Human Resources Update - Staff Movements Throughout the Logistics Related Professions

US – A veteran Port of Oakland project administrator has been given a key role in planning the Port's maritime future. The Port has appointed Jason Garben Project Management Services Manager in its Maritime Division. Mr Garben joined the Port in 2017 as a Senior Maritime Project Administrator. Before that, he worked as Development Services Director for the city of Suisun.

In his new position, Mr. Garben reports to the Port’s Maritime Director and will collaborate with revenue and operations management teams to balance business development and regulatory compliance. He is to manage a team of four responsible for planning infrastructure projects. The role is crucial as Oakland embarks on a major planning process and the group’s purview would include Oakland’s entire physical plant, from marine terminals to support facilities.

US – The Northrop Grumman Corporation has elected Matthew Bromberg as corporate vice president, Global Operations, effective February 16, 2022. He will report to Kathy Warden, chairman, chief executive officer and president. In this new role, Bromberg will be responsible for enterprise-wide programs, quality, supply chain and technology functions.

A former US Navy submarine officer, Bromberg joins Northrop Grumman from Raytheon Technologies where he held numerous senior executive positions. His most recent position is president of Military Engines at Pratt & Whitney. Prior to this he was a banker at Goldman Sachs and he holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

US – The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has announced Richard Pianka as the federation’s new general counsel and executive vice president for legal affairs. He will assume the role previously held by Jennifer Hall, who now heads to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to serve as the organisation’s general counsel and chief of staff.

Pianka received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 2005. He also holds an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. from Princeton University. Prior to joining ATA, he practiced general and appellate litigation at national law firms in D.C., and served as clerk to Chief Judge Danny J. Boggs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

US – ACL Airshop, specialists in air cargo Unit Load Device (ULD) logistics solutions to over 200 airlines, air cargo carriers, and other transportation clients, has announced the appointment of James W. Harris as Chief Financial Officer. Harris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Brigham Young University, a Master's Degree in accounting & taxation also from Brigham Young; and a Master's Degree in business administration (M.B.A.) from Rice University.

He served as Certified Public Accountant for over nine years with Price Waterhouse and was with Forum Energy Technologies which he helped grow from $25 Million revenues to $1.7 Billion through organic growth and more than 20 acquisitions. He accomplished similar successes as CFO of Pacific Drilling S.A., where he restructured $1.2 Billion of secured bonds, placed $50 Million in revolving bank credit, and closed a major merger with Noble Drilling

FRANCE – US – As we reported on Monday the acquisition of ICA by CMA CGM will mean Michiel Alting von Geusau, currently Executive Vice President, and President of Global Commerce & Life Cycle Services for Ingram Micro, will continue to lead the business within CEVA Logistics.

UK – The Pallet Network (TPN) has appointed Sue Nicholson as commercial director. Sue has 30+ years of experience in global supply chains and pallet network logistics. She began her career in the container shipping arena, where she was responsible for developing customer supply chains across Europe and Asia. She then spent 18 years in operational and commercial roles at a rival network, helping its members to develop their businesses, before resigning to join TPN.

Sue’s appointment is one of the final steps in ensuring that TPN has the teams it needs to deliver the next phase of its strategy. Since Mark Kendall became MD in Feb 2021, there have been several internal promotions, substantial upskilling of existing staff, and new appointments to the IT, operations and commercial divisions, including Robert Richards as operations director.

UK - The new business development hub in Aberdeen set up by Swedish maritime zero emission specialist Echandia will see former Caterpillar executive Richard Davidson take on the role as Business Development Manager for the UK market. Mr Davidson has an extensive professional background from maritime and heavy-duty technical roles, from companies like Berg Propulsion, Caterpillar, and Global Marine Service Group.

ASIA - International multi-disciplinary engineering, science, and technology consultancy BMT has announced the appointment of Hittesh Gupta as Head of Casualty Investigation, Asia. This appointment comes as BMT looks to expand its office presence for Marine Surveys in Singapore and strengthen its marine consulting services hub position in Asia.

With over 23-years of experience in the shipping industry, Hittesh has a deep understanding of marine surveying having served on product and crude oil tankers and offshore oil & gas production units. He has worked extensively for underwriters and leading P&I Clubs undertaking casualty investigations across the full spectrum of vessels and provided assessments of their Cargo / Seaworthiness – Oil, Chemical, Gas tankers, Containers, General cargo, AHTV, FPSO, Jack-up rigs and Supply vessels.

Photo: The Pallet Network has a new Commercial Director.