Operations Manager (Brokerage)
Location: Hybrid or on-site in Cleveland, OH
Type: Full-Time, Salaried
Compensation: $80,000 to $100,000 base plus bonus tied to performance metrics
Growth Path: This role is designed to scale into a Director of Operations seat as Serve Freight grows.
This is an immediate hire. We are actively interviewing and will move quickly for the right candidate.
Why This Role
Most operations roles in freight ask you to figure out the system as you go. This one is different.
The business is coming and the processes are already built. What we are missing is the operator who runs them, drives adoption across the team, and holds the line on execution. This is an accountability seat. Your job is to make sure the standard gets followed on every load, catch it when it does not, and keep the team performing to it.
In your first 90 days you will be able to tangibly feel the difference you are making in the organization. In your first year you will have the team running the playbook consistently, executing to standard, and held to clear expectations. The work is visible, the impact is measurable, and the opportunity for growth is real.
If you are an operator who has been waiting for a seat where you run the engine and hold people accountable to it, this is that seat.
About Serve Freight
Serve Freight is a third-party logistics provider specializing in high-stakes, time-sensitive, and complex shipments. We are building a multi-division logistics platform with a freight brokerage that runs like a machine.
Serve Freight is a founder-driven company with a clear vision and an accelerating growth curve. The company runs on high standards, a bias for pace, and a genuine willingness to invest in the people who help build it. You will work directly with leadership on the operational decisions that shape where the business goes next.
The Role
As the Operations Manager (Brokerage), you will run Serve Freight's day-to-day operational execution and hold the team accountable to the standard. The processes exist. Your job is to make sure they get followed, every load, every time, and to drive the results those processes are built to produce.
You are comfortable recording a Loom walkthrough for track and trace, running a process flow map in Miro, pulling a report on quote response time, and coaching a CSR on performance standards, all in the same afternoon. You do not wait to be told where the problem is. You find where execution is slipping and you fix it.
Role and Responsibilities
- Run and enforce the end-to-end operational workflow, from quoting through delivery, keeping the team on process, catching bottlenecks early, and driving measurable outcomes across the brokerage.
- Enforce the quoting and load lifecycle workflow as the operational standard and hold the line on process adoption.
- Drive full adoption of the SOPs, process flow maps, and operational playbooks already in place. Make sure the team follows them consistently, correct deviations, and close documentation gaps where they exist.
- Run onboarding and ongoing training for all carrier sales and operations support staff, making sure every team member knows the standard and executes to it independently.
- Provide hands-on operational leadership to the carrier sales and operations support teams. Set expectations, coach to them, and hold people accountable.
- Own and report on internal operational KPIs (margin per load, on-time performance, quote response time, invoice accuracy, claims rate, SLA adherence), proactively raising issues and executing fixes before they become customer or carrier-facing problems.
- Drive correct and consistent use of the tools and systems in place, including Turvo, HubSpot, Highway, ID Scan, DAT, Miro, Notion, Loom, and ClickUp, so data stays accurate and workflows stay standard.
- Enforce proper TMS usage. Make sure the team uses the configuration fully and correctly, and surface gaps or integration opportunities as they come up.
- Run the after-hours coverage model, escalation protocols, and exception management for time-critical and high-value freight.
- Keep the performance dashboard current so the team and leadership have real-time visibility into operational KPIs, by role and by team.
- Contribute to strategic planning and the operational foundation for Serve Freight's next phase of growth alongside the CEO and leadership team.
- Support the buildout of a scalable freight brokerage, including input on hiring decisions, onboarding, and performance standards as the company grows.
What You Will Do
First 30 Days
- Shadow every operational role (carrier sales, CSR, AM, track and trace, admin). Learn how the work runs today and document where execution and adoption are slipping.
- Learn the existing processes end to end and identify the top 10 where adoption is weakest, ranked by both revenue impact and employee experience impact.
- Take ownership of the TMS quoting workflow rollout. Monitor compliance daily, hold the line on adoption, and report out to the CEO on progress.
- Begin building relationships with the carrier sales and operations support teams. Understand current workflows, communication rhythms, and quality gaps.
- Be active in the weekly operating cadence, contributing operational insights and surfacing where the team is off standard.
- Get familiar with the hiring and onboarding standards so you can run them for upcoming operational hires.
- Pull initial snapshots of operational performance: volume by account, margin by lane, team productivity, and carrier performance to support leadership decision-making.
Days 31 to 90
- Drive full adoption of the core SOPs and training library across all carrier sales, account management, and operations support staff. Fill documentation gaps where they exist.
- Run the operation against the company-wide speed-to-cash workflow. Tighten every handoff, close failure points, and hold the team to the process.
- Run the first monthly performance reviews using real data and a KPI framework.
- Run the onboarding program for new operations and carrier sales hires and hold them to ramp standards.
- Enforce minimum activity requirements, performance tiers, and escalation protocols for the operations team and carrier sales.
- Keep the live performance dashboard current so the team and leadership have real-time visibility into operational KPIs by role and by team.
- Deliver a clean operations report for leadership: volume trends, margin by customer, team productivity metrics, and bottleneck status. Operational reporting and analysis is owned by you.
- Make sure the TMS configuration is used fully and correctly. Flag unused features, integration opportunities, and adoption gaps.
- Take direct operational leadership of the offshore team, with clear expectations, regular check-ins, and quality control cadence in place.
Days 91 to 180+
- Core processes fully adopted. Team executing to standard consistently, with the Loom library, training materials, and process flow maps in active use.
- Identify and implement 2 to 3 automations that eliminate manual work and reduce error rates.
- Launch incentive programs tied to operational KPIs.
- Operations reporting runs on a recurring cadence. Leadership has a standing data package for strategic planning.
- Extend the operating standard to other service lines as they come online.
- Training and development materials actively used and enforced across all operations and carrier sales staff.
- Operations support teams operating under your direct leadership with clear workflows, performance standards, and escalation protocols enforced.
- Driving down cost-per-load and producing reliable margin-per-load reporting at the load, lane, and customer level.
What You Bring
Required
- 3 to 5 years in the freight brokerage or logistics industry. You have seen inside a brokerage and understand the full workflow from quote to delivery.
- Strong process execution and enforcement skills. You have run operations to a defined standard, driven adoption of SOPs and playbooks, and held a team to them, not just followed the process yourself.
- Comfortable pulling data and building reports. You do not need to be a strategist, but you need to be fluent in operational, carrier, and revenue metrics and able to track and report out on what matters.
- Experience with TMS platforms (Turvo strongly preferred) and CRM tools (HubSpot preferred).
- Proficiency with DAT, Highway, ID Scan, and standard freight coverage and compliance tools.
- Proficiency with Notion, Loom, Miro, ClickUp, Google Workspace, and basic spreadsheet modeling.
- Self-directed. You create your own task list, identify what needs fixing, and go fix it without waiting for direction.
- Comfortable with accountability. You will coach, confront, and hold people across the organization to the standards they are expected to run. This is the core of the job.
- If remote or hybrid, a demonstrated track record of running operational teams without being in the same room. You know how to build cadence, visibility, and accountability across distance.
Preferred
- Experience running operational dashboards or recurring performance reports.
- Background in process automation (Zapier, Make, or TMS-native tools).
- Experience in a high-growth or founder-led environment, wearing multiple hats.
- Exposure to project logistics, over-dimensional or overweight freight, or specialized and high-stakes shipments.
- Familiarity with carrier vetting and sourcing workflows, and compliance documentation (insurance, authority, safety scores).
- Experience managing or providing operational leadership to remote or offshore teams.