Freight Forwarder

Polytra, part of the Fracht Group, has been offering customer-oriented logistics services since 1974. From our head office in Berchem (Antwerp) we plan and execute shipments that demand more than standard forwarding — oversized mining equipment, industrial machinery and turnkey project logistics across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. Behind us stands the Fracht Group: family-owned since 1955, with more than 150 offices in over 50 countries and 2,500 colleagues.

Polytra keeps growing, and that growth creates room for people who take ownership. We work with an entrepreneurial spirit, we take our responsibility seriously, and we enjoy the work while we do it. Respect, integrity and empathy are not posters on our wall — they are how we deal with customers, with colleagues and with the people who apply here.

Our Projects Department is looking for a Freight Forwarder who runs shipments from A to Z and sees the commercial opportunity in each one. Every project is different, and you are expected to think beyond standard forwarding. You report to the Projects Department Manager.

Function

OPERATIONS

• You coordinate export, import, cross-trade and multimodal project shipments worldwide.
• You organise FCL, breakbulk, OOG, RoRo and conventional transport.
• You run projects from quotation through execution to final invoicing.
• You keep carriers, terminals, agents and customs brokers moving in step.

COMMERCIAL

• You prepare quotations and logistics solutions that win the shipment.
• You negotiate rates, conditions and service agreements with suppliers.
• You spot opportunities inside existing accounts and hand them on or take them up.
• You support the Key Account Managers in customer and project meetings.

Profile

WHAT YOU BRING

• At least three years in freight forwarding, project logistics or international transport.
• A good grasp of ocean freight, road transport, customs and multimodal chains.
• Dutch and English, spoken and written.
• The habit of taking ownership of a file and communicating clearly about it.

Nice to have, not a must

• Experience with project cargo, OOG, breakbulk or heavy lift.
• CargoWise or a similar forwarding system.

THE TEAM YOU JOIN

You join a team of 4 in Projects, sitting together on the 15th floor. The files are yours, but nobody here solves a stuck vessel alone.

“No two projects look the same. That is exactly why nobody here is bored.”

Offer

THE WORK ITSELF

• International projects across Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas.
• High-value operations you will not find in standard forwarding.

YOUR START

• A buddy for your first weeks — a colleague whose job it is to make sure you land well, not to squeeze you in between their own files.
• A structured onboarding, “Your Start @ Polytra”, so you know in week one who does what and where things are.
• A manager who makes time in the first months, and an HR team you can reach directly.

YOUR GROWTH

• Training through the Fracht Group learning platform, and the room to take on more as you show you can.
• A group of 150+ offices worldwide — colleagues in other countries are a phone call away, and internal moves are normal here.

YOUR PACKAGE

• A salary in line with your experience.
• Meal vouchers, hospitalisation insurance and a group insurance plan, a mobile phone and a laptop, and a net expense allowance.
• A CBA 90 bonus (cao 90) — the collective bonus, taxed advantageously, that pays out when we reach the company targets we set together.
• Hybrid working and flexible hours

Our offices on the 15th floor of “Building Verzicht” look out over the city, are a short walk from Berchem station and have on-site parking.

HOW WE HIRE

• Within 5 working days you hear from Jonathan Leeters, our in-house recruiter — by phone or e-mail.
• A first conversation with Jonathan: your story, our story, and the practical questions. Salary is on the table in this conversation, not at the end.
• A conversation with the Projects Department Manager and a colleague from the team, about the work itself.
• An offer, or an honest no with the reason why.

Every application gets an answer from a person, also when the answer is no.