Chief Commercial Officer — Cold-Chain Division

The mandate

A cold-chain division is reconsidering where it sells after several international lanes produced strong revenue but weak risk-adjusted contribution. Qualified packaging, scarce capacity, border variability and customer-specific monitoring have made some growth difficult to repeat. The serving CCO will depart through planned succession. The replacement must redirect the portfolio while preserving trust with customers whose supply cannot be interrupted.

Approximately 650 employees and material partners span commercial, operations, quality, pricing, solutions, customer service, finance and partner management from Chicago. The CCO owns commercial strategy, key accounts, sales, solutions, pricing, contracting and revenue quality, reporting to the Group Chief Executive or designated executive-committee sponsor. Quality retains independent authority over qualification and product disposition.

Trade-lane choice will start with a serviceable design. Origin and destination capability, customs, seasonality, packaging, hand-offs, monitoring, contingency and return of reusable assets must be mapped before a revenue target is assigned. The CCO will not ask sales teams to create demand on a lane whose safe operating path depends on recurring heroics.

Demand quality matters. Clinical supplies, biologics, specialty medicines and temperature-sensitive food can have different urgency, value, qualification and claims exposure. Segment priorities will reflect the division's evidence and partner network rather than simply market growth. Entry into a regulated category requires operating and quality sponsorship.

Lane economics will include failure and readiness cost. Positioning packaging, unused reservations, monitoring, premium recovery, customs support, claims and customer-specific reporting should be attributed alongside line-haul and handling. Finance and commercial leaders will agree a risk-adjusted contribution view that cannot be improved by omitting central contingency capacity.

Pricing must represent the promise. Base movement, qualified packaging, active monitoring, intervention, storage, customs and recovery options need clear scope. The CCO will reduce bundled ambiguity that leaves customers expecting immediate rescue without funding the capacity. Surcharges and indexation should be explainable, consistent and contractually sound.

Solution design will operate through gates. Commercial, operations, quality, security, technology and finance must accept the lane, packaging and data design. Deviations will state owner, duration and customer consequence. A senior salesperson cannot substitute confidence for a missing qualification study or untested hand-off.

Customer contracts should allocate responsibility without evasion. Forecast accuracy, product information, pack-out, tender timing, alert contacts, customs documents, disposition and claims each need clear ownership. The CCO will ensure that liability language matches operational control and that service credits do not encourage concealment of a technical event.

Strategic accounts require portfolio conversations. Customers may be willing to consolidate lanes, share forecasts or adopt standard packaging in return for capacity and evidence. The incoming leader will develop joint plans that reduce variability while protecting competitive and product information. Discount alone is not account strategy.

Partner capacity is part of the proposition. Airlines, ground handlers, warehouses, couriers and packaging providers must meet qualified standards and share events on time. Commercial teams will know which partners are approved and which constraints limit sale. Unverified subcontracting to protect a departure is prohibited.

Pipeline governance will separate interest from executable revenue. Opportunities need lane, product, volume, start date, decision process and readiness confidence. Forecast probability cannot obscure a red quality or capacity gate. The CCO will remove speculative value from the committed view while keeping longer-term market intelligence visible.

Claims and lost business will become commercial learning. Excursion, delay and communication evidence should inform pricing, solution design and account selection. The commercial function will join post-event reviews without attempting to negotiate technical conclusions. Customers deserve a factual account before a renewal offer.

The lane portfolio will be rebalanced gradually. Exit or repricing decisions must respect continuity, notice and patient or product consequence. The successor will personally manage the most sensitive conversations and provide alternative routes where feasible. The objective is a stronger network, not a sudden withdrawal disguised as strategic focus.

Commercial capability needs technical confidence. Account and solutions leaders will be trained to recognise qualification, capacity and alert dependencies, then escalate rather than improvise. Succession will be built across major customers so no relationship or lane thesis depends on one executive.

What you will own

• Cold-chain commercial and trade-lane strategy.
• Segment, customer and account portfolio choices.
• Risk-adjusted lane economics and pricing.
• Qualified solution and opportunity gates.
• Customer contracts and responsibility design.
• Partner capacity within the commercial promise.
• Pipeline quality, claims learning and transitions.
• Commercial organisation and succession.

The first 12 months

Within 45 days, secure the incumbent account handover, identify lanes whose commercial promise exceeds qualified capability and correct committed pipeline lacking quality or capacity acceptance. Protect continuity for sensitive customer movements.

By month six, approve lane and segment priorities, introduce risk-adjusted pricing and establish cross-functional solution gates. Complete joint portfolio plans with the ten largest customers and verified capacity plans for priority corridors.

At twelve months, shift 25% of new revenue towards priority lanes, improve risk-adjusted commercial contribution by USD 40 million and reduce unpriced recovery cost by 35%. Forecast accuracy should exceed 85%, every new controlled lane must pass qualification gates and concentration in the most exposed corridor should decline by ten points.

What the sponsor will examine

• Lane ambition supported by qualified operating design.
• Contribution including contingency and failure exposure.
• Pricing clear about monitoring and intervention.
• Pipeline confidence constrained by readiness evidence.
• Customer exits or repricing managed responsibly.
• Commercial leaders recognising technical boundaries.

The person

You bring 22–28 years in commercial leadership across cold-chain logistics, life-sciences supply chains, specialist transport or another controlled service. Your record includes CCO authority, international lane portfolios, pricing, regulated solution design, major-account transitions and partner capacity in North America.

Candidates must show a high-revenue lane they repriced or exited after measuring risk-adjusted contribution, and a customer solution they delayed for incomplete qualification. The permanent appointment is hybrid in Chicago, with regular customer, facility and international partner presence.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is USD 500,000–750,000 plus annual incentive and long-term participation linked to risk-adjusted contribution, qualified growth, forecast integrity, customer continuity and commercial succession. The permanent hybrid Chicago CCO reports to the Group Chief Executive or designated executive-committee sponsor. Planned replacement provides for orderly account and partner handover.

Confidentiality

The division, customers, products, lanes, capacity partners, pricing, qualification and succession details remain confidential. Additional material follows credential assessment, conflict checks and signed confidentiality. Applicants must not contact shippers, healthcare companies, carriers, packaging suppliers or brokers to infer the client.