Engineering Manager - AI Digital Twin & Operations Research

Location: The Hague

What is the opportunity and why should you apply?  What:
Lead an engineering squad building APMT's Operations Intelligence capability. You will own delivery of AI-powered digital twins, integrated planning systems and operations research models across vessel, yard, gate and rail workflows. You will be hands-on in architecture and code reviews, grow a high-performing team, and turn the platform roadmap into production systems that move ROIC.
Why:
This platform unifies vessel, gate, yard and rail operations into one coordinated system that integrates with the Future Execution Platform. It closes the loop from planning to execution. When OR models and digital twins predict bottlenecks and remove waste before it hits operations, that is competitive separation, and your squad builds it.
What You'll Build & Deliver  Simplify Operations:
Operations Research & Mathematical Optimization   Build MILP, Constraint Programming and stochastic optimization models for berth scheduling, storage allocation and equipment routing, the mathematical backbone of the AI Big Bet
Apply optimization to historical terminal designs to accelerate new terminal planning and shorten time-to-revenue
Use DES to model operational continuity during expansion projects, as volume grows and construction constrains space
Ship prescriptive solvers that produce executable plans and recommendations, not just predictions
End-to-End Integrated Planning:
Operational Digital Twin   Extend the Discrete Event Simulation engine across vessel, gate, yard and rail to predict bottlenecks and test scenarios before they reach operations
Build self-learning optimization engines for yard strategy, decking and container positioning
Deliver integrated planning components that adjust in real time as vessels delay, volumes surge or equipment fails
Build decision support tools that turn complex trade-offs into clear recommendations for operations teams
APMT Business Systems:
Deploy AI-powered process mining to find and remove waste from berth allocation to gate release
Build continuous benchmarking that tests terminal performance against global best practice
Deliver dashboards that connect frontline moves to financial outcomes
Build predictive equipment utilization and labour optimization models so terminals serve more volume with the existing asset base
Simplify Model Architecture: API-Driven Simulation & Agentic Capability   Decompose monolithic simulation models into modular, API-accessible components that AI agents can call on demand
Build agentic workflows that select and orchestrate simulation APIs based on operational questions, turning weeks of custom modelling into fast answers
What Makes You Right for This  Technical Foundation   10+ years in software or data engineering, including 3+ years leading engineers who ship AI/ML systems to production with measurable business impact
Strong hands-on expertise in Python/R data science ecosystems, cloud infrastructure (AWS/Azure/GCP) and modern MLOps
Practical experience with optimization (MILP/CP), simulation, predictive analytics or industrial IoT in logistics, manufacturing or infrastructure
Credible enough technically to review designs, unblock engineers and make sound build decisions
Business Mindset   You understand how your team's work flows into ROIC through operational efficiency, commercial growth and concession wins
You build reusable components, so each new DES or OR model strengthens the platform across the terminal network
You translate operational realities into engineering requirements and explain technical trade-offs in terminal language
Leadership   You lead a squad of 6-10 engineers and data scientists, setting priorities, running delivery and holding a high quality bar under Engineering Excellence standards
You coach and grow your engineers, hire well and build a team that ships, learns and improves
You work closely with product owners, operations experts and peer squads to land integrated outcomes
You turn a defined roadmap into crisp sprint plans and raise risks early
Industry Fluency (Preferred)   Background in ports, logistics, supply chain or asset-intensive operations
Understanding of maritime operations, terminal economics or heavy industrial optimization
Why This Role Matters  Your squad's models and tools will help APMT win more business, run terminals more efficiently and compete on intelligence, not just scale. Every model you ship and every waste stream you remove flows directly to shareholder returns and better service for…