Head / General Manager – Cranes
Company: GloboTrans ProLogistix Private Limited
Department: Crane Services
Base Location: Mumbai
Reporting To: Director
Role Mix: 50% Sales & Business Development | 50% Operations & Service Excellence
Travel: Extensive travel to ports, project sites, plants, shore bases and client locations across India
Direct Reports: Vertical Operations, Sales and Support Team – structure to be finalised
1. Role Purpose
The Head / General Manager – Cranes will be responsible for driving the overall growth, profitability and operational excellence of the Crane Services vertical.
The role will have end-to-end responsibility for business development, P&L, fleet utilisation, client relationships, operational performance, safety, maintenance and service delivery.
The incumbent will be expected to expand the crane services business beyond existing anchor contracts by developing new institutional clients and building long-term relationships across ports, oil & gas shore bases, steel plants, EPC companies, manufacturing facilities and project sites.
The role requires a strong combination of commercial acumen, sales leadership, crane operations expertise, asset management and people leadership.
2. Key ResponsibilitiesA. Business Development & Sales – 50%P&L and Business Ownership
- Own the Crane Services vertical's revenue, gross margin and EBITDA targets.
- Develop and execute the annual business plan, budgets and quarterly forecasts.
- Identify opportunities to improve revenue, profitability and asset utilisation.
- Monitor business performance against agreed financial and operational targets.
New Business Development
- Build, manage and convert a qualified pipeline of new business opportunities.
- Identify and develop relationships with PSUs, MNCs, EPC companies, ports, manufacturing companies, oil & gas companies and other institutional clients.
- Lead RFQ/RFP/tender responses, solution design, technical-commercial proposals, pricing and negotiations.
- Drive the complete sales cycle from lead generation and client engagement through to contract closure and mobilisation.
- Develop new markets and customer segments for crane hire and O&M services.
Key Account Management
- Act as the senior relationship owner and escalation point for key clients.
- Strengthen existing client relationships and ensure high levels of customer satisfaction.
- Lead Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and performance discussions with key customers.
- Drive contract renewals, extensions and year-on-year revenue growth.
- Identify opportunities for increasing wallet share within existing accounts.
Cross-Selling & Integrated Solutions
- Identify cross-selling opportunities across GloboTrans businesses, including:
- Customs Clearance
- Freight Forwarding
- Warehousing
- CFS
- SEZ/FTWZ
- Transportation
- Project Cargo
- Crane Services
- Develop integrated logistics solutions for customers wherever applicable.
Market Intelligence
- Monitor competitor activity, market pricing and industry developments.
- Track demand trends, trade flows, infrastructure projects and regulatory changes.
- Identify emerging opportunities in the crane rental, O&M and project logistics market.
- Provide management with insights for pricing, investment and business strategy.
Commercial Governance
- Ensure all commercial proposals, contracts, rate agreements and credit terms are properly documented and approved.
- Ensure compliance with the company's delegation of authority and risk-management requirements.
- Monitor customer receivables, credit exposure and DSO.
- Manage commercial risks, claims, deductions and contract-related disputes.
3. Operations & Service Excellence – 50%Service Excellence & SLA Management
- Establish and achieve defined SLA/KPI standards for the Crane Services vertical.
- Drive daily operational reviews and performance monitoring.
- Establish an effective exception-management process.
- Conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and implement Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA) for service failures.
- Ensure consistent service quality across all operating locations.
SOPs & Process Discipline
- Develop, implement and periodically review:
- SOPs
- Work Instructions
- Client-specific operating procedures
- Emergency response procedures
- Crane mobilisation and demobilisation procedures
- Standardise operational practices across sites, shifts and teams.
- Ensure strict adherence to approved processes and documentation requirements.
Compliance & Statutory Requirements
- Ensure compliance with all applicable labour, GST, environmental, safety and other statutory requirements relevant to the business.
- Ensure all operational locations remain audit-ready.
- Maintain complete and updated statutory, equipment and employee documentation.
- Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders for statutory inspections and certifications.
Health, Safety & Environment (HSE)
- Champion a Zero-Harm Safety Culture across the Crane Services vertical.
- Ensure regular toolbox talks and safety briefings.
- Enforce PPE and safe-working practices.
- Ensure timely reporting and investigation of incidents and near misses.
- Monitor safety performance and implement corrective actions.
- Ensure compliance with applicable lifting, crane operation and site safety requirements.
People Leadership
- Build, develop and retain a high-performing operations and commercial team.
- Define KRAs and KPIs for team members.
- Conduct periodic performance reviews and provide coaching and development.
- Identify high-potential employees and develop succession plans.
- Manage subcontracted manpower and ensure productivity and discipline.
- Promote a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
Cost & Productivity Management
- Drive improvement in operational productivity and cost efficiency.
- Monitor cost per transaction / cost per tonne / cost per operating hour, as applicable.
- Optimise manpower deployment, equipment utilisation and vendor costs.
- Negotiate with vendors and subcontractors to improve commercial efficiency.
- Identify opportunities for automation, waste elimination and process improvement.
Digitalisation & MIS
- Ensure effective utilisation of operating systems such as ERP, TMS, WMS, track-and-trace and other relevant digital platforms.
- Establish accurate and timely operational and financial MIS.
- Develop dashboards covering:
- Fleet utilisation
- Crane availability
- Revenue
- Profitability
- Breakdown
- Maintenance
- Safety
- Client SLA performance
- Receivables
- Provide periodic management reports and business reviews.
4. Crane Services – Vertical-Specific Responsibilities Commercial Growth
- Develop and sell wet-lease, dry-lease, crane hire and Operate & Maintain (O&M) contracts.
- Handle cranes in the 25–400 MT class, depending on business requirements.
- Target customers across:
- Ports
- Oil & Gas Shore Bases
- Steel Plants
- EPC Companies
- Manufacturing Facilities
- Infrastructure Projects
- Project Sites
- Structure competitive and commercially viable:
- Rate schedules
- Mobilisation/demobilisation charges
- Minimum guaranteed hours
- Escalation clauses
- Downtime provisions
- Maintenance responsibilities
- Performance-linked commercial terms
Fleet & Asset Management
- Own overall crane fleet deployment and utilisation planning.
- Maximise fleet utilisation and hire revenue per crane.
- Evaluate requirements for:
- Purchase
- Leasing
- Sub-hiring
- Replacement
- Redeployment
- Plan equipment deployment based on demand and project requirements.
- Monitor asset lifecycle, operating costs, residual value and utilisation.
- Prepare business cases and CAPEX proposals for additional equipment.
Maintenance & Equipment Uptime
- Establish preventive and predictive maintenance programmes.
- Ensure effective breakdown response and maintenance planning.
- Maintain adequate critical spare parts and consumables.
- Monitor equipment condition and maintenance history.
- Establish breakdown response SLAs.
- Target crane availability of ≥95%, subject to contractual and operational requirements.
- Minimise downtime-related revenue leakage, client deductions and service penalties.
- Analyse MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and MTTR (Mean Time to Repair) trends.
Statutory, Certification & Lifting Safety
- Ensure all cranes have valid inspection, testing and certification documentation.
- Ensure timely third-party load testing and statutory certifications.
- Ensure operator competency, licensing and training requirements are fulfilled.
- Ensure strict compliance with:
- Approved load charts
- Safe Working Load (SWL)
- Lifting plans
- Rigging procedures
- Site-specific safety requirements
- Ensure lifting plans are approved and implemented before critical lifting operations.
- Ensure rigging equipment is inspected and certified as required.
Contract Performance
- Monitor all contractual KPIs and performance obligations.
- Ensure compliance with equipment availability, turnaround time and service-level commitments.
- Manage downtime deductions, pro-rata deductions, claims and commercial disputes.
- Ensure accurate hire records, equipment logs and supporting documentation.
- Monitor subcontracted equipment quality and performance where cranes are sub-hired.
- Ensure proper mobilisation, deployment and demobilisation of equipment.
5. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
The performance of the incumbent will be evaluated against the following key parameters:
Business & Financial
- Revenue vs. annual budget
- Gross Margin vs. budget
- EBITDA vs. budget
- New business revenue added (₹ Cr / annum)
- Pipeline value and conversion rate
- Revenue growth from existing accounts
- Fleet utilisation %
- Hire revenue per crane
Operations & Asset Performance
- Crane availability / uptime – target ≥95%
- MTBF improvement
- MTTR reduction
- Equipment utilisation
- Breakdown frequency and response time
- SLA adherence
- Turnaround Time (TAT)
Safety & Compliance
- Zero lifting-related incidents
- Zero reportable safety incidents
- 100% valid equipment test certificates
- 100% statutory compliance
- Safety audit score
- Near-miss reporting and closure
- PPE and toolbox-talk compliance
Customer
- Client retention rate
- Revenue churn
- Contract renewal rate
- Client satisfaction / NPS
- SLA compliance
- Number and value of client escalations
- Key-account revenue growth
Commercial
- DSO and receivables ageing
- Contract deduction exposure
- Claims and dispute resolution
- Vendor/subcontractor cost optimisation
People
- Team attrition
- Employee productivity
- Training and competency compliance
- Succession readiness
- Manpower utilisation
6. Qualifications & Experience Educational Qualification
- Graduate in any discipline.
- Technical / Engineering qualification will be an added advantage.
Experience
- Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in crane services, heavy equipment, project logistics, equipment rental, ports, O&M or a related industry.
- Minimum 5 years in a senior leadership position with independent responsibility for P&L and business development/sales targets.
- Proven experience in managing crane operations and/or heavy lifting equipment.
- Demonstrable track record of winning and retaining institutional clients.
- Experience dealing with PSUs, MNCs, EPC companies, manufacturing organisations, ports, oil & gas companies and EXIM-related businesses will be preferred.
Functional Expertise
- Crane rental / hire business
- Crane operations and fleet management
- Equipment maintenance and uptime management
- O&M contracts
- Business development and institutional sales
- Tender/RFQ/RFP management
- Contract and commercial management
- P&L management
- Client relationship management
- Safety and statutory compliance
7. Leadership CompetenciesEntrepreneurial Ownership
- Operates the Crane Services vertical as a business owner, not merely as a functional head.
- Takes complete accountability for revenue, profitability, people and service delivery.
Consultative Selling
- Ability to understand customer requirements and develop commercially viable solutions.
- Comfortable engaging with CXO-level stakeholders and senior decision-makers.
Operational Rigour
- Strong attention to detail.
- Data-driven and process-oriented approach.
- Ability to manage multiple sites, projects and customer requirements simultaneously.
Commercial Acumen
- Strong negotiation and pricing capabilities.
- Ability to evaluate commercial risks and contractual obligations.
- Strong understanding of margins, cost structures and profitability drivers.
Stakeholder Management
- Strong relationship-management skills with:
- Clients
- Port authorities
- Government authorities
- Regulators
- Vendors
- Subcontractors
- Employees and unions
- Internal business functions
Safety & Compliance Mindset
- Strong commitment to safety, statutory compliance and ethical business practices.
- Demonstrates a compliance-first and zero-tolerance approach to unsafe practices.
People Leadership
- Ability to build and lead multidisciplinary teams.
- Strong coaching, mentoring and performance-management capabilities.
- Ability to create accountability and ownership within the team.
Communication
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Fluency in English and Hindi.
- Ability to communicate effectively with senior management, clients and operational teams.
8. Travel & Mobility
The position requires extensive travel across India to ports, shore bases, project sites, manufacturing plants, EPC locations and client offices.
The incumbent should be comfortable managing operations and client relationships across multiple geographical locations.
9. Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate will be a commercially strong crane-services leader who combines hands-on operational expertise with a proven ability to build business.
The person should have a strong network among ports, PSUs, EPC companies, oil & gas, steel, manufacturing and infrastructure clients, along with the ability to independently manage P&L, sales, fleet utilisation, maintenance, safety, client relationships and people.
The role is best suited to an entrepreneurial leader who can grow the Crane Services vertical, improve asset utilisation and profitability, strengthen operational discipline, and establish GloboTrans as a preferred crane-services partner across India.
Benefits:
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Provident Fund
Application Question(s):
- Do you have experience in Business Development or Sales in the Crane/Heavy Equipment industry?
Work Location: In person
