Ports & Terminals Procurement Manager

Led by Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group is a global leader in shipping and logistics, serving more than 420 ports around the world on five continents. With its subsidiary CEVA Logistics and CMA CGM AIR CARGO, the group continues to innovate across shipping, land, air and logistics solutions for its customers.

The company is committed to the energy transition in shipping and aims to reach Net Zero Carbon by 2050. Through the CMA CGM Foundation, the group also mobilizes its shipping and logistics expertise to respond to humanitarian crises worldwide.

Operating in 160 countries via more than 400 offices and 750 warehouses, the CMA CGM Group employs over 155,000 people globally, including 4,000 in Marseilles where its head office is located.

This role is part of the Abu Dhabi Regional Office (ADRO), covering a broad geographic zone from Southern Africa to the Indian Subcontinent. They’re looking for a Ports & Terminals (P&T) Procurement Manager to join the Abu Dhabi team, taking ownership of procurement and supplier relationship management for the assigned portfolio.

A day in the life at the ADRO procurement desk

You’ll shape the annual budget for your portfolio and push sourcing and optimization efforts that unlock real value. Building and maintaining strong relationships with current suppliers and potential partners will be a core focus, with a constant eye on cost drivers and opportunities across spend patterns.

Staying close to market trends is essential, and you’ll conduct ongoing research to spot risks and opportunities that can feed into category strategies. You’ll model total costs and supplier offers to unlock savings and value, while coordinating with cross-functional teams to translate requirements into effective sourcing approaches. You’ll also contribute to leadership discussions with market insights and ensure assets are deployed cost-effectively under existing contracts.

Leading workshops to generate creative ideas with suppliers and internal stakeholders will be part of the job, with accountability for driving results in the identified initiatives. Contract negotiations should align with the Group Purchasing process and the six-step sourcing framework, while you coordinate with Operations teams to embed service level agreements and secure ongoing contract improvement. You’ll monitor performance against contractual terms, address deviations, and take appropriate actions. The portfolio will rely on your ownership of costs, performance, supplier relationships, stakeholders, systems, compliance and documentation, with up-to-date information in internal tools and category playbooks. You’ll also map internal and external stakeholders and push for professionalization through playbooks, supplier scorecards and formal relationship programs. Communicating complex ideas to senior stakeholders clearly will be part of your regular conversations, and you’ll contribute to broader cross-functional procurement strategies while delivering on time in a high-speed environment.

The fit you need: capabilities and credentials

Must-have capabilities

• Seven to ten years of experience in procurement, operations or commercial roles within container terminals, ports, shipping or logistics, preferably tied to procurement in these sectors.
• Fluency in English, with excellent written and spoken communication; knowledge of French or Arabic is a plus.
• Solid grasp of ports and terminals operations and liner shipping processes.
• Strong negotiation skills with experience handling different types of negotiations.
• Background in Category Management and Supplier Relationship Management.
• Proven project management ability and comfort handling ambiguity in a dynamic environment.
• Sharp analytical and problem-solving abilities, with comfort building analytical models and working with large data sets.
• Excellent stakeholder management and the ability to influence without formal authority, plus conflict-resolution skills.
• Finance knowledge enabling you to interpret P&L figures and financial statements relevant to procurement decisions.
• Legal understanding related to commercial contracts and concession agreements.
• Detail-oriented, with a data-driven approach to decisions.
• Structured, proactive mindset with a knack for creative thinking.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (especially Excel and PowerPoint); familiarity with Power BI and Excel dashboards is an added bonus.
• Willingness and ability to travel internationally in line with business needs.

• French or Arabic language skills are a bonus beyond the must-haves.
• Experience using Power BI or similar dashboard tools to present sourcing performance would help you stand out.

Tips to stand out for this port role

Highlight on your resume a track record spanning seven to ten years in ports, terminals, or shipping procurement, with concrete examples of category management, supplier relationship work, and successful negotiations that delivered measurable value.

Show how you’ve built and managed analytical models to compare should-costs, supplier offers, and total cost of ownership, and share a story about turning data into a cost-saving or value-generating initiative within a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.

Prepare for interviews with concrete scenarios where you navigated cross-functional collaboration, defined sourcing strategies, and ensured SLAs were met. Be ready to discuss how you handle ambiguity and drive results in a fast-moving regional setting like ADRO.

Ask a targeted question about how the team measures supplier performance and traces value delivery against contracts, and what the leadership team views as the most impactful recent procurement initiative within the portfolio.