Moving the World Forward
Logistics & Supply Chain
Executive Search
55+ C-Suite Placements in Logistics — with an average 39 Days time-to-placement and a 12-month candidate guarantee.
55+
C-Suite Placementsin Logistics
39 Days
Avg. Time-to-Placement
94%
Offer Acceptance Rate
12 Months
Candidate Guarantee
Is This Your Situation?
If any of these sound familiar, you're speaking to the right practice.
→Your 3PL company just won a multi-year contract with India's largest e-commerce platform, and you need a COO who can scale from 50 to 200 fulfilment centres in 12 months while maintaining 99.5% SLA compliance.
→Your cold chain logistics business is expanding into pharma distribution and needs a CEO who understands both GDP (Good Distribution Practice) compliance and perishable supply chain operations.
→Your quick commerce platform's unit economics are negative in 6 of 8 cities. The board needs a VP Operations who can optimise dark store density, rider utilisation, and delivery routing to achieve profitability.
→Your FMCG company's Chief Supply Chain Officer retired. You need a successor who can manage ₹4,000 Cr in annual procurement, 12 manufacturing plants, and distribution to 3 million retail outlets.
Our Logistics Track Record
Sourcing the Operators and Planners Who Keep India's Supply Chains Moving
The professionals who design hub-and-spoke distribution networks, manage 10,000-pallet cold chain warehouses, and optimise last-mile delivery across 19,000 pin codes are not found on job boards. A Head of Cold Chain Oper…
See how Gladwin International & Company helps India's leading organisations access hard-to-reach specialist talent in Logistics — the profiles that never appear on job boards.
800+
Logistics & supply chain professionals mapped
16+
Specialist logistics mandates placed in 36 months
42
Distribution and fulfilment hubs covered across India
Situation:
PE-backed 3PL with 80 warehouses and ₹2,500 Cr revenue needed a CEO to lead the transition from asset-light to asset-heavy model, build technology capability, and prepare for IPO. Founder was exiting post-PE hold period.
Outcome:
Placed in 43 days. New CEO invested in 40 owned warehouses, launched proprietary WMS, and grew revenue to ₹3,800 Cr in 18 months. IPO preparation initiated on schedule.
Situation:
India's largest cold chain company needed a COO to manage 100+ temperature-controlled facilities across 18 states. FSSAI and WHO-GDP compliance had become critical as pharma clients grew to 30% of revenue.
Outcome:
Placed in 39 days. Achieved 100% FSSAI compliance across all facilities. Pharma revenue grew 45% as compliance reputation improved. Temperature excursion incidents reduced by 82%.
Situation:
Large e-commerce marketplace needed a Head of Supply Chain to redesign the fulfilment network for same-day and next-day delivery across 50 cities. Delivery cost per shipment was 30% above industry benchmark.
Outcome:
Placed in 35 days. Redesigned fulfilment network from 12 to 28 hubs. Delivery cost reduced by 22%. Same-day delivery coverage expanded from 8 to 22 cities.
All client details anonymised. Specific mandates available for reference under NDA upon request.
Our Logistics Practice
India's logistics sector is experiencing a structural transformation driven by three forces: the implementation of GST (which rationalised India's fragmented logistics landscape), the explosion of e-commerce (which has created entirely new last-mile delivery requirements), and the post-COVID acceleration of supply chain resilience investment by global corporations (which is driving massive warehousing and 3PL investment).
Our Logistics & Supply Chain practice at Gladwin International Leadership Advisors covers the full logistics ecosystem: third-party logistics (3PL) and fourth-party logistics (4PL) providers, express and courier companies, freight forwarding and customs clearance, cold chain and temperature-controlled logistics, warehousing and fulfilment, last-mile delivery companies, and supply chain technology platforms.
We also work extensively with the supply chain leadership of large enterprises — placing Chief Supply Chain Officers, Procurement Heads, and Operations leaders who manage complex multi-tier supply networks in manufacturing, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and retail. Our consultants understand that supply chain leadership today is fundamentally a technology-enabled, data-driven discipline that requires leaders who are as comfortable with analytics as they are with operations.
As a specialist logistics executive search firm in India, our practice also covers supply chain CEO hiring experts, our practice also covers CIO hiring for logistics companies, and as a source for logistics leadership hiring insights.
The Logistics Landscape Today
India's logistics market is $250 billion, one of the world's largest by absolute size, though logistics costs remain high at 13-14% of GDP versus the global average of 8%. GST implementation, PM Gati Shakti, and the National Logistics Policy are driving modernisation. Warehousing capacity has grown from 100 million sq ft to 350+ million sq ft in 8 years. Quick commerce has created 10-minute delivery as a consumer expectation, requiring entirely new micro-fulfilment and last-mile infrastructure. Cold chain logistics — chronically under-invested — is growing at 12% annually as food processing and pharma supply chains demand temperature control. Supply chain technology — track-and-trace, AI route optimisation, warehouse management systems — is being rapidly adopted.
Key Leadership Challenges in Logistics
E-commerce and quick commerce surge — building last-mile delivery operations at massive scale while maintaining unit economics discipline and customer service levels
Cold chain professionalisation — building temperature-controlled logistics operations that meet pharmaceutical GMP and food safety standards requires specialised technical and operational leadership
Technology integration — deploying WMS, TMS, AI route optimisation, and supply chain visibility platforms requires technology-forward operations leaders
Talent formalisation — transitioning workforce from informal/gig to structured employment models while maintaining cost competitiveness
Cross-border supply chain — as Indian companies internationalise and global companies source from India, cross-border logistics leadership with customs, compliance, and multimodal expertise
Sustainability in logistics — EV fleet transition, green warehousing, and Scope 3 emissions reporting are becoming leadership requirements from major shipper clients
Roles We Typically Place
Why Gladwin International Leadership Advisors for Logistics
3PL and express network — relationships with Delhivery, Bluedart, DTDC, Mahindra Logistics, TVS Supply Chain, Allcargo, and all major logistics operators
E-commerce and quick commerce coverage — Flipkart eKart, Amazon Logistics, Meesho Valmo, Shadowfax, and D2C brand logistics teams
Cold chain specialisation — Snowman, ColdEx, Future Supply Chain, and pharma cold chain operators
Supply chain technology — track-and-trace platform companies, WMS providers, and supply chain analytics businesses
Enterprise supply chain leadership — placing Chief Supply Chain Officers and procurement leaders at large manufacturers, retailers, and FMCG companies
Organisations We Serve
3PL and 4PL logistics service providers
E-commerce fulfilment and last-mile delivery companies
Cold chain and temperature-controlled logistics operators
Freight forwarding and customs clearance companies
Enterprise supply chain and procurement functions
Logistics Leadership Assessment — “VELOCITY”
Seven dimensions calibrated for logistics and supply chain leadership.
C-Suite Function Practices
Each function we place in Logistics has a dedicated practice with sector-calibrated assessment.
Discuss a Logistics Mandate
Confidential · No obligation
Response within 4 business hours · All enquiries handled by a senior practice partner · Strictly confidential
Full logistics value chain — from express to cold chain to supply chain technology
E-commerce and quick commerce logistics — our fastest-growing sub-practice
Enterprise supply chain transformation — placing CSCOs in large manufacturing and retail businesses
Looking for a Logistics Leader?
Our Logistics practice is ready to help. Guaranteed placement · 12-month candidate guarantee · Affordable pricing for organisations across the value chain.
Frequently Asked Questions — Logistics & Supply Chain Executive Search
Common questions about recruiting Logistics & Supply Chain leadership in India.
Our Logistics & Supply Chain practice covers the full spectrum — 3PL, contract logistics, freight forwarding, express delivery, cold chain, warehousing, supply chain technology, and e-commerce logistics. We maintain an active network of logistics leaders with the operational depth to run large, geographically distributed operations and the digital fluency to leverage automation, analytics, and platform technology in modern logistics businesses. Our search methodology spans traditional logistics organisations and new-age technology-driven logistics platforms.
We fill the complete leadership spectrum: CEO/MD, CFO, COO, CTO/Chief Digital Officer, Head of Operations, Head of Warehousing, Head of Last-Mile, Head of Fleet Management, Head of Freight, Head of Business Development, Head of Key Accounts, Head of Supply Chain Solutions, CHRO, and Board Directors. We work with 3PLs, freight forwarders, express couriers, cold chain operators, supply chain technology companies, and the logistics arms of large e-commerce and manufacturing companies.
Logistics is undergoing a technology-led transformation — from route optimisation and warehouse automation to supply chain visibility platforms and real-time freight marketplaces. Today's logistics leaders must combine traditional operational discipline (cost management, fleet efficiency, service reliability) with digital transformation capability. Leaders who can implement WMS, TMS, and automation technologies while maintaining operational performance through the transition are in extremely high demand.
Yes. Logistics technology is one of the highest-growth segments within our practice. We place CEOs, CTOs, CPOs, Head of Sales, and Head of Operations for freight-tech platforms, last-mile delivery startups, supply chain SaaS companies, B2B e-commerce logistics, and DroneX and EV logistics companies. We understand that tech logistics leadership requires a different profile from traditional 3PL leadership — particularly around product thinking, platform economics, and investor management.
CEOs of large integrated logistics companies in India typically earn ₹3–8 crore CTC. COOs and VP Operations of major 3PLs typically command ₹1.5–3.5 crore. Logistics tech CEOs typically earn ₹2–5 crore with significant ESOP components. Cold chain and specialised logistics heads command a premium given the scarcity of expertise. We provide current compensation benchmarks for every logistics and supply chain search.