HR Manager – Ports & Terminal Operations
Location: Aqaba, Jordan
Function: Human Resources / People & Culture
Level: Senior Management
Industry: Ports, Terminals, Logistics & Maritime Operations
Reporting to: HR Director / Chief People Officer
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded HR Manager to lead the HR function supporting a major port/terminal operation in Aqaba.
This is a strategic and operational HR leadership role, partnering closely with terminal and operational leadership to build a high-performing, engaged and safety-focused workforce.
The role operates at the intersection of People, Operations and Business Performance, translating business priorities into effective people strategies while ensuring strong HR governance, employee relations, workforce productivity and compliance.
Key Responsibilities
HR Business Partnership & Strategy
- Act as the senior HR partner to the Terminal General Manager and operational leadership.
- Develop and execute HR strategies aligned with business and operational priorities.
- Translate business plans into workforce, talent and organizational requirements.
- Provide data-driven HR insights and recommendations.
- Influence leadership decisions and ensure HR initiatives contribute to productivity, efficiency and engagement.
Workforce Planning & Organizational Effectiveness
- Lead workforce planning considering operational volumes, shifts, seasonality and future requirements.
- Ensure the right workforce and capabilities are available at the right time.
- Review organizational structures and workforce models to improve efficiency.
- Identify critical roles, capability gaps and future workforce needs.
- Support manpower optimization and succession planning.
Employee & Labour Relations
- Lead employee relations across the terminal workforce.
- Manage complex employee relations cases, grievances, disciplinary matters and investigations.
- Build constructive relationships with employees, managers and employee representatives.
- Ensure consistent application of policies and promote fairness, accountability and transparency.
Talent & Workforce Capability
- Partner with Talent Acquisition to attract and retain critical operational and technical talent.
- Define workforce requirements for new operations, expansion and organizational change.
- Support onboarding, leadership development, career progression and succession planning.
- Build capability pipelines for critical operational and management roles.
Performance, Engagement & Culture
- Drive a strong performance culture across the terminal.
- Partner with leaders on meaningful objectives and KPIs.
- Use workforce analytics to identify productivity, absenteeism, turnover and other risks.
- Lead employee engagement and listening initiatives.
- Promote psychological safety, employee voice, open communication and a strong organizational culture.
Learning & Development
- Identify critical capability requirements across terminal operations.
- Partner with L&D teams on technical, leadership and behavioral development.
- Support competency frameworks, career pathways and frontline leadership development.
Compensation, HR Operations & Governance
- Partner with HR teams on compensation, benefits and payroll processes.
- Monitor workforce costs and support manpower and personnel cost planning.
- Ensure efficient, accurate and compliant HR operations.
- Ensure compliance with applicable Jordanian labour laws and regulations.
- Lead HR audits, governance requirements and people-related risk management.
Health, Safety & Wellbeing
- Partner with HSSE leadership to strengthen the workforce safety culture.
- Support initiatives addressing fatigue, shift work, employee welfare and wellbeing.
- Ensure HR practices support safety objectives and people-related risk management.
Operational Environment
The successful candidate should be comfortable operating in a complex environment characterized by:
- 24/7 port and terminal operations
- Shift-based and frontline workforces
- Large operational headcount
- Operational and technical roles
- Contractors and third-party workforce
- High safety and compliance requirements
- Variable operational volumes
- Employee representative environments, where applicable
- Multicultural and diverse workforces
- Strong dependency between workforce productivity and operational performance
Previous Experience
The ideal candidate will bring:
- 10–15+ years of progressive HR experience, including senior HR management or HR business partnering.
- Proven experience in ports, terminals, maritime, logistics, shipping, transportation, industrial or similarly complex operational environments.
- Strong experience supporting large frontline and operational workforces.
- Demonstrated capability in workforce planning, employee relations, performance management and organizational development.
- Experience partnering directly with senior operational leaders.
- Strong understanding of labour relations and employment legislation.
- Experience in 24/7 or shift-based environments is highly desirable.
- Experience in organizational change, restructuring or workforce transformation is an advantage.
- Exposure to multinational and multicultural organizations is preferred.
Education & Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, Management or a related discipline.
- Master's degree / MBA is preferred.
- CIPD, SHRM or equivalent HR certification is an advantage.
Core Competencies
- Strategic HR Leadership – connecting people strategy with operational and commercial objectives.
- Business Acumen – understanding how workforce decisions affect productivity, cost and business performance.
- Employee Relations – sound judgement in complex and sensitive matters.
- Stakeholder Management – ability to influence senior leaders and engage frontline employees.
- Data-Driven HR – using workforce analytics to identify trends, risks and opportunities.
- Change Leadership – leading people through transformation and organizational change.
- Leadership Development – building strong operational leadership capability.
- Communication – effective communication across executive and frontline levels.
- Cultural Intelligence – operating effectively in diverse and multicultural environments.
Key Success Measures
Success will be measured through:
- Workforce productivity and manpower efficiency
- Employee engagement and retention
- Absenteeism and turnover
- Critical-role vacancy and succession coverage
- Employee relations effectiveness
- Leadership capability
- HR service delivery and compliance
- Workforce cost optimization
- Successful delivery of people initiatives
- Alignment of workforce capability with operational requirements
- Contribution to a strong safety and performance culture
The Ideal Candidate
We are looking for more than an HR professional who understands HR processes.
We are looking for a business-oriented HR leader who understands operations — someone who can understand the pressures facing a terminal, engage credibly with senior management and frontline employees, use workforce data to make informed decisions, challenge existing practices and translate business challenges into practical people solutions.
The ideal candidate is strategic enough to influence the executive team and operational enough to understand what happens on the ground.
Why This Role Matters
Ports and terminals are critical engines of trade and economic activity. Behind every vessel, cargo movement and operational milestone is a workforce that makes it happen.
This role will play a critical part in ensuring the organization has the right people, capabilities, leadership, culture and workforce structure to deliver operational excellence.
It is an opportunity for an experienced HR leader to create visible impact across both people and business performance within a strategically important maritime environment.
