Equipment Director

HHLA PLT Italy; Friuli-Venezia Giulia; On-site; EUR 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

HHLA PLT Italy seeks an Equipment Director responsible for end-to-end governance, availability, safety, lifecycle optimisation, and cost efficiency of all terminal equipment and technical assets. You will lead engineering, maintenance, and projects, aligning with HHLA Group standards and local regulations, reporting to the COO.

You will own CAPEX planning, outsourced maintenance performance, and technical risk management, driving standardisation and data-driven performance across assets and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in port, logistics, or heavy industrial maintenance.
• At least 5 years in senior leadership roles managing multidisciplinary technical teams and outsourced service providers.

Responsibilities

• Define and implement terminal equipment strategy and asset roadmap.
• Govern maintenance frameworks and oversee outsourced providers.
• Ensure HSSE compliance and risk management.
• Lead digitalisation of asset and maintenance systems.
• Coordinate with LG expansion project and ensure readiness.

Skills

Terminal equipment expertise

Asset lifecycle management

CAPEX planning

ISO management systems

Maintenance digitalisation

Fluent Italian

Fluent English

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering

Master’s degree preferred

Job description

Description of the position:

The Equipment Director is accountable for the end-to-end governance, availability, safety, lifecycle optimisation, and cost efficiency of all terminal equipment and technical assets at HHLA PLT Italy.

The role provides strategic and operational leadership over engineering, maintenance, and technical projects, ensuring alignment with HHLA Group standards, local regulatory requirements, and terminal operational objectives. The position acts as the single point of accountability for equipment reliability, CAPEX planning, outsourced maintenance performance, and technical risk management, reporting directly to the COO.

Summary of responsibilities

Equipment Strategy & Asset Lifecycle Management

• Define and implement the terminal equipment strategy, covering acquisition, utilisation, maintenance, refurbishment, and end-of-life.
• Own and continuously update the Asset Roadmap, ensuring alignment with volume growth, service mix, and LG expansion.
• Ensure optimal balance between owned, leased, and rented equipment, maintaining operational flexibility.
• Drive standardisation in line with HHLA Group technical guidelines.

Maintenance Governance & Reliability

• Establish and enforce preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance frameworks.
• Approve and monitor annual maintenance plans, ensuring equipment availability targets are met.
• Ensure strict governance of outsourced maintenance providers, including KPIs, SLAs, cost control, and contractual compliance.
• Act as final authority for technical deviations, emergency repairs, and equipment availability trade-offs impacting operations.

Safety, Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure full compliance with HSSE regulations, HHLA safety standards, and applicable ISO frameworks (9001, 14001, 45001).
• Own technical risk assessments related to equipment, including:
• Approval of deviations to risk assessments and SOPs
• Switching of mains and critical technical interventions
• Lead technical incident and near-miss investigations, ensuring root cause analysis and systemic corrective actions.
• Actively contribute to the Safety Culture implementation, particularly in maintenance and contractor environments.

Digitalisation & Performance Management

• Ensure correct and consistent use of asset and maintenance management systems (e.g. CMMS/MMS).
• Drive data-driven equipment performance management through:
• Availability, MTBF, MTTR, cost, and safety KPIs
• Dashboards and reporting to HHLA PLT Management and HHLA International Management
• Support integration with terminal systems (TOS, planning, HSSE tools).

Strategic Projects & Expansion

• Lead and govern technical and equipment-related projects, including:
• New equipment introduction
• Infrastructure interfaces
• Modernisation, automation, and sustainability initiatives
• Coordinate closely with the LG expansion project, ensuring technical readiness and operational integration.
• Ensure smooth handover of projects into operational maintenance.

Financial Accountability

• Own CAPEX and OPEX related to equipment and maintenance.
• Prepare and justify investment proposals, lifecycle cost analyses, and replacement strategies.
• Monitor budget performance, identify variances, and implement corrective actions.
• Drive cost optimisation without compromising safety, compliance, or service quality.

Stakeholder & Group Coordination

• Act as primary interface with:
• COO and HHLA PLT Management
• HHLA International / HIG technical functions
• OEMs, service providers, and regulatory bodies
• Contribute to Group-wide technical initiatives, benchmarking, and standardisation.

People Management & Industrial Relations

• Develop technical leadership capability within the team.
• Ensure competency development, succession planning, and performance management.
• Cooperate with HR on workforce planning and training strategies.
• Support management of industrial relations, particularly where maintenance activities interface with unions and contractors.

Key Performance Measures

• Equipment availability and reliability
• Maintenance cost vs budget
• Safety incidents and near-miss trends (technical scope)
• CAPEX execution vs plan
• Vendor performance and SLA compliance
• Asset lifecycle cost performance

The Candidate

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering (Master’s preferred).
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in port, logistics, or heavy industrial maintenance environments.
• At least 5 years in senior leadership roles managing multidisciplinary technical teams and outsourced service providers.

Technical Skills & Knowledge Required

• Strong expertise in terminal equipment (Ro-Ro, container, yard, rail).
• Proven experience in asset lifecycle management and CAPEX planning.
• Knowledge of ISO management systems and regulatory compliance.
• Strong understanding of maintenance digitalisation and performance systems.

Behavioral Competences Required

• Lead and govern technical and equipment-related projects, including:
• New equipment introduction
• Infrastructure interfaces
• Modernisation, automation, and sustainability initiatives
• Coordinate closely with the LG expansion project, ensuring technical readiness and operational integration.
• Ensure smooth handover of projects into operational maintenance.

Language Requirements

• Fluent Italian (spoken and written
• Fluent English (spoken and written)

Salary range: 65.000 - 85.000€

The salary range indicated represents the expected compensation for the position. The final compensation package will be determined at the end of the recruitment process, considering professional experience, skills, and overall suitability for the role

As an international logistics company with its roots in Hamburg, HHLA stands for cosmopolitanism and tolerance. We are convinced of the advantages of different perspectives, experiences, and competences. Our aim is to create a working environment in which humanity, mutual respect and appreciation are the basis for the actions of all employees.

Disclaimer: This job description may not be inclusive of all assigned duties, responsibilities, or aspects of the job described and may be amended at any time at the sole discretion of the Employer.

The company promotes hiring and compensation practices based on fairness, transparency, and the recognition of individual skills and competencies, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.