Reports to: Director Marine Operations The Sr. Manager Stowage Planning leads and develops the regional stowage planning function, ensuring safe, efficient, and optimized vessel operations across the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Sub-Saharan Africa. The role focuses on driving consistency, collaboration, and operational excellence while accelerating the adoption of automation, AI, and digital planning tools. As a senior leader, the Sr. Manager Stowage Planning acts as the key link between regional execution and global direction working closely with the Global Stowage Center of Excellence and peer regions to align standards, share best practices, and deliver a harmonized way of working worldwide. Success requires servant leadership, assertiveness, and the ability to challenge the status quo while building a high-performing, future-ready team.
Lead and develop the regional stowage planning team, ensuring performance, engagement, and consistent execution.
Deliver safe, efficient, and optimized stowage plans that maximize vessel utilization and minimize cost.
Drive adoption of automation, AI, and digital tools into daily operations, embedding new capabilities and smarter decision-making.
Act as escalation point for complex operational issues and provide strategic direction in collaboration with stakeholders.
Collaborate cross-functionally with scheduling, cargo ops, port ops, and trade management to ensure seamless execution.
Coordinate closely with the Global Stowage CoE and peer regions to align processes, share best practices, and continuously improve.
Set clear KPIs, monitor performance, and foster a culture of continuous learning, accountability, and improvement.
QualificationsProven leadership experience managing diverse operational or planning teams, preferably in shipping, logistics, or port operations.
Strong track record of driving change, embedding new systems, and leading transformation initiatives.
Practical exposure to automation, AI, and digitalization in planning or operations.
Excellent stakeholder management and collaboration skills, with experience working across regions and global functions.
Strong analytical mindset and data-driven decision-making capability.
Fluent in English; additional regional languages are a plus.
We offer We offer:
- Tax free salary & bonus payments
- 30 working days of annual leave
- Flexible working hours and hybrid work model
- Medical insurance for employee & eligible dependants (spouse & children)
- A diverse and multi-cultural working environment
About Us With a fleet of 313 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 2.5 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world's leading liner shipping companies. In the Liner Shipping segment, the Company has around 14,000 employees and 400 offices in 140 countries. Hapag-Lloyd has a container capacity of 3.7 million TEU including one of the largest and most modern fleets of reefer containers. A total of 133 liner services worldwide ensure fast and reliable connections between more than 600 ports on all the continents. In the Terminal & Infrastructure segment, Hapag-Lloyd has equity stakes in 21 terminals in Europe, Latin America, the United States, India and North Africa. Around 3,000 employees are assigned to the Terminal & Infrastructure segment and provide complementary logistics services at selected locations in addition to the terminal activities.
