Steven Richardson

Leading the vertical development in Hi Tech across the supply chain encompassing international freight forwarding, contract logistics and distribution. Building a strategic model to support our customers and new business development in a ever changing and innovative marketplace.

This Senior Management role is primarily responsible for the growth and commercial development of new business and strategic outcomes for Kuehne + Nagel. My goals are clear, support and mentor a leading, innovative team of business development professionals to achieve both their own personal targets and those of the business.

By combining years of collective personal experience with K+N's 125 years of service and innovation to support the development of new and existing customers with tangible end-to-end solutions by combining state of the art technology, sound freight management and logistics capabilities, my goal will be to impart this knowledge and experience to Australian companies and help them achieve their supply chain targets with effective cost management and efficiency throughout their business.

The key objectives to this role included the development and implementation of business within the Australian portfolio and the creation of new to market processes. By focusing mainly on retail based off-shore 3PL operations and cross-dock/direct-to-store solutions through the engagement of overseas suppliers and local stakeholders. This was achieved by building a framework of sales and marketing initiatives with and an out-of-the-box approach to solution driven results across key Asian and North American markets.

This directorship position encompassed several areas of responsibility, from P&L ownership, commercial negotiations, responsibility for the management of our leasing and wholesale container fleet, customers and the entire office operation, through to contract oversight and all aspects of P&L management with a small team of personnel. This role was inclusive to the management of outsourced 3rd party depots across all Australian states and New Zealand and required relationship management forming the key attribute needed to position the company at the forefront of the container leasing & wholesale industry. Forging strong professional relationships with product management, VP’s and other senior stakeholders across the globe become a key to achieving the robust results for the region. Being able to respond to the global business strategies in the context of the Australian and New Zealand market required creative thinking and a customer focused approach in both the delivery of the results and implementation.

Key responsibilities included overall ownership of the NSW Sales Team and the development of the China-South Pacific trade lane strategy. By establishing a strong Business Development focus through our regional sales teams in Hong Kong and mainland China we were able to grow our China business and strengthen the business model for the Australian operation. This senior management role included all aspects of managing a large sales team, plus an account management structure and internal sales/coordinators to assist in the successful development and analysis of both locally driven and global tenders, high level expressions of interest and the over all commercial development growth of the NSW & Regional branch. During this time we also successfully re-engineered the CFS/Airfreight operation to incorporate a multi-user warehouse, pick'n'pack facility to support a growing customer base and new stream of business opportunities.

Starting out in the Sales Executive position enabled me to build on my UPS Express knowledge into hard freight (Air & Ocean) and into the area of 3PL logistics of which BAX Global was a major player in Australia & NZ holding a number of marque accounts like DELL, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung & LG etc. Able to quickly build my portfolio signing accounts like Downer EDI Rail, DIVA Accessories to name but a few, I was then given the responsibility to build on the US Trade Lane which meant spending time in the US on a monthly rotation travelling throughout the country building the volume (in particular the inbound Airfreight product) into the South Pacific. Key Responsibilities ~ New business development with a focus on USA-SOPAC opportunities ~ Operational support and monitoring of KPI’s on the trade lane volumes ~ Position services and value add solutions to a wide range of customer and business types ~ Sell across all product lines – Ocean Freight, Airfreight, Wharf and Domestic Transport, Warehousing & 3PL operations