The posting
General Manager - Boats & Yacht Manufacturing Company - Jedddah, Saudi Arabia
About Talent at
Talent at is a Saudi platform specialized in executive, professional, and technical talent acquisition and development. We connect exceptional talent with ambitious organizations to accelerate growth and support Vision 2030. Our focus is on enhancing the capabilities of organizations by providing them with the right talent. Located in Saudi Arabia, Talent at is committed to contributing to the nation's vision for a prosperous and sustainable future.
Role Overview
Our confidential client is seeking a General Manager to lead and deliver end-to-end operations across a boats & yacht manufacturing business in Jeddah, translating company strategy into safe, high-quality, profitable, and on-time vessel delivery. The role oversees full yard and plant performance across production, planning, supply chain, quality, commissioning, sea trials, warranty, and customer handover, while ensuring strong cost control, operational discipline, compliance, and customer satisfaction.
Key Responsibilities
You will own full operational and manufacturing performance across the business and ensure disciplined execution across all stages of the vessel build lifecycle, from production planning through final delivery and after-sales support.
- Business Leadership & Operating Control: Translate strategic priorities into an annual operating plan; establish the business operating rhythm across production, delivery, quality, safety, and margin; align capacity, resources, and build schedules with commercial commitments; ensure clear accountability and escalation across the site.
- Manufacturing & Production Execution: Lead day-to-day yard and plant operations across hull construction, assembly, outfitting, systems integration, painting, interiors, commissioning, and launch readiness; monitor milestone delivery; remove bottlenecks; improve workflow and site productivity.
- Production Planning & Yard Efficiency: Ensure build sequencing is realistic and aligned to engineering release, material availability, labor planning, and yard capacity; improve layout, material movement, staging, and production control to support reliable delivery performance.
- Supply Chain & Vendor Management: Oversee coordination with Procurement and Supply Chain to secure critical materials, marine equipment, and outsourced scopes; manage supplier and subcontractor performance on delivery, quality, responsiveness, and technical compliance.
- Quality, Commissioning & Handover: Ensure strong QA/QC control across all build stages; enforce inspection points, defect control, non-conformance closure, and root-cause corrective action; lead readiness for dock tests, sea trials, final acceptance, and vessel handover.
- Financial Control & Margin Protection: Own operating cost discipline across labor, material waste, rework, subcontracted works, overheads, and productivity; monitor build-cost performance versus budget; work with Finance to improve visibility on WIP, cost variances, and recovery actions.
- HSE, Compliance & Risk: Ensure safe execution across fabrication, lifting, hot work, confined space entry, electrical work, launch operations, and sea-trial activities; maintain compliance with internal controls, labor and environmental requirements, and marine operational standards as applicable.
- Leadership & Team Development: Lead and develop the site management team through KPIs, structured reviews, coaching, and visible floor leadership; strengthen capability across planning, execution, quality, and people management.
- Continuous Improvement & New Product Introduction: Drive lean and continuous improvement initiatives focused on flow, quality, cycle-time reduction, and waste elimination; support new product introduction through manufacturing readiness, tooling preparedness, and operational risk control.
- Warranty & After-Sales Support: Ensure warranty issues, recurring defects, and customer feedback are tracked, analyzed, and converted into corrective action and product/process improvements.
Qualifications
- 12+ years of manufacturing and operations experience, including at least 5 years in a senior plant, yard, or multi-function leadership role.
- Proven experience in boats, yachts, marine manufacturing, shipbuilding, or similar engineered-to-order industrial environments.
- Strong track record in production planning, yard operations, supply chain coordination, quality control, commissioning readiness, and delivery execution.
- Strong financial and commercial acumen, with proven ability to manage cost, labor productivity, margin, and operational risk.
- Proven leadership capability across cross-functional teams in deadline-driven production environments.
- Strong decision-making, accountability, stakeholder management, and execution discipline.
Preferred / Nice-to-have
- Bachelors degree in Marine Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field.
- Experience in composite manufacturing, aluminum/steel fabrication, marine systems integration, high-end outfitting, and vessel commissioning.
- Exposure to ERP/MRP systems, lean manufacturing tools, visual management, and continuous improvement programs.
- Experience working with marine inspection requirements, acceptance processes, export deliveries, or owner-representative environments.
- Lean / Six Sigma, quality, HSE, or project management certification.
Success Metrics
- Production planning and execution are more disciplined, visible, and predictable across fabrication, outfitting, testing, commissioning, and delivery.
- On-time vessel delivery improves through stronger milestone control, better bottleneck management, and more effective cross-functional coordination.
- Build-cost performance improves through tighter labor control, reduced rework, improved material planning, and stronger variance visibility.
- QA/QC gates are embedded and functioning effectively, with improved first-pass quality and reduced defect recurrence.
- Supplier and subcontractor performance improves through stronger expediting, accountability, and operational coordination.
- HSE performance is stable and well-managed, with stronger compliance and reduced operational risk.
- Sea-trial and commissioning readiness improve, resulting in smoother handover and fewer late punch-list items.
- Warranty and after-sales issues are better controlled through lessons learned, corrective action, and stronger manufacturing feedback loops.
Equal Opportunity Statement:
Talent at and our confidential client welcome applications from qualified candidates. Hiring decisions are made based on role requirements, skills, and experience.
