Senior Chartering Manager

Location: Athens, Greece or relocate to Athens, Greece.

Fleet: Dry bulk (Handysize to Capesize)

Languages: Fluent English (spoken and written) — required

Reports to: Senior Management

Role Summary

We are looking for a Senior Chartering Manager who is, first and foremost, a hands-on dealmaker — someone who personally originates and closes business through their own network, rather than managing a desk that waits for cargo or counterparties to come in. This is not a supervisory or purely strategic role: you will be expected to pick up the phone to your own contacts at shipowners, charterers and trading houses, and actively win business on a daily basis. Leadership of the chartering team is part of the role, but the core of it is your own personal fixture activity and market relationships.

Key Responsibilities:

• Personally originate and close fixtures using your own network of shipowners, charterers, operators and trading houses: this is an active, hands-on fixing role, not a coordination or oversight function.
• Proactively drive new business: reach out to your own contacts, open new counterparties and trade lanes, and convert relationships into fixtures rather than waiting for opportunities to be brought to you.
• Bring and actively use an existing, personal network at the commercial desks of major dry bulk shipowners, operators and trading houses, relationships you can pick up and use from day one.
• Apply FFA and freight derivatives as a core part of your commercial toolkit: sizing and using hedges to manage bunker and freight exposure, not just understanding them conceptually.
• Set strategy for the employment of the dry bulk fleet (Handysize to Capesize) across time charter, voyage charter and COA business, and continuously extract the best terms available in the market rather than accepting the first offer.
• Monitor freight markets on an ongoing basis: Baltic indices, bunker prices, supply/demand trends, and translate market intelligence into fixture decisions in real time.
• Lead, mentor and calibrate the chartering team, including the Assistant Chartering function, setting the standard for proactive market coverage and negotiation.
• Coordinate with operations, post-fixture, technical and finance teams to ensure smooth execution from fixture to voyage completion.
• Own P&L performance of the chartering desk; report fixture activity, market positioning and results to senior management.
• Ensure all fixtures comply with company policy, sanctions/KYC requirements and P&I Club conditions.

Requirements

• 5-7+ years of experience in dry bulk chartering, with a proven, verifiable fixture track record across Handysize to Capesize segments: deals you closed yourself, not ones executed by a team you managed.
• An established, personal network of contacts at major shipowners, operators and trading houses that can be actively used from the first week on the job.
• Hands-on experience using FFA and other freight derivatives to manage commercial and bunker risk is required.
• Demonstrated history of proactively winning business — opening new counterparties, trade lanes or clients — rather than only managing existing relationships or inbound flow.
• Prior experience leading or effectively running a chartering desk or team is strongly preferred.
• Dry bulk fleet experience is mandatory — tanker, container or offshore-only backgrounds will not be considered.
• Fluent English is required, spoken and written.
• Established network of owners, charterers and brokers in the dry bulk market.
• Strong command of charter party forms (e.g., NYPE, Gencon), laytime/demurrage principles and freight settlement.
• Sharp negotiation skills combined with a hands-on, deal-closing mindset — this is not a purely supervisory role.
• Analytical approach to market data (Baltic Exchange indices, bunker markets, vessel supply/demand).
• Based in, or willing to relocate to Athens, Greece.
• Degree in shipping, maritime studies, economics, business or a related field is an advantage.