation for customer activities, quotations and contracts.
• Ensure adherence to PIL policies, code of conduct, and regulatory requirements.
• Ensure CRM data quality standards are maintained at all times and include CRM compliance in performance management reviews.

Core Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Matric with 10+ years’ senior commercial experience in shipping or logistics.
• Proven success in sales leadership, people management, and business development.
• Strong knowledge of South African, African, and Far East trade lanes (preferred).
• Expertise in intermodal logistics, including Durban–Gauteng, cross‑border, and port corridors.
• High commercial acumen with solid understanding of margin, yield, and portfolio management.
• Advanced computer skills, including CRM and Microsoft Office.
• Customer‑centric, decisive leader with strong negotiation, communication, and analytical skills.
• Hands‑on, entrepreneurial style with willingness to travel extensively; relevant tertiary qualification advantageous.