Director, Energy & Ocean Projects – USA

AIT Worldwide Logistics, Inc.•Houston, TX

About The Position

The Director, Energy & Ocean Projects – USA is responsible for leading the regional strategy, commercial execution, operational governance, and team capability for complex ocean freight, energy, offshore, and project cargo solutions. This role serves as the senior U.S. point of contact for Energy & Ocean Projects and partners closely with North America and Global Energy leadership to drive growth, operational excellence, customer solutions, and profitable project execution. This position requires a commercially minded, operationally disciplined leader with deep expertise in ocean freight forwarding, project logistics, heavy lift, breakbulk, offshore logistics, chartering, documentation, risk management, and stakeholder engagement.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Maritime Transportation, International Business, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field required; equivalent directly relevant experience may be considered in lieu of degree.
10+ years relevant logistics/project cargo experience, including ocean freight forwarding, energy, offshore, marine project logistics, and complex project cargo operations.
5+ years leadership experience in a supervisory, managerial, or regional leadership role within ocean freight, project logistics, energy logistics, or related operations.
1+ years Experience with regional team leadership, project cargo P&L/margin management, customer-facing executive engagement, and complex tender leadership.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Outlook, Excel, and Word.
Strong project management, planning, budgeting, and execution skills.
Extensive knowledge of ocean freight, energy, offshore, marine, and project cargo operations.
Understanding of vessel types, energy equipment, maritime operations, offshore logistics, and complex transportation requirements.
Working knowledge of risk management, quality controls, and HSE best practices.
Strong leadership, coaching, team development, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Clear, structured communicator with strong customer, stakeholder, and executive engagement skills.
Sound judgment, problem-solving mindset, and ability to operate effectively under pressure.
Strong analytical, financial, documentation, and administrative discipline.
High level of situational awareness, safety focus, and operational accountability.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree or relevant professional certifications in project management, logistics, or a related field
Experience with CargoWise preferred.

Responsibilities

Own the U.S. Energy & Ocean Projects strategy in alignment with North America and Global Energy leadership.
Develop regional growth priorities, target customers, service capabilities, and trade lane opportunities.
Lead end-to-end management of complex ocean, energy, offshore, and project cargo shipments, including quoting, planning, execution, invoicing, and project close-out.
Prepare and oversee quotations, budgets, schedules, project plans, and risk assessments for LCL, FCL, breakbulk, part-charter, full-charter, intermodal, and heavy-lift moves.
Coordinate vessel, port, terminal, offshore, intermodal, and project operations in partnership with internal product teams and external service providers.
Establish pricing and margin governance for complex ocean and project cargo opportunities.
Partner with sales and account management on strategic bids, tenders, and customer solution design.
Track project profitability, win/loss trends, and revenue/margin performance.
Define standardized project logistics workflows, escalation protocols, and quality controls.
Ensure complex shipments follow AIT global standards, HSE requirements, and customer technical requirements.
Lead, coach, and develop project and ocean team members supporting energy and project cargo.
Build regional capability in chartering, breakbulk, offshore logistics, heavy lift, documentation, and risk management.
Serve as the senior U.S. point of contact for Energy & Ocean Projects.
Provide regular performance, risk, and opportunity updates to VP North America and Global VP Energy.
Manage relationships with shipping lines, vessel operators, surveyors, heavy-haul providers, terminals, port operators, and other external partners.
Coordinate internal stakeholders across ocean, air, road, contract logistics, ships spares, industrial verticals, QHSE, finance, warehousing, and port operations.
Promote a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with ISO standards, maritime safety protocols, regulatory requirements, HSE expectations, and customer-specific technical requirements.
Lead incident reporting, root-cause analysis, quality assurance, and continuous improvement across all shipment phases.
Performs other duties as assigned
Complies with all policies and standards