The posting
Purpose of the Role
Dry Dock / Projects Superintendent is responsible for planning, preparing, supervising, and closing dry docking projects for Svitzer Americas, with primary focus on Colombia-based projects and regional support to other assigned dry dock locations.
The role ensures safe, efficient, and cost-effective project execution while reducing mobilization costs, improving local contractor oversight, strengthening budget control, and increasing project preparation quality.
The position is intended to provide both dry docking execution capability and year round technical project support to maximize utilization and business value. This aligns with the regional dry dock operating model where Superintendents maintain full lifecycle ownership of assigned projects. Reports to Regional Dry Dock Manager.
Specific Area of Responsibility:
Your main tasks will be:
Responsibilities
1. Dry Dock Project Ownership
- Manage assigned dry docking projects from initiation through final financial closure.
- Lead pre-docking inspections and scope definition.
- Develop technical specifications and work packages.
- Support shipyard selection and technical bid evaluations.
- Coordinate procurement requirements and long lead-time items.
- Execute projects safely, on schedule, and within approved CAPEX/OPEX budgets.
- Manage daily shipyard activities and contractor performance.
- Control variation orders and challenge unnecessary scope growth.
- Ensure technical quality and compliance with class and statutory requirements.
- Lead project close-out and lessons learned activities.
2. Cost Control & Commercial Management
- Monitor project budgets from preparation through final invoice settlement.
- Review and challenge contractor quotations.
- Support cost benchmarking between shipyards and vendors.
- Drive reduction of avoidable travel, accommodation, and logistics costs.
- Identify opportunities to standardize services and procurement packages.
- Support invoice reconciliation and project financial closure.
- Monitor project budgets from preparation through final invoice settlement.
- Review and challenge contractor quotations. Support cost benchmarking between shipyards and vendors.
- Drive reduction of avoidable travel, accommodation, and logistics costs.
- Identify opportunities to standardize services and procurement packages.
- Support invoice reconciliation and project financial closure.
3. Additional: Colombia Technical Support when not actively supervising a dry dock:
- Support technical preparation of future dockings.
- Conduct pre-docking inspections in Colombia and neigh boring countries.
- Support vessel condition assessments.
- Coordinate local vendors and contractors.
- Build and maintain local shipyard relationships.
- Assist technical managers in developing repair specifications.
- Support emergency repair projects and technical investigations.
- Coordinate with procurement teams regarding docking-related purchases.
- Minimize urgent freight and emergency purchases.
- Develop a local contractor and vendor network in Colombia.
4. Governance & Reporting
- Provide daily docking reports.
- Maintain project KPIs.
- Ensure documentation is properly uploaded and closed in Sertica.
- Drive compliance with Dock with Discipline milestones.
- Support continuous improvement initiatives and standardization.
KPIs
1. Project Performance
- Dry dock projects completed within approved CAPEX budget.
- Dry dock duration vs approved schedule.
- Variation order exposure.
- Number of delayed projects.
- Safety & Compliance
- Zero LTIs.
- Zero major environmental incidents.
- Class and statutory compliance achieved upon redelivery.
2. Commercial
- Cost avoidance through contractor negotiations.
- Reduction in travel and supervision mobilization costs.
- Invoice closure within target period after project completion.
3. Process
- Dock with Discipline milestone compliance.
- Sertica documentation completion.
- Lessons learned completed and shared.
Required/Preferred Education
- Graduation from a Marine Engineering Curriculum recognized by a national organization. National Maritime Academy preferred.
Training and competencies
· 5 years of work experience in the marine industry
· Shipyard Project Engineer / Project Manager
· Marine or Mechanical Engineer with ship-repair experience
· Chief Engineer / Marine Engineer looking to transition ashore
· Technical or Dry Dock Superintendent
· Spanish language skills preferred; English is required (technical and conversational).
· Familiar with Microsoft Office suite, Microsoft Project.
· Required expertise includes detailed knowledge in the operation and repair of marine equipment and systems, knowledge of the applicable classification and flag state requirements, specific experience with ship repair and repair management, ability to prepare and follow budgets. Incumbent has to be comfortable with deadlines and working under time and financial pressure. Incumbent must be capable of motivating employees and contractors.
· Competent in time and resource management, should be capable of managing sometimes conflicting goals within a project and of making value decisions within a highly constrained environment.
· Capable of managing subordinates of widely varying educational and motivational backgrounds. He/she should be capable of identifying and managing competing motivations and expectations.
- Good communication skills across multiple levels in the organization and with external and internal stakeholders.
- Ability to work in a global business environment with a strong sense of cultural diversity.
· Flexibility to travel for short or long periods of time if required.
Building a Diverse Workplace
In Svitzer we value the diversity of our talent and will always strive to recruit the best person for the job – we value diversity in all its forms, including but not limited to gender, age, nationality, race, sexual orientation, disability, or religious beliefs. We are proud of our diversity and see it as a genuine source of strength for building high performing teams.
Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that members from some under-represented groups are less likely to apply for jobs if they don’t meet every single qualification. At Svitzer we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles, and we are excited about hearing from you!
How to Apply
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