Location: China (on-site) Exact location to be disclosed to shortlisted candidates.
Language: Business Mandarin fluency mandatory (spoken and written); English a strong plus for industry/vendor engagement
The Opportunity
A growing player in the shipping sector — is entering a pivotal phase: rising fleet capacity, tightening environmental regulation, and accelerating digitalization across the industry. The business is scaling across global trade lanes while managing fleet renewal and cost discipline.
This is a rare build-from-the-ground-up mandate — not a maintenance role. You will own the digital strategy end-to-end and have direct executive visibility.
What You'll Do
- Set the strategy. Translate corporate strategy into a forward-looking, multi-year digital roadmap; unify technology architecture, data standards, and business processes across a currently fragmented systems landscape.
- Own the roadmap. Lead the design of core digital scenarios — vessel management, finance-operations integration, ship-shore interaction — and drive systems from "reactive support" toward "strategic enabler," with data-driven decision-making at the core.
- Go deep on the business. Understand the operational realities of chemical shipping specifically — vessel operations, safety management, customer service — including familiarity with industry frameworks such as SIRE inspections.
- Run the portfolio. Take full lifecycle ownership of key digital projects, especially vessel management, finance-operations integration, and ship-shore systems. Build out IT governance, data security, and risk management frameworks.
- Build the team. Lead and grow the existing digital team; shift the team's mindset from project delivery to value delivery, building both technical and business fluency.
- Drive innovation. Benchmark against leading global shipping companies (platform/API-driven architectures are the industry direction); localize proven approaches for chemical/specialty shipping; build research partnerships with top maritime universities on AI, big data, and new-energy applications in shipping.
- Bachelor's degree or above in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Maritime/Shipping Management, Marine Engineering, or related field; Master's preferred.
- Strong understanding of the shipping industry, shipping operating models, safety standards (e.g. SIRE), and management processes.
- 5+ years as a senior IT leader (CIO/CTO/IT Director level or equivalent) at a large enterprise, with a proven track record of leading digital transformation from 0 to 1 — strategy through execution. Experience at a major shipping company.
- Solid grounding in enterprise architecture, cloud computing, data governance, and cybersecurity, with a sharp perspective on smart shipping and AI trends.
- Strong leadership, cross-functional influence, and team-building skills.
- Mandarin fluency is required for this role; based in China.