VVF GroupPlant Head
Plant Head
Job Description
Plant Head
Bulk Liquid Storage Terminal | Mumbai
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Client
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Bulk Liquid Storage Business, Mumbai
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Position Title
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Plant Head
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Function
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General Management / Business Leadership — Storage &
Terminal Operations
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Location
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Mumbai, Maharashtra
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Reports To
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Business head
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Mandate Type
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To lead growth of an existing installation plus integration of a
newly acquired expansion site
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1. About the Business
Company operates a large bulk liquid storage installation in Mumbai,
receiving imported Base Oils by ship at Bombay harbour, storing them in
tank farms, and subsequently dispatching the product to customers and
processing sites elsewhere in India
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The company has recently acquired a new site to substantially expand its
storage capacity, and this expansion is a strategic priority for the
Group's leadership. The Plant Head role is being created to lead the next
phase of growth for this installation.
2. Position Summary
The Plant Head will be the overall executive in charge of the storage
installation — commercially and operationally. This is not a plant
operations role alone: the mandate is explicitly to grow the business and
maximise revenue from storage charges, while also running the facility
safely and efficiently and shaping how the newly acquired site is
developed. The ideal candidate combines a terminal operator's operating
discipline with a business-development mindset and a trader's feel for the
storage and logistics value chain.
The role sits at the intersection of business development, terminal
operations, and supply-chain/logistics strategy — the candidate must be
equally credible discussing a customer's commercial terms, a tank farm's
operating parameters, and the economics of adding processing capability
on site.
3. Key Responsibilities
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Area
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What This Means in Practice
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Revenue Growth & Business Development
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Own the P&L for the storage business. Identify and sign new
customers for tank storage and throughput; grow revenue per unit
of storage capacity; negotiate storage/throughput contracts and
tariffs; build a pipeline that keeps pace with the new capacity
coming on stream.
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Terminal & Plant Operations
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Overall in-charge of the storage installation — safe, compliant,
and efficient receipt, storage and dispatch of Base Oils and
other liquid cargo; tank farm utilisation, and day-to-day plant
performance.
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Capacity Planning & New Site Integration
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Lead commercial and operational planning for the newly acquired
expansion site — what products and capacity mix it should be
built around, sequencing of the build-out, and how it is
positioned to customers ahead of commissioning.
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Value Chain & Processing Integration
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Assess the case for adding processing/blending facilities on
site so customers save on the cost of moving Base Oils elsewhere
for further processing — a genuine value-chain lever, not just a
storage tariff play.
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Market & Competitive Intelligence
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Maintain a working knowledge of other bulk liquid storage
installations in India, the products they handle, and the
tariffs those products command, to inform VVF's own pricing,
positioning and expansion decisions.
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Customer & Stakeholder Management
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Manage relationships with importers/traders of Base Oils,
logistics providers, and port/customs authorities at Bombay
harbour; represent the Plant with existing and prospective
customers.
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Governance, Safety & Compliance
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Ensure the installation meets statutory, safety (fire/HSE) and
environmental requirements applicable to bulk liquid/hazardous
cargo storage in India.
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4. Candidate Profile
4.1
Must-Have Experience & Knowledge
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15+ years in the liquid bulk storage / terminal / tank farm industry, with
at least 5 years in a P&L-owning general management or business head
role (exact experience band to be confirmed with the Chairman).
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Deep, working knowledge of Base Oils and related bulk liquid products —
Group I/II/III base stocks, edible oils, chemicals or petroleum products —
including how they are traded, shipped and specified.
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Established familiarity with other Indian bulk liquid storage
installations (e.g. terminals at JNPT, Mumbai, Kandla and other west-coast
ports) — their capacity, product mix, and the tariffs those products
command in the market.
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Strong understanding of the storage-and-logistics value chain, including
how processing or blending facilities co-located with storage can reduce
customers' onward transport costs — and the commercial case for adding
such capability.
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Demonstrated experience growing revenue and customer base in a storage,
terminal, port logistics, or related infrastructure business — not purely
an operations/plant background.
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Hands-on exposure to tank farm operations, vessel unloading/jetty
operations, and the safety/regulatory framework for hazardous or bulk
liquid cargo in India.
4.2
Preferred / Good to Have
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Prior experience taking a storage site through a capacity expansion or
greenfield/brownfield build-out.
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Existing relationships with Base Oil importers/traders, shipping lines, or
major storage/terminal operators in India.
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Engineering or chemical/petroleum background, supplemented by
commercial/general management experience.
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Exposure to blending, processing, or value-added services layered on top
of a core storage business.
4.3
Education & Personal Attributes
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Engineering, chemical/petroleum technology, or related technical degree;
an MBA or equivalent business qualification is an advantage given the
P&L and growth mandate.
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Entrepreneurial, commercially aggressive, and comfortable owning both a
growth number and a safe operating record.
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Credible at senior customer and promoter/board level; able to operate
with significant autonomy while keeping the Chairman/MD informed.
Notes for the Agency
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Compensation Band
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To be confirmed — recommend the agency benchmark against General
Manager/Plant Head roles at comparable Indian terminal operators
(Aegis, IMC, GBL, Vopak India) pending internal confirmation.
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Span of Control
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To work with the current occupant and then transition process
will start on settling down.
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Interview Process
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To be confirmed — recommend an initial screen by the agency,
followed by rounds with Ritu Anand (advisor), then Chairman and
the MD.
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Target Timeline
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Urgent —candidates to be sourced quickly.
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Market Context for the Agency's Briefing
A short primer to help the agency and prospective candidates understand
the environment this role operates in:
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Bulk liquid storage terminals typically earn revenue in two ways:
throughput fees (charged per unit of cargo received and dispatched) and
storage tariffs (charged per unit of tankage reserved over time), with
secondary revenue from blending, heating and marine/logistics services — a
mix the Plant Head will be expected to actively manage and grow.
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India remains a significant net importer of Group I, II and III Base Oils,
sourced mainly from South Korea, the UAE, Iraq and, more recently, Russia
— though domestic base oil capacity is expanding, which is a factor the
Plant Head should be tracking as it will influence import volumes over
time.
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Co-locating processing or blending capability with storage is an
established lever used by other Indian and global terminal operators to
capture more of the value chain and reduce customers' onward transport
costs — directly relevant to the Chairman's brief.
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JNPT and the wider Mumbai port cluster are seeing continued investment in
liquid terminal capacity from players such as Vopak, Adani, Aegis, IMC and
JSW Infrastructure — useful context for how VVF's new site should be
positioned competitively.
Where to Source — Target Companies & Talent Pools
The Indian bulk liquid storage/terminal industry is a relatively small,
specialist pool. The companies below are indicative starting points for
the agency's mapping exercise — candidates could equally come from a
customer-side background (Base Oil importers/traders) rather than a pure
terminal operator.
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Company / Pool
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Why Relevant
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Aegis Logistics / Aegis Group
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Major independent bulk liquid terminal operator with
installations at Mumbai, Kandla, Pipavav, Mangalore, Kochi and
Haldia, handling petroleum, chemicals and vegetable oils —
strong pool for both operations and commercial leadership
talent.
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IMC Limited (incl. Ennore Tank Terminal)
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Long-established, India-wide bulk liquid storage and trading
group with terminals across the west and east coasts, including
Mumbai and JNPT — candidates here often combine terminal
operations with trading/commercial exposure.
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Ganesh Benzoplast Ltd. (GBL Infrastructure)
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Independent tank storage provider headquartered in Mumbai with
terminals at JNPT, Kochi and Goa, storing chemicals, petroleum
and edible oil products, and also offering blending and
logistics services — a close analogue to VVF's own model.
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Vopak India
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Global tank storage major with an established Indian presence; a
strong source of candidates with international best-practice
terminal management and commercial discipline.
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IOT Infrastructure & Energy Services
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India-focused bulk liquid logistics and terminal operator —
relevant for both operating and business-development talent.
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JSW Infrastructure (JNPT Liquid Terminal) / Adani Ports
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Larger infrastructure groups building out liquid/LNG-LPG
terminal capacity at JNPT — good source for candidates with
large-scale capacity expansion and project experience relevant
to VVF's new site.
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Base Oil importers, traders & shipping/logistics houses
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Senior supply-chain or logistics leaders on the customer side
(Base Oil importers and traders shipping into Bombay harbour)
who understand the product and value chain from the demand side,
and could credibly run the supply side.
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Next Steps for the Agency
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Begin mapping candidates against the target companies/pools in Section 5,
prioritising those with both revenue-growth and terminal-operations
credibility.
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Share an initial longlist with brief candidate summaries (current role,
storage/product background, scale of P&L or tankage managed) rather
than full profiles at this stage.
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Flag any strong candidate whose background doesn't map neatly to Section 4
— the Chairman's brief prioritises commercial and value-chain thinking
over a conventional plant-head profile, so unconventional fits are
welcome.
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Route any clarifying questions on the brief through Ritu Anand.
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