Chief Technology Officer — Port And Terminal Operation

The mandate

A port and terminal operation is reprioritising trade lanes after vessel calls, transhipment patterns and cargo mix changed faster than its technology plan. Capacity is available in the wrong places, while several terminal systems and equipment controls approach renewal. The current CTO is departing. An urgent replacement must redirect investment without destabilising live vessel and landside operations.

The perimeter covers approximately 2,300 employees and material partners across marine operations, yard, gate, equipment engineering, technology, cyber, projects, customer service and suppliers. Based onsite in Dubai, the CTO owns technology strategy, terminal applications, operational technology, automation architecture, engineering standards, cyber design and technical partners, reporting to the Group Chief Executive or nominated executive-committee sponsor.

The incoming executive will first establish which trade-lane changes are structural. Berth windows, crane intensity, dwell, transhipment connections, reefers, dangerous goods and gate peaks create different technology requirements. Scenario planning must link commercial assumptions to operational load before equipment or software is committed.

The terminal operating system remains the transactional spine. Vessel plans, yard positions, work queues, equipment moves, customs status and billing events must remain coherent during change. The CTO will govern configuration, interfaces and releases with operational owners. Feature volume is irrelevant if planners cannot trust container state at shift handover.

Operational technology needs clear authority. Crane controls, positioning, telemetry, gate equipment, sensors and energy systems have safety and throughput consequences. Engineering, operations and cyber decisions must meet in one assurance route while statutory and safety authorities retain independent approval. Consumer-technology release habits are not suitable for moving heavy equipment around people.

Automation will be selective. Remote operation, automated stacking, optical identification and predictive control may increase capacity, but only where process discipline, maintenance capability and exception design support them. The CTO will compare phased, brownfield and manual-enhancement options rather than equating a modern terminal with maximum mechanisation.

Yard algorithms must be explainable to operators. Optimisation should account for vessel connection, customs hold, reefer monitoring, hazardous segregation, equipment travel and likely retrieval. A model that improves average moves while creating an unrecoverable peak is not acceptable. Overrides will be logged and used to refine decision rules.

Cyber architecture will respect the boundary between enterprise IT and terminal control. Remote supplier access, portable media, identity, patching and monitoring need controls compatible with continuous operation. The CTO will rehearse containment and safe degradation with operations, not assume that isolating a system leaves a workable terminal.

Equipment data will support maintenance only when context is reliable. Usage, fault, environment and intervention records should connect to asset configuration. Predictive claims require comparison with actual failures and maintenance outcomes. The organisation will stop pilots that generate dashboards but do not change availability, safety or cost.

Customer and authority interfaces deserve product discipline. Shipping lines, customs, hauliers and freight communities depend on accurate events and stable messages. Changes will be versioned, tested and communicated. The CTO will prevent local integrations from bypassing control simply because a major customer requests speed.

Capital choices will state dependency and exit. Proprietary equipment controls, data rights, long support periods and specialist skills can lock the operation into a vendor. Contracts must provide access, security obligations, lifecycle terms and credible migration routes. Lowest initial price will not outweigh an unserviceable terminal asset.

The technology roadmap must sequence around operations. Dry runs, parallel planning, cutover criteria and rollback should reflect vessel schedules and peak constraints. Business continuity will include loss of positioning, gate, wireless, control room and supplier support. Recovery is proven only after container state and work queues reconcile.

Succession risk is immediate. The departing CTO's exceptions, authority relationships and supplier commitments must be surfaced quickly. Technical leaders below the role will receive defined decision rights and exposure to capital governance so the organisation is not dependent on a single interpreter between vendors and operations.

What you will own

• Trade-lane-led terminal technology strategy.
• Terminal operating system and operational data integrity.
• Equipment controls, automation and OT architecture.
• Technology safety, cyber and recovery design.
• Yard optimisation and operational decision support.
• Customer, customs and port-community interfaces.
• Technical capital, suppliers and lifecycle rights.
• Technology leadership, transition and succession.

The first 12 months

Within 30 days, secure the incumbent handover, identify unsupported or unsafe dependencies and test whether the current investment plan matches revised vessel and cargo scenarios. Protect live operational releases during the transition.

By month six, approve a sequenced terminal architecture, establish common IT–OT assurance and run loss-of-system exercises with marine, yard and gate teams. Reset or stop automation projects lacking verified operating benefit.

At twelve months, improve critical equipment availability by eight percentage points, reduce technology-related truck and vessel delays by 30% and complete two major system changes with fully reconciled container state. All remote OT access must meet the new control standard, with no safety authority bypass or unplanned terminal closure.

What the sponsor will examine

• Technology capacity tied to plausible trade-lane scenarios.
• Container state protected through releases and recovery.
• Automation justified by brownfield operating evidence.
• IT and OT controls producing safe degradation.
• Vendors governed through rights and lifecycle obligations.
• Technical leaders making decisions beyond the CTO.

The person

You bring 22–28 years in terminal technology, port engineering, industrial automation or another safety-critical logistics environment. Your experience includes CTO-scale authority, terminal operating systems, equipment controls, cyber-resilient operations and major capital decisions in the Middle East or comparable international hubs.

Candidates must discuss a terminal technology investment they redirected after testing operational assumptions, and a live-system recovery that reconciled physical cargo state. This permanent role is onsite in Dubai and requires extensive presence in control rooms, yards, gates and supplier facilities.

Compensation and terms

Base compensation is AED 1,600,000–2,200,000 plus annual incentive and long-term participation linked to terminal availability, safe technology change, capital value, cyber resilience and succession. The permanent onsite Dubai CTO reports to the Group Chief Executive or designated executive-committee sponsor. The urgent replacement requires accelerated diligence and transition.

Confidentiality

The operator, facilities, shipping-line relationships, equipment estate, system architecture, trade-lane scenarios and security arrangements are confidential. Disclosure follows credential review, conflicts and signed confidentiality. Candidates must not contact ports, carriers, customs bodies or terminal vendors in an effort to establish the sponsor's identity.