Kuehne+Nagel Success Story
Who are Kuehne+Nagel?
With over 80,000 employees at almost 1,300 locations in over 100 countries, the Kuehne+Nagel Group is one of the world's leading logistics companies. Its strong market position lies in sea logistics, air logistics, road logistics and contract logistics, with a clear focus on integrated logistics solutions.
As proud holders of the prestigious Armed Forces Gold Covenant, Kuehne+Nagel welcome the opportunity to work with our key partners the British Forces Resettlement Services to offer employment opportunities to those service leavers transitioning to civilian life and those veterans who have already made the transition. Kuehne+Nagel have enjoyed a successful partnership with the BFRS for over 5 years in which we have engaged in many ways to deliver numerous offerings to service leavers from national events to industry specific.
There are many ways in which you can get in touch with our service leavers, all of whom have made the transition to civilian life. One quick and easy way is to visit the Kuehne+Nagel stand at the Employment Fairs around the country run via the BFRS or alternatively at one of our open days or webinars.
Here in the UK, we recruit a variety of roles with lots on offer and plenty of career development. Our job openings can be found at jobs.kuehne-nagel.com or our BFRS virtual stand.
Q: How long did you serve (what force), and when did you join Kuehne+Nagel?
A: I served in the Royal Navy for over 30 years and for the last eight years was a Commander Logistics Officer. I joined Kuehne+Nagel in March 2021.
Q: What is your role within Kuehne+Nagel?
A: I am a Commercial Bid Manager (Government).
Q: Tell me about your military career?
A: I enjoyed a fantastic career in the Royal Navy as an operational Logistics Officer in frigates, aircraft carriers, amphibious troop ships and Battle Staffs throughout the world, as well as a number of senior strategy, procurement and training appointments in Fleet, DE&S and MOD Headquarters.
Q: What current qualifications do you have?
A: Whilst serving in the Royal Navy I attended Cranfield University and obtained a PGDip in Defence Acquisition.
Q: What knowledge did you have of Kuehne+Nagel prior to joining?
A: To be honest, I had a very limited understanding of Kuehne+Nagel before joining the company. It wasn’t until after I joined that I appreciated the global reach of the company and the multitude of sea logistics, air logistics, contract logistics and end-to-end integrated logistics solutions provided to major industries worldwide, such as: government and defence, automotive, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, consumer, hi-tech and industrial sectors.
Q: What is it like working for Kuehne+Nagel?
A: Kuehne+Nagel is the largest freight forwarder in the world and has a huge footprint of offices globally. However, it is very focussed on its employees’ wellbeing and is an industry champion for sustainability and environmental issues; it puts these issues front and centre of all that it does. Kuehne+Nagel values what I do and my experiences, and as a result is the best company to work for! Both professionally and personally I have grown as an individual and as a member of Kuehne+Nagel, whilst the company provides exceptional professional developmental training opportunities and support.
Q: How do you make a difference?
A: My primary role is to create tender value propositions in order to win new and retain existing, mainly, government business, and in that respect it is possible to quantify the difference that I make. However, I add value in other aspects of the business, for example, by: mentoring junior members of staff, creating processes and case studies, and contributing to issues such as Modern Slavery, Sustainability and Continuous Improvements.
Q: What advice would you give to those currently leaving or who have left the armed forces?
A: My best professional decision was to join the Royal Navy, and my second best was to leave it! I would strongly encourage Service Leavers to embrace life as a civilian as it will be just as fulfilling as your time in the Armed Forces. My top tips would be: grown your non-military network, be an active member of LinkedIn, spend loads of time on your CV and LinkedIn profile (possibly hundreds of hours), define what roles and industries you are interested in working in and be clear on your worth (what are your salary expectations, what are your pension contributions, other remuneration, etc).
Another inspiring journey from one of our partners! At BFRS we love to see success stories from Service Leavers and the advice they have to share is always invaluable. We hope that this case study has been a great insight into one of many possibilities available to you in your resettlement, and we look forward to seeing more success stories like this in the future.
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