VP, Horizontal Transportation

At Konecranes, we believe that great customer experience is built on the people behind the Konecranes name. Everything we do, we do with passion and drive. We believe diversity drives business success and is the foundation for our growth. We welcome different backgrounds and skills that enrich our community and we promote a place where we can ALL be ourselves. This is what makes Konecranes a unique place to work.

Konecranes Port Solutions is looking for a strategic business leader who will have full E2E profit and loss responsibility for the business line Horizontal Transportation. From business strategy, product development, go to market, sales & marketing, project management. You will report to the Senior Vice President, BU Horizontal & Yard. 

In this position, you will be responsible for the global Horizontal Transportation business, for our products Straddle Carrier, AGV´s and ECSS (Software Solutions). The team is largely based in Central Europe and comprises approximately 300 employees. The teams are located mainly in Germany (Düsseldorf and Würzburg) and Netherlands. 

Due to the global nature of the role, regular travel is required, approximately once/twice a month depends on business needs. 

Your responsibilities:

• Leadership: Building and developing a high-performing management team, establishing an inclusive, innovative, and responsible corporate culture. Focus on customer satisfaction, risk management, technological advancement, compliance, and governance standards.
• Strategy: Responsible for developing and implementing strategic plans to achieve business line objectives, in close collaboration with BU Horizontal & Yard and alignment with the broader business area and Group strategy. Emphasis on transparency, cross-divisional cooperation (especially with other Port Solutions business units), customer orientation, and lifetime value thinking.
• Financial Responsibility: Management of the business line’s financial performance, including budgeting, forecasting, and reporting. Ensuring profitability and efficiency through continuous performance evaluation and timely corrective actions.
• Market Development: Identification and development of new business opportunities based on comprehensive market analysis, prioritization, and customer feedback. Creation and execution of growth strategies and management of the product portfolio to close market gaps.
• Portfolio: Development and maintenance of a market-driven product portfolio and roadmap, considering customer requirements, manufacturability, cost structure, and interfaces to automation development.
• Customer Centricity: Meeting customer needs and expectations, as well as developing and maintaining strong relationships with key customers and stakeholders.
• Positioning: Promotion of a holistic system approach to strengthen KC’s position as a system integrator, definition of the offering and pricing strategy in close coordination with sales and marketing.

What you should bring with you:

• Education: A completed university degree in a relevant discipline, such as industrial engineering, electrical and automation engineering, business administration, IT, or a comparable field.
• Experience: At least 10 years of senior leadership experience within the OEM environment (ideally in the ports industry), including areas such as sales, product management and oversight of large organizations.
• Expertise: Profound business acumen and strong financial know-how, commercial and contractual knowledge, with a proven track record in developing and implementing long-term strategies, as well as adaptability to evolving challenges and expertise of large scale automation projects.
• Personality: strong leadership skills, strategic vision, and execution strength. Strong customer orientation with a focus on sustainable value creation. Intercultural competence, excellent communication skills, and a collaborative management style. Willingness for regular international travel is required.

Additional information

If this sparked your interest, apply for the position via the Konecranes careers site. This vacancy is open until  2nd of August 2026. We appreciate early applications, as we will start interviewing on the go, and the position is filled when the suitable candidate is found.   

Have questions?    For further information about the role, please reach out to Daria Zhuravleva, Global Talent Acquisition Specialist via daria.zhuravleva (at) konecranes.com

Konecranes moves what matters. We are a global leader in material handling solutions, serving a broad range of customers across multiple industries. We consistently set the industry benchmark, from everyday improvements to the breakthroughs at moments that matter most, because we know we can always find a safer, more productive and sustainable way. That's why, with 16 000+ professionals in over 50 countries, we are trusted every day to lift, handle and move what the world needs.

Konecranes is committed to ensuring that all employees and job applicants are treated fairly in an environment which is free from any form of discrimination.