Head of Brokerage Operations - Charlotte - Serve Freight

Description

Title: Head of Brokerage Operations

Location: On-site or Hybrid (Charlotte, NC)

Reports to: CEO

Type: Full-Time, Salaried

Compensation: $105,000 - $130,000 base + performance bonus

This is an immediate hire. We are actively interviewing and will move quickly for the right candidate.

About Serve Freight

Serve Freight is a growing freight brokerage 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. We need someone who can help operate the machine, own its performance, and ensure every team member knows exactly how to run their part of it.

The Role

As the Head of Brokerage Operations, you will play a central role in scaling Serve Freight's operational infrastructure and execution quality. You will work directly alongside the CEO and leadership team to build, document, and run the systems that power every function in the company.

Your primary job is building the internal engine that makes everything work seamlessly: SOPs, process flow maps, training programs, operational playbooks, KPI ownership, and accountability systems across sales, carrier sales, and operations support teams.

This role is for an operator who doesn't just build the engine but can squeeze every ounce of horsepower out of it for consistent results. You are comfortable recording a Loom walkthrough for track and trace, designing a process flow map in Miro, pulling a report on speed-to-quote, and coaching a team member on performance standards all in the same afternoon.

Role and Responsibilities

• Own and continuously improve the end-to-end operational workflow, from quoting through delivery, identifying bottlenecks, eliminating inefficiencies, and driving measurable outcomes across the brokerage.
• Design, document, and implement SOPs, process flow maps, and operational playbooks that create consistency, reduce errors, and enable the team to scale without sacrificing quality.
• Build and maintain training and development materials for all sales and operations staff, ensuring every team member has clear guidance, knows the standard, and can execute independently.
• Interface with and provide hands-on operational leadership to the sales, carrier sales and operations support team, setting expectations, running quality control, and driving continuous improvement.
• Own internal KPIs and outcomes, proactively surfacing issues and executing fixes before they become customer and/or carrier facing problems.
• Leverage and optimize tools and systems, to include but not limited to Turvo, Hubspot, Miro, Notion, Loom and Highway, to improve process efficiency, data accuracy, and team workflows.
• Collaborate directly with the CEO and leadership team on strategic planning and the operational foundation for Serve Freight's next phase of growth.
• Support the buildout of a scalable freight brokerage, including contributing to hiring decisions, onboarding frameworks, and performance standards as the company grows.

What You Will Do

First 30 Days

• Shadow every role (AM, AE, carrier sales, track/trace, admin). Document strengths, gaps, and bottlenecks for each function.
• Identify the top 10 processes needing SOPs first, ranked by both revenue impact and employee experience impact.
• Monitor baseline operational KPIs such as time-to-quote, quote-to-book, on-time-delivery and gross margin.
• Begin building relationships with the sales, 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 improvement opportunities.
• Begin building interview rubrics, scoring criteria, and onboarding frameworks for upcoming hires.
• Pull initial snapshots of operational performance: volume by account, margin by lane, team productivity, and carrier performance to support leadership decision-making.

Days 31-90

• Build and publish the first ~10 SOPs with Loom walkthroughs. Begin building the training library for all sales, carrier sales, and operations support staff.
• Complete an end-to-end company-wide process flow map focusing on speed to cash. Identify every handoff, bottleneck, and failure point.
• Run the first monthly performance reviews using real data and the KPI framework.
• Design and document a structured onboarding program for all future operations and carrier sales hires.
• Define minimum activity requirements, performance tiers, and escalation protocols for the operations team and carrier sales.
• Build a live performance dashboard so the team and leadership have real-time visibility into operational KPIs.
• Deliver a clean operations report for leadership: volume trends, margin by customer, team productivity metrics, and bottleneck status. Reporting and operational analysis owned by you.
• Audit the current Turvo TMS setup: identify configuration gaps, unused features, and integration opportunities that support the SOP and automation rollout.
• Transition into direct operational leadership of the overseas team, with clear expectations, regular check-ins, and quality control cadence in place.

Days 91-180

• All core SOPs complete (~20+). Loom library and training materials built. Process flow maps finalized and published.
• Deploy 2-3 automations that eliminate manual work and reduce error rates.
• Launch incentive programs tied to operational KPIs.
• CEO removed from weekly operational meetings. Cadence runs independently under your leadership.
• Operations reporting runs on a recurring cadence. Leadership has a standing data package for strategic planning.
• Begin scoping operational playbooks for future division expansions.
• Training and development materials are complete, maintained, and actively used by all operations and carrier sales staff.
• Operations support teams operating under your direct leadership with documented workflows, performance standards, and escalation protocols.

What You Bring

Required

• 3-7 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 documentation skills. You have built SOPs, training programs, process flow maps, or operational playbooks before, not just followed them.
• 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 surface what matters.
• Experience with TMS platforms (Turvo preferred) and CRM tools (HubSpot preferred).
• Proficiency with DAT, Highway, and standard freight coverage and compliance tools.
• Proficiency with Notion, Loom, Miro, 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 you help build.
• Experience building or leading training and onboarding programs.

Preferred

• Experience building 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/overweight freight, or specialized/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 teams.