Market Intelligence Analyst
Forto · Berlin, State of Berlin
ABOUT US
What if your work could drive change in a globally established industry, shaping processes that touch every corner of the world? At Forto, we are at the forefront of change, harnessing the power of AI to revolutionise logistics. We want to reinvent digital supply chains to be transparent, frictionless and sustainable. From day one, our mission has been to simplify global trade – creating a seamless and efficient logistics process.
Position Summary
The Market Intelligence Analyst serves as the central intelligence capability covering four key pillars: macro and trade lane, carrier, competitor, and customer/segment intelligence. Covering ocean, air, and rail freight across major global lanes, this role translates complex market data into actionable commercial insights. Crucially, the analyst is responsible for providing credible, data-backed intelligence that directly influences both short-term pricing actions and long-term pricing strategy. A primary measure of success in this role is the ability to spot commercial signals from external sources ahead of time and coherently alert leadership to impending market shifts before they fully materialize.
Key Responsibilities
Commercial Signaling & Pricing Influence
- Provide credible, quantitative market intelligence to directly influence short-term pricing decisions and shape the long-term pricing outlook.
- Proactively monitor external sources and macroeconomic indicators to spot early commercial signals and leading indicators of structural market shifts.
- Coherently present forward-looking pricing outlooks, flagging external market changes ahead of time to allow commercial teams to adjust strategy proactively.
- Evolve the macro data dashboard into a predictive internal demand signal that the Trade team directly prices against, rather than acting as a retrospective report.
Recurring Deliverables & Market Reporting
- Author and publish fixed-cadence outputs, including a Monthly Export Newsletter for external shippers and internal Sales, and a Weekly Intel Digest.
- Produce the comprehensive Quarterly Market Update (Internal & External Webinar versions), encompassing economic outlooks and sea freight analysis.
- Maintain and refresh the internal MI Data Dashboard monthly, aggregating macro indicators (GDP, PMI, inflation, retail sales) across 9 core geographies.
- Execute weekly manual updates of rate and index pulls to maintain continuous historical data series.
Strategic Analysis & Geopolitical Scenarios
- Maintain live forward-looking frameworks, including trigger forward calendars and comprehensive trigger playbooks.
- Conduct deep-dive market-entry and lane assessments evaluating dimensions like consolidation, agency restarts, and FTA campaigns.
Cross-Functional Enablement & Crisis Management
- Provide continuous operational and enablement support for Marketing, Sales, Operations, Legal, and Finance.
- Manage ad-hoc crisis communications, such as the Middle East crisis page updates, bilingual notice templates, and customer FAQs regarding major disruptions.
Required Skills and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Business, Supply Chain or a related analytical field, or equivalent practical experience.
- 2+ years in market intelligence, market research, or business or commercial analysis, ideally in a B2B environment.
- Strong B2B commercial sense: you understand supplier and customer dynamics and can see how market events affect rates, volumes and customer relationships.
- Experience gathering and checking information from many sources (websites, industry reports, news, financial results) and turning it into clear, accurate insight.
- Confident everyday use of AI tools (e.g. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) to work faster, with the discipline to fact-check and add your own judgement.
- Solid Excel / Google Sheets skills and comfort with numbers, trends and indices.
- Clear, concise communication in English, with the ability to explain complex developments simply to internal teams and customers.
- A curious, proactive mindset. You notice the small signals others miss and explain what they mean for the business.
Preferred Skills and Experience
- Experience in freight forwarding, container shipping or wider logistics.
- Familiarity with freight market data sources (e.g. SCFI, Drewry WCI, Freightos FBX, Xeneta, Sea-Intelligence).
- A background in academic or market research, or in another complex B2B industry.
- Experience writing customer-facing communications or market updates.
- SQL, Python or dashboarding skills are a plus.
Don’t fit all of our criteria? That’s okay! We know that you might be hesitant to apply if you don’t meet all our requirements, but here at Forto, we pride ourselves on embracing diverse perspectives and celebrating potential. If you are passionate about this position and the Forto values, please apply anyway. There could be a place for you in this role - or another one that’s a perfect fit!
WHY WORK WITH US?
Our team is hard-working, constantly seeking to maximise the impact of their work, but we put our people first, always winning with care. We value efficient systems and swift, direct communication. We want everyone to have their time to speak, so that we can embrace diverse perspectives to help drive towards solutions always.