Senior Rail Manager

ARTEMIS EXECUTIVE PARTNERS; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 160,000 - 195,000; Full time

Job summary

ARTEMIS EXECUTIVE PARTNERS is seeking a Senior Rail Manager in Houston, TX to shape the company’s long-term rail strategy and connect transportation with commercial planning.

The role requires 10-15+ years in freight rail or related fields, deep knowledge of operations, infrastructure, and financial judgment, and the ability to influence stakeholders across functions.

Qualifications

• Progressive experience in freight rail, industrial logistics, transportation, or related field.
• Strong understanding of railroad operations, commercial structures, service requirements, and infrastructure.

Responsibilities

• Develop a multi-year rail strategy aligned with growth objectives.
• Evaluate rail operations, terminal capabilities, capacity, service requirements, and infrastructure needs.
• Expand the rail-served distribution network through new terminals, partnerships, acquisitions, or greenfield/brownfield development.
• Assess sites, terminal configurations, and rail infrastructure for practicality, capacity, and scalability.
• Assess commercial and financial implications of rail investments and network development.
• Partner with commercial teams to align customer demand with capacity and contracts.
• Build relationships with Class I railroads, short-line operators, and terminal operators.
• Improve coordination across business units and leadership teams.
• Support evaluation and implementation of transportation management systems (TMS).
• Provide rail and logistics subject-matter expertise for terminal expansions and capital projects.

Skills

Freight rail expertise

Commercial judgment

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Influence without authority

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

Senior Rail Manager

Location: Houston, Texas

Compensation: $160K-$195K base with a 15%-20% target bonus

Travel: Periodic travel to company facilities, development sites, railroad partners, and strategic locations, including Tampa, Florida

Company Overview

Our client is a high-growth cement and building materials organization expanding its U.S. distribution and logistics footprint. The company operates major terminal facilities in Houston and Tampa and is developing a broader network of rail-served distribution locations.

As the organization grows, rail will play an increasingly important role in moving large volumes of material between import terminals, inland distribution points, and customers. The company is seeking an experienced rail professional to help shape the strategy, infrastructure, relationships, and processes needed to support that growth.

Position Overview

The Senior Rail Manager will play a lead role in developing and executing the company's long-term rail strategy. This is not a traditional rail operations or terminal superintendent position. Experienced operating personnel are already in place to manage day-to-day terminal and rail activities.

Working closely with senior leadership and cross-functional teams, this individual will connect rail transportation with commercial planning, logistics, terminal development, technology, capital projects, and network expansion. The ideal candidate combines meaningful freight rail expertise with strong commercial judgment and the ability to translate strategy into practical execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Help develop and execute a multi-year rail strategy aligned with company growth objectives.
• Evaluate rail operations, terminal capabilities, capacity constraints, service requirements, and future infrastructure needs.
• Support expansion of the rail-served distribution network through new terminals, partnerships, acquisitions, and greenfield or brownfield development.
• Evaluate proposed sites, terminal configurations, and rail infrastructure for operational practicality, capacity, and scalability.
• Evaluate the commercial and financial implications of rail investments, service decisions, and network-development opportunities.
• Partner with commercial teams to align customer demand, transportation capacity, infrastructure requirements, and contractual commitments.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with Class I railroads, short-line operators, rail holding companies, terminal operators, and other transportation partners.
• Improve coordination across commercial, logistics, operations, engineering, finance, and leadership teams.
• Participate in the evaluation and implementation of Transportation Management Systems (TMS) and related logistics technology.
• Provide rail and logistics subject-matter expertise for terminal expansions and transportation-related capital projects.
• Review rail layouts and operating concepts to identify potential capacity, service, or design issues before construction or major investment.
• Help establish more disciplined processes for evaluating, prioritizing, and executing rail and logistics initiatives.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is an experienced rail, transportation, logistics, or industrial-development professional who understands both how freight rail works and how industrial organizations use rail to create commercial and operational value. Candidates may come directly from the railroad industry or from rail-intensive industrial environments.

Relevant backgrounds include Class I railroads, short-line operators, railroad holding companies, rail terminal developers, industrial logistics organizations, cement and building materials, aggregates, mining and minerals, coal, chemicals, energy, agriculture, and other dry-bulk or rail-intensive sectors.

Direct cement experience is helpful but not required. Strong rail knowledge and an understanding of the movement of industrial materials are more important than experience with one specific commodity.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Approximately 10-15+ years of progressive experience in freight rail, industrial logistics, transportation, terminal development, supply chain, or a closely related field.
• Strong understanding of railroad operations, commercial structures, service requirements, infrastructure, and network constraints.
• Experience with rail-served facilities, terminals, industrial sites, or transportation network development.
• Ability to evaluate rail layouts, terminal operating concepts, infrastructure requirements, and transportation capacity.
• Strong commercial and financial judgment, including an understanding of how transportation decisions affect profitability.
• Experience working across operations, commercial, engineering, project, finance, and leadership teams.
• Excellent communication skills and a demonstrated ability to influence without relying solely on formal authority.
• Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and substantial relevant industry experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with a Class I railroad, major short-line operator, railroad holding company, rail terminal developer, or comparable industrial logistics organization.
• Experience with Union Pacific, BNSF, or other major freight rail networks.
• Experience developing or expanding greenfield or brownfield rail-served facilities.
• Experience with cement, aggregates, minerals, coal, or other rail-served dry-bulk commodities.
• Exposure to TMS platforms, site selection, industrial development, acquisitions, or transportation-related capital investments.

Leadership Profile

The successful candidate will be strategic but practical, commercially minded, collaborative, resilient, and comfortable working in a growing organization where processes continue to evolve. This individual must be able to earn credibility with experienced operators, communicate effectively with senior leadership, and lead through influence rather than a command-and-control approach.

The Opportunity

This role offers an experienced rail professional the opportunity to move beyond a narrowly defined operating position and gain broader exposure to rail strategy, commercial planning, infrastructure development, logistics, technology, and capital investment. As the company's terminal and distribution footprint expands, the scope and leadership responsibility associated with the position are expected to grow, creating a potential path toward broader Director-level responsibility over time.