Director - Ports Operations (Emirati)

Talents Tide; Sharjah; On-site; AED 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Talents Tide is seeking a seasoned Director – Ports Operations in Sharjah to lead strategic and day-to-day port activities, ensuring safe, compliant, and high-quality maritime services.

Responsibilities include steering operational strategy, overseeing infrastructure usage, monitoring KPIs, and driving continuous improvement while managing large teams and key government and industry stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Senior-level experience in port, marine, maritime, terminal, or logistics operations.
• Proven track record leading large teams and complex port activities.
• Strong knowledge of maritime regulations, HSE, and risk management.
• Experience developing operational KPIs, budgets, and performance initiatives.
• Strong government and stakeholder engagement experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day port operations and ensure efficient service delivery.
• Develop and implement strategies, plans, policies, and performance objectives.
• Optimize use of port infrastructure, facilities, equipment, and resources.
• Monitor KPIs, productivity, service levels and performance reporting.
• Drive improvements in efficiency, capacity, service quality and customer experience.
• Ensure compliance with maritime, port, safety, security, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Lead and develop operational teams and build a high-performance culture.
• Manage relationships with government entities, port users, shipping lines and partners.
• Identify risks and ensure mitigation, business continuity and emergency response measures.
• Prepare and present reports and strategic updates to senior management.
• Drive digital transformation and adoption of international best practices.

Skills

Port operations leadership

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Regulatory compliance (maritime)

HSE knowledge

People leadership

Change management

Job description

Hiring | Director – Ports Operations (Emirati)

Sharjah, UAE

Direct Placement | Senior Leadership

We are currently seeking an experienced Director – Ports Operations to lead and oversee port operational activities for a prestigious company in Sharjah.

The role will provide strategic and operational leadership across port operations, ensuring safe, efficient, compliant, and high-quality maritime services while driving operational performance and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

Lead and oversee day-to-day port operations and ensure efficient service delivery.

Develop and implement operational strategies, plans, policies, and performance objectives aligned with organizational goals.

Ensure the effective utilization of port infrastructure, facilities, equipment, and resources.

Monitor operational performance, productivity, service levels, and key performance indicators.

Drive initiatives to improve operational efficiency, capacity, service quality, and customer experience.

Ensure compliance with relevant maritime, port, safety, security, environmental, and regulatory requirements.

Lead and develop operational teams, establish performance targets, and build a high-performance culture.

Manage relationships with key stakeholders, government entities, port users, shipping companies, operators, and other maritime partners.

Identify operational risks and ensure appropriate mitigation, business continuity, and emergency response measures.

Prepare and present operational performance reports, recommendations, and strategic updates to senior management.

Drive continuous improvement, digital transformation, innovation, and adoption of international best practices in port operations.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate should have:

Strong senior-level experience in port, marine, maritime, terminal, or logistics operations

Proven experience leading large-scale operational teams and complex port activities

Strong knowledge of port operations, maritime regulations, HSE, and operational risk management

Experience developing operational strategies, KPIs, budgets, and performance improvement initiatives

Strong stakeholder management and government-sector exposure

Excellent leadership, decision-making, communication, and strategic planning skills