Meet the Flexport Leader: Flexport Europe

I had the opportunity to connect with Jan van Casteren, Head of Flexport Europe who is based out of our European HQ in Amsterdam. We spoke about his journey to Flexport as the first employee in Europe, what he loves about the culture and the vision for Europe, as well as the exciting opportunities to join the team.

Why did you join Flexport??

I got the opportunity to join Flexport very early on - I joined in August 2015 as number 30-something worldwide and as the first person in Europe. I came on board to build Flexport in Europe, and after onboarding in the US, I literally started with a laptop and a credit card from a one-person office in Amsterdam.?

Having the opportunity to build something from scratch is a truly unique experience. I found it often hard, sometimes daunting but the reward of seeing success was always immense - whether landing that key client, hiring top talent, or noticing that the team plays together super well. What has kept me excited since the early days is seeing how the combination of our technology and our people really adds value to our clients' business.

What is the culture like at Flexport?

It is high-energy, with lots of driven, smart, and fun people. I particularly like that it is fairly down-to-earth. People rather make a real impact with their clients, teams, and partners instead of boasting about how great they are. I also like how often new joiners tell me how much everybody is willing to help and support them to ramp as fast as possible. This culture of collaboration and support makes people feel really welcome - much needed in a company that hires more than a thousand new people a year.

How does Flexport drive Diversity and Inclusion?

We want to drive diversity and inclusion throughout the whole “lifecycle” of an employee. During recruitment, we source a diverse set of candidates and ensure our interview panels are not only diverse but are trained to mitigate bias. Once the employee is on board, our Employee Resource Groups (ERG) provide support and mentoring through amazing programming. Freight Femmes, Flexport’s ERG for women, femme, and non-binary aligned folks have run events like a Championing Women’s in Logistics and Technology panel, a Goal Setting workshop, and an energy renewal workshop. I’m really impressed by the grassroots efforts of our ERGs and I’m excited to see more local ERG chapters launch in the next 12 months.?

How do you empower your team?

I believe empowerment starts with being clear on our mission, vision, values, and strategy - basically the “why” and the “what” of the company. We run a company-wide strategy setting?meeting once a year and then fine-tune our strategy and tactics throughout the year. We are transparent with the results because making them accessible for everyone empowers our teams to translate them into their own strategies and tactics for execution. I also feel strongly that empowerment should not equal “you are on your own”. I really enjoy problem-solving together with my teams and providing coaching and apprenticeship along the way - staying true to one of our values: “Diving Deep”.

What’s the vision for Flexport Europe??

Flexport is on a fast path to becoming the company building the platform for global logistics and Europe is one of the key pillars of this journey. Currently, we are present in four countries in Europe (Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, and Denmark), and as we grow we aim to expand our presence and provide the Flexport experience to clients everywhere across Europe. This focus on Europe also means that we will be building teams in a wide variety of functional disciplines. We’re not just growing sales, account management, and operations in Europe but also invest heavily in procurement, customs, finance, etc. Even more exciting is the fact that Amsterdam is one of the Maker's hubs within Flexport globally - which means a substantial part of our technology development will originate from Europe. That creates additional opportunities for people to collaborate on the edge of business and technology.

What are the top 3 skills to be successful in Flexport Europe??

Instead of skills, I think the mindset is more important. For a new joiner to Flexport, I think 3 things matter

• Be a sponge and commit to learning: logistics is a complex industry rife with acronyms and processes that have developed over decades. Even if you come from logistics, the way Flexport approaches the problem is quite different from how the incumbents' function. So absorb all that is coming at you and don’t be frustrated if it doesn’t click the first time. As with everything, it takes time, effort, and practice to become great at what you do.
• Invest in collaboration and feedback loops, within your team and across teams: moving our clients’ goods from a factory in Asia to a warehouse in Europe is a relay race of goods and data. We want the relay race to run as fast, smooth, and flawless as possible. In order to do so, you’ll need to work closely with all the teams upstream and downstream and you contribute to continuously improving our processes.
• Embrace the pace at which our business moves and changes: Our strategy has changed remarkably little over time. The market around us and the tactics we need to deploy to be successful do change at a rapid pace though. Being able to adapt to these changes and enjoy the pace of our business makes working at Flexport much more fun.

What roles are you hiring for in Flexport Europe?

We are scaling Flexport Europe and have exciting opportunities across all our business areas: Client Solutions, Sales, Marketing, Supply, Customs, and Engineering, to name a few. If you’re passionate about solving complex problems and having the room to make an impact, take a look at our open roles here. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me or our Head of Recruitment, Leanne McLoughney if you’re interested in learning more.