Director of Projects

Director of Projects – Project Cargo & Heavy-Lift Freight Forwarding – USA

Freight Forwarding | USA (Houston, TX Base) | 50-60% National and International Travel $200,000 – $260,000 Base + 35% Annual Bonus + LTI + Benefits

WHY THIS ROLE

This forwarder's US project cargo business has scaled from $90M to $240M annual revenue over the last four years, driven by wind energy, LNG, and petrochemical EPC awards across the Gulf and West Coast. The Director of Projects USA role is being created to consolidate what has grown organically: a national project vertical spanning Houston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Savannah, with full commercial and operational authority over the US project portfolio and direct input into global project strategy.

ABOUT

Founded in 1938 in Rotterdam, this privately held Dutch freight forwarder operates across 32 countries with 3,800 people. The business is a specialist in project cargo, heavy-lift ocean, out-of-gauge air charter, and multimodal logistics, with vertical depth in wind energy, LNG, petrochemical modules, power generation, and mining equipment. It has access to dedicated heavy-lift tonnage through long-standing carrier partnerships and runs one of the largest privately held chartering desks in Rotterdam. US presence goes back to 1998, with the project business now accounting for roughly 45% of US revenue.

WHAT YOU'LL DELIVER

• US project vertical P&L: $240M revenue across Houston, NOLA, LA, and Savannah, with a path to $320M by FY27.
• 5 direct reports across regional project managers, chartering desk, commercial, and ops. 65 US project headcount.
• EPC account development and tender wins above $5M per project.
• Chartering strategy: heavy-lift ocean mix, breakbulk allocation, OOG air charter oversight.
• Cross-functional alignment with global project HQ in Rotterdam on lane strategy and asset deployment.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• 15+ years project cargo or heavy-lift freight forwarding leadership.
• 7+ years running a project vertical P&L or senior commercial role at $100M+ revenue.
• Record of EPC account wins in oil & gas, LNG, renewables, power, mining, or petrochemical.
• Technical command: heavy-lift ocean chartering, breakbulk ops, OOG air, multimodal project coordination.
• Working command of CargoWise, AMS/ACE/AES, IMO/IATA DG compliance, and project pricing economics.

This role leads the US project cargo vertical. Candidates from general air/ocean forwarding without project cargo exposure are welcome if you can evidence commercial leadership over industrial shippers with complex freight profiles.

WHAT'S ON OFFER

Base $200,000 – $260,000 depending on experience and project cargo commercial track record. Annual bonus up to 35% of base, tied to US project P&L, tender wins, and margin performance. Long-term incentive participation with 3–4 year vesting. Executive benefits package: full health from day one, 401k with 5% match, 30 days PTO, car allowance, executive travel budget.

Houston-based with 50-60% national and international travel. Site visits to customer EPC projects (wind farms, petrochemical plants, LNG trains), ports, and Rotterdam HQ quarterly.

You'll inherit one of the most active project cargo books in the US network, a privately held parent that keeps heavy-lift capacity in-house, and a global project team with direct lines into Rotterdam chartering. Progression track to Managing Director USA or SVP Global Projects. The outgoing Director moved into the global SVP Projects seat last year.