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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Uplift Coordinator

💰 $40,000 - $65,000

LogisticsOperationsAir CargoSupply Chain

🎯 Role Definition

The Uplift Coordinator is responsible for the end-to-end coordination of cargo uplift activities, including manifest preparation, load planning, carrier and ground handler liaison, compliance with air cargo regulations (IATA & DGR), exception management, and real-time tracking to ensure cargo is uplifted safely, on time and in full. This role acts as the operational hub between sales, operations, ground handling agents, customs, and carriers to deliver an exceptional logistics experience while meeting performance and safety targets.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Logistics Assistant or Warehouse Coordinator with exposure to air cargo processes
  • Ground Handling Agent or Ramp Operations Technician
  • Customer Service Representative in Freight Forwarding or Airlines

Advancement To:

  • Senior Uplift Coordinator / Lead Coordinator
  • Uplift Operations Supervisor or Shift Manager
  • Uplift Manager / Cargo Operations Manager
  • Regional Operations Manager or Head of Cargo Operations

Lateral Moves:

  • Load Planner / Load Control Specialist
  • Customer Solutions Manager (Freight Sales/Account Management)
  • Flight Operations or Ground Operations Coordinator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Coordinate daily uplift schedules by consolidating flight schedules, carrier cut-offs and warehouse availability, ensuring accurate slotting and sequencing to achieve on-time uplift performance and minimize dwell time.
  • Prepare, verify and distribute complete uplift documentation including manifests, house and master airway bills (HAWB/MAWB), customs declarations, and special handling instructions to carriers and ground handling agents.
  • Liaise directly with carriers, ground handlers and freight forwarders to confirm acceptances, arrange equipment requirements, and communicate real-time changes to loading plans to prevent mis-shipments or delays.
  • Execute and validate load plans and weight/balance documentation in accordance with airline load control requirements and company safety policies to ensure aircraft and cargo safety compliance.
  • Review and validate dangerous goods and special cargo paperwork (DGR, temperature-controlled shipments, live animals, valuables) to confirm correct classification, packaging, labeling and accompanying documentation prior to uplift.
  • Track inbound and outbound shipments using WMS/TMS/ERP systems, update status changes in real time, and proactively notify stakeholders of potential uplift risks or deviations from schedule.
  • Investigate and resolve uplift exceptions such as misrouted cargo, overweight shipments, incomplete documentation, or failed QA checks by coordinating corrective actions with handlers, carriers and customers.
  • Reconcile physical cargo counts against system manifests and airwaybills, report shortages/overages, and manage root-cause follow-up to reduce recurrence and financial leakage.
  • Maintain accurate records of uplift activity and prepare daily, weekly and monthly operational reports and KPI dashboards (on-time uplift, dwell time, discrepancies, capacity utilization) for operations management and commercial teams.
  • Manage uplift-related customer communications, escalations and ad-hoc requests, providing timely status updates, proactive problem resolution and clear documentation for audit trails.
  • Coordinate customs clearance touchpoints for export uplift, ensuring required export documentation, permits and customs paperwork are complete to avoid uplift holds or fines.
  • Enforce and audit compliance to company SOPs, IATA regulations and local airport authority requirements; initiate corrective action plans and support internal/external audit processes.
  • Optimize uplift workflows by identifying bottlenecks, submitting and implementing process improvement initiatives (5S, Lean, Kaizen), and collaborating with IT to enhance system automations and integrations.
  • Schedule and coordinate workforce resources for uplift windows, including ramp staff and dock allocation, to align with peak windows and special flight operations while controlling labor costs.
  • Validate and support billing and invoicing activities related to uplift services by providing accurate uplift time stamps, weight/volume verifications and service confirmation notes to finance teams.
  • Coordinate contingency plans for irregular operations (IRROPS) such as cancellations, diversions or airport closures by reallocating cargo, rebooking flights and communicating re-routing options to customers.
  • Conduct pre-uplift quality checks for temperature-controlled and time-critical shipments to ensure integrity of cold-chain packaging, temperature logs and handling procedures prior to release.
  • Maintain and update uplift-related SOPs, job aids and quick reference guides, and deliver refresher training to operations and handling teams to ensure procedural consistency across shifts and sites.
  • Support safety incident reporting and investigation processes for uplift-related events, documenting findings, corrective actions and preventive measures to enhance operational safety culture.
  • Monitor and control uplift capacity and space utilization trends, feeding insights to commercial teams for demand planning and capacity buy/sell decisions to optimize revenue and reduce rejections.
  • Coordinate cross-border uplift handovers with international handling partners and forwarders, ensuring seamless documentation exchange and aligning on timelines to avoid transshipment delays.
  • Act as the primary uplift point-of-contact during shift handovers, ensuring complete status briefings, open actions and pending exceptions are communicated to the incoming coordinator.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to help operations and commercial teams understand trends and uplift performance drivers.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by identifying uplift process automation opportunities and requirements for improved system reporting.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for enhancements to WMS/TMS/ERP systems and reporting tools.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team to prioritize uplift-focused features and fixes.
  • Provide backup support for related operational roles (receiving/dispatch) during peak periods or staffing shortages to maintain continuity of uplift operations.
  • Assist in supplier performance reviews for ground handlers and carriers by providing uplift KPIs and incident data to procurement and contract managers.
  • Participate in cross-functional projects such as airport transition planning, new route introductions or equipment changes to ensure uplift readiness at go-live.
  • Facilitate periodic uplift tabletop exercises and escalation drills with stakeholders to strengthen emergency response and uplift recovery processes.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Knowledge of air cargo operations, uplift workflows, and end-to-end shipment lifecycle (booking → acceptance → uplift → handover).
  • IATA regulations and Dangerous Goods Regulations (DGR) compliance and practical experience validating hazardous cargo paperwork.
  • Proficiency with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and common ERP platforms (e.g., SAP, Oracle, CargoWise).
  • Experience creating and maintaining load plans, manifests and weight/balance documentation in line with airline load control standards.
  • Strong MS Excel skills including VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivot tables, and basic macros for reconciliation and KPI reporting.
  • Shipment tracking and tracing tools proficiency, and experience updating shipment events in real time.
  • Familiarity with customs export/import documentation and working knowledge of export controls, permits, and EDI message flows (e.g., DESADV, IFTMIN).
  • Basic data analysis skills (SQL or scripting exposure preferred) to support ad-hoc uplift performance queries and dashboards.
  • Experience with incident reporting systems and operational safety management processes.
  • Ability to use collaboration and communication platforms (Slack, Teams, email workflows) and ticketing/CRM systems for escalations.
  • Understanding of temperature-controlled logistics and handling requirements for time-sensitive cargo.
  • Knowledge of airport and ground handling agent interfaces, ramp equipment needs and aircraft acceptance windows.

Soft Skills

  • Clear, professional stakeholder communication and customer service orientation when managing status updates and escalations.
  • Strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills to triage uplift exceptions and implement practical corrective actions.
  • Attention to detail and accuracy, particularly when validating documentation, counts and weight/volume data.
  • Ability to prioritize multiple time-sensitive tasks in a fast-paced operations environment and maintain composure under pressure.
  • Collaborative team player who can coordinate across commercial, operations, IT and external partners.
  • Proactive mindset with continuous improvement focus and the capacity to drive small, measurable changes that improve uplift metrics.
  • Time management and shift-handover discipline to ensure continuity and handoff integrity.
  • Decisiveness and accountability when authorizing operational adjustments within defined authority limits.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or equivalent; relevant vocational certification in logistics or operations.

Preferred Education:

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

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Supply Chain / Logistics
  • Aviation / Air Transport Management
  • Business Administration
  • Operations Management
  • International Trade / Customs

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–5 years in logistics, air cargo operations or freight forwarding roles with direct exposure to uplift/load planning processes.

Preferred:

  • 3+ years of hands-on experience coordinating cargo uplift, load control or ramp operations for airlines, ground handling companies or freight forwarders.
  • Demonstrated experience working with WMS/TMS/ERP systems, manifesting, DG paperwork and KPI reporting for uplift operations.
  • Prior exposure to airport operations, carrier relationships and customs clearance processes preferred.
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