EVP – Operations Transformation — Port And Terminal Operation

The mandate

Customer, workforce and financial evidence now converge on the importance of stabilising delivery while removing structural cost and complexity in a multinational-owned international logistics and supply-chain services group. The immediate business arena is the port and terminal operation, where a network-profitability reset has exposed choices that can no longer be deferred. The successful executive will inherit an organisation with real strengths, but also competing stakeholder expectations and investment cases that require firmer evidence.

The accountable perimeter is approximately AED 4,700 million across the logistics & supply chain value chain. It includes several customer, product or delivery clusters and roughly 725 employees and material partners. These are deliberately rounded, composite ranges: they establish candidate scale without encoding a recognisable client footprint.

The board wants a EVP – Operations Transformation who can reduce a long list of activity to a small set of consequential choices. The seat must deliver a network-profitability reset while protecting the capabilities that make the port and terminal operation valuable. Authority will cover resources, leadership appointments and operating standards within scope; enterprise trade-offs will go directly to the board sponsor.

The first year must finish with service reliability, lower unit cost and accountable operations. Success will require direct engagement with customers, employees, capital providers, regulators where relevant and critical partners across the United Arab Emirates. This is an operating mandate with board access, not a staff role that stops at recommendations.

Why this seat is open

This is an urgent replacement for the EVP – Operations Transformation — Port And Terminal Operation seat following an accelerated leadership transition. Interim accountability is in place for the port and terminal operation, but the board wants a permanent appointment within 6–8 weeks because a network-profitability reset cannot remain under split ownership. The predecessor’s outcome is being handled neutrally and professionally. The external search remains confidential until the preferred candidate and transition plan are agreed.

What you will own

• Set the value thesis for the port and terminal operation, translate it into no more than five priorities and stop activity that cannot support those priorities with evidence.
• Carry stewardship of approximately AED 4,700 million, including allocation, risk acceptance, forecast integrity and the quality of decisions taken at the operating review.
• Lead a perimeter of about 725 employees and partners, appointing a team with explicit decision rights and credible succession for every critical seat.
• Resolve a network-profitability reset through named owners, dated milestones and escalation thresholds that make variance visible before a quarter or programme gate closes.
• Install one review linking commercial, customer, financial, people, technology and risk outcomes; eliminate reconciliations that disguise accountability.
• Sponsor the two or three capability investments that can materially change the trajectory, and close initiatives whose evidence does not justify continued funding.
• Build a three-year talent and succession plan for the port and terminal operation, reducing dependence on individual executives and creating mobility across the wider Logistics & Supply Chain group.

The first 12 months

• Days 1–90: Validate the baseline; meet the 30 stakeholders most consequential to the port and terminal operation; assess the leadership team; stabilise immediate customer, people and control risks; and agree a board-owned scorecard.
• Months 4–9: Make the principal portfolio and organisation choices, fill critical leadership gaps, install the new cadence and deliver the first measurable release of cash, capacity, customer value or controlled risk.
• Months 10–12: Establish a repeatable performance trend, secure the following year’s capital and talent plan, prove that fixes are sustained and present a three-year value case with downside actions.

What the board will measure

• Delivery of the agreed first-year value case within a 10% tolerance, with variance surfaced before the relevant reporting period closes.
• A decision-useful forecast across three consecutive quarters that reconciles operating, cash, customer and people assumptions.
• Closure of the highest-priority issues behind a network-profitability reset by their board-approved dates, with independent evidence that remediation is sustained.
• Retention of at least 90% of identified critical talent and ready-now successors for at least 70% of the EVP – Operations Transformation’s direct reports.
• A quantified improvement in the primary port and terminal operation constraint, supported by a clean baseline, named data owner and repeatable measurement method.
• No unresolved high-severity escalation older than 30 days and no material surprise withheld from the agreed governance forum.

The person

You are currently a EVP Operations, COO or Enterprise Transformation Leader in a multinational-owned organisation. Your track record includes a transition where the original plan ceased to be sufficient and you can explain the choices you personally made, the evidence used and the numerical impact. Candidates from logistics, freight forwarding, ports, contract logistics, e-commerce fulfilment or transport services will be considered where the operating model, customer stakes and governance intensity are comparable.

You bring 22–28 years of progressive experience, consistent with the 22-28 band. At minimum, you have carried a P&L, book, budget or accountable portfolio of AED 2,700 million and led at least 600 employees. Advisory candidates must show equivalent client-value ownership and multi-disciplinary leadership rather than subject expertise alone.

The board expects two completed transitions: one involving a difficult portfolio or resource choice, and another requiring the leadership system to change during material pressure. You should be equally comfortable challenging an optimistic case and creating followership after the decision. References must distinguish your contribution from the institution around you.

An undergraduate degree or equivalent professional formation is required; a relevant postgraduate or regulated professional qualification is advantageous where the mandate warrants it. The role is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Relocation is expected; a structured commute may be considered only during an agreed transition period. Regional and intercontinental travel is part of the appointment, but the seat is not remote.

Non-negotiables

• Current or recent accountability at the level of EVP Operations, COO or Enterprise Transformation Leader, with direct exposure to a board, investment committee or equivalent enterprise-governance forum.
• Proven ownership of at least AED 2,700 million and leadership of no fewer than 600 employees in a comparable operating context.
• One completed example of stabilising delivery while removing structural cost and complexity, with outcomes sustained for at least two reporting periods after the intervention.
• Sector credibility from logistics, freight forwarding, ports, contract logistics, e-commerce fulfilment or transport services; purely functional experience without operating consequences will not meet the bar.
• Willingness to meet the Dubai location expectation, complete conflicts and background diligence, and protect the search’s confidentiality.

Compensation and terms

The anticipated package is AED 1,600,000–2,200,000 base + annual incentive and long-term participation, calibrated to final scope and the candidate’s current mix. Long-term participation follows the employer’s normal vesting and performance conditions. This is a full-time executive appointment with a standard five-day working week, additional availability appropriate to the office and material travel during diagnosis and implementation. A notice period of up to 6 months can be accommodated. No application, assessment, placement or onboarding fee is charged to candidates.

How to apply

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Confidentiality

The employer is represented as confidential, which Google permits for anonymous recruitment. Identifying information will be shared only after mutual relevance is established and an undertaking is in place. Rounded scale, blended context and broad archetypes are intentional and must not be used to infer a company name.