We catch up with Adam Osborne, who specialises in shore-based commercial recruitment for Spinnaker Global.
1. Tell us about your specialism here at Spinnaker
AO: I specialise in shore based commercial positions, these include, Charterers/Freight Traders, Operations & Post Fixture staff, Analysts and Brokers. I work on roles worldwide which keeps things varied!
2. The eternal question… how’s the market at the moment?
AO: The market sentiment certainly seems to be improving over the last year, particularly in the dry bulk market. In fact we recently had one of our most successful ever quarters, and this was largely off the back of a lot of dry bulk hires. On the flipside the tanker market has been a little bit flat in terms of companies hiring and this is likely to continue to be the case in the short term.
3. Are certain candidates hard to find?
AO: Vessel operators with 4/5 years of experience tend to be always in very high demand; this can lead to some challenges but thankfully we are able to utilise our large network to help us out!
On the chartering side of things, every company wants to hire someone known for being a strong performer. The issue with that is that they are usually looked after by their organisation which can mean tempting them to move, rather than finding them, is the challenge.
4. What’s the most rewarding thing you’ve achieved at Spinnaker?
AO: I was part of an Executive Search team which was retained to identify a new Global Head of Freight for an international mining group, based in Singapore. This resulted in a smooth process that ended in a successful placement and a happy client and candidate.
5. What do you see as trends and insights for 2018 and beyond?
AO: A lot more interest in data experts/data scientists not necessarily from a shipping background, this is in line with the increasing digitalisation of the industry, where having access to and being able to analyse different data is becoming increasingly important.
6. Tell us about your top positions you’re working on at the moment.
AO: I am working exclusively with a North American ship owner who are hiring for a Commercial Development Director to help them explore and expand into new locations.
I am also working with various ship owners and operators who are looking to add to their operations staff, with a mix of junior and more senior positions.
Adam Osborne is a Consultant within our Commercial Recruitment team. Contact Adam on LinkedIn, Twitter, by email at [email protected] or on +44 (0)1702 480142 to discuss your next move.
