Capability Lead - Towing

Position: Capability Lead - Towing

Location: his role is open to candidates based in Ireland and UK and can be carried out on a remote, hybrid or office-based basis from our Dundalk, Co. Louth office.

Reports to: COO

About XOCEAN

XOCEAN is an ocean data company – we collect data for clients ranging from mapping the seabed to monitoring the environment. However, we do this differently, instead of using conventional crewed survey ships, we have developed a marine robotic system known as an Uncrewed Surface Vessel (USV). XOCEAN is an impact-led carbon neutral company. Our mission is to unlock the power of the ocean with insight, for a better tomorrow.

Overview

The Capability Lead - Towing will have end-to-end ownership of the performance and commercial success of XOCEAN's towing capability. Working across Operations, Technology, Maintenance, Survey, Geophysics and the XOC, the role will ensure towing scales as a safe and reliable capability, delivering consistently high productivity and the required quality of data.

This is a hands-on, cross-functional role for someone who can see the whole operating system, identify any areas limiting performance and take ownership of improvements through to implementation. The role will focus on productivity, utilisation, cost and commercial optimisation.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

• Own and monitor the end-to-end operational and commercial performance of our towing capability, establishing clear metrics across productivity, utilisation, reliability and cost and reporting on performance, issues and improvement priorities.
• Define and continuously improve towing standards, operating practices, operational readiness and fleet standardisation to maximise safe, reliable, efficient and scalable performance.
• Review towing operations and lessons learned, identify and lead practical improvements that increase productivity, reduce cost and support scalability.
• Work with Maintenance and Engineering to ensure towing equipment, sensors, winches, cables and spares are available, maintained and capable of delivering the required performance.
• Work with our geophysics and operational teams to ensure towing operations consistently deliver the data quality required for each mission.
• Ensure operators have the appropriate towing knowledge, training and competency to operate systems effectively and troubleshoot issues.
• Develop and prioritise improvement recommendations and business cases, taking ownership of implementation across the relevant functions and supporting the long-term development of the capability.
• Provide towing expertise to support bids, project planning and client engagement where required.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Performance measures will evolve as the towing capability matures and will include:

• Towing Productivity & Utilisation
• Operational Readiness & Towing Reliability
• Right First-Time Performance and required data quality
• Cost and efficiency of towing operations
• Delivery of continuous improvement

Essential Experience

• Experience working with complex technical or operational systems, ideally within marine, offshore, survey, engineering or a comparable environment.
• Strong systems thinking with the ability to understand the interaction between equipment, people, processes, and operational performance.
• Demonstrated ability to identify performance issues, determine root causes, and drive improvements across multiple teams.
• Comfortable using operational data and metrics to assess performance and prioritise action.
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to align and deliver outcomes across functional boundaries without
• Practical, proactive and solutions-focused, with the confidence to take ownership of problems through to resolution.
• Commercially aware, with the judgement to balance technical, operational and commercial priorities and make sound decisions in a complex environment.

Apply

• Applicants must demonstrate how they meet the essential criteria. Desirable criteria may be used for further shortlisting.
• We thank all candidates for their interest, however due to very high volumes, only those who are selected for further consideration, will be contacted directly.
• To be eligible for this position you must have a valid working visa / permit to work in Ireland/UK.
• Please apply online and follow the instructions or submit your CV to careers@xocean.com.