The Caravel Group Limited
The Caravel Group is a prominent, family-led diversified conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. Founded in 2013, the Group has established itself as a significant player in the global maritime, commodities, and investment sectors. The Caravel Group operates through three primary verticals:
Caravel Maritime: This is a major pillar of the group. It includes Fleet Management Limited, the world’s second-largest third-party ship manager, overseeing a fleet of over 600 vessels, with over 27,000 seafarers.
Caravel Resources: This division is engaged in the trading and logistics of industrial dry bulk raw materials, primarily iron ore and thermal coal.
Caravel Asset Management: This arm manages the group’s investments, focusing on global public markets (equity and credit) and alternative investments like private equity and hedge funds.
Job Position Summary
The Group CEO’s Office is seeking a high-caliber Principal to join its team. This role provides a high-visibility mandate with substantial exposure to the Group CEO and the Board. Initially concentrating on our Maritime services vertical and its related investments, the scope of responsibilities will broaden across our Commodity Trading and Asset Management divisions. For a high-performer, this position serves as a launchpad for assuming broader leadership responsibilities across the Group.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
- Strategic Analysis & Investment Support
- Serve as a core analytical partner to the Group CEO, evaluating investment opportunities (including vessel acquisitions, newbuilding projects, and public market investments), building financial models, and preparing investment papers and board memoranda.
- Priority Project Leadership
- Take end-to-end ownership of special projects commissioned directly by the Group CEO—ranging from supporting the strategic agenda at Fleet Management Limited (FML) to scoping new market entries, driving post-merger integration e.g., International Maritime Institute (IMI) (into FML, or designing Group-wide initiatives.
- Board & Governance Support
- Prepare high-quality materials for Board meetings, subsidiary board packs (FML Board and ExCo), and other governance forums. Track follow-up actions from key meetings to ensure accountability and execution.
- Performance Monitoring
- Establish and maintain a rigorous cadence for tracking operational and financial performance across the Group's businesses, including fleet KPIs, trading margins, and investment performance—surfacing trends, risks, and opportunities for the Group CEO.
- Cross-Portfolio Alignment
- Act as a trusted liaison between the Group CEO's office and leadership teams across portfolio companies (particularly FML), facilitating communication, ensuring strategic alignment, and helping to cascade Group-level objectives.
- Market & Macro Intelligence
- Monitor and distill geopolitical, macroeconomic, and industry research from brokerage reports and market intelligence to assess potential impacts on the Group's maritime and logistics investments and inform strategic decision-making.
- Stakeholder & Relationship Management
- Serve as an extension of the Group CEO's office in interactions with divisional CEOs, functional heads, and external partners (bankers, brokers, consultants, legal advisors), building productive relationships to advance key initiatives.
- Technology & Productivity
- Leverage modern AI tools and data analytics to enhance the speed and quality of the Group CEO's office outputs, identifying and implementing process improvements to streamline workflows.
- Core Deliverables:
- Board papers, strategy memoranda, and investment committee materials that are clear, logical, and decision ready.
- Robust financial models—including vessel valuations, investment cases, and scenario analyses—that inform high-stakes decisions.
- Information Memoranda (IMs) for strategic initiatives and partnership discussions.
- Timely, accurate dashboards and variance analysis that enable proactive management.
- Effective execution of priority projects, with milestones tracked and roadblocks resolved.
Relationships:
INTERNAL:
- Executive Chairman; Group CEO; divisional CEOs and MDs across Fleet Management Limited, Caravel Resources, and Caravel Asset Management; FML Board of Directors and Executive Committee members; Group-level functional heads (Finance, Legal, HR, IT); Supervisory Board members during board preparation cycles.
EXTERNAL:
- Investment bankers, legal counsel, management consultants, classification societies, shipyards and vessel brokers, industry bodies, institutional shareholders and investors, and counterparties in potential transactions.
Job Experience, Functional Knowledge and Qualifications
Qualifications and Experience:
- 5-10 years of progressive professional experience, ideally from one of two backgrounds:
- Corporate finance – Investment banking, private equity, or a corporate development team (J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, or equivalent, and private equity firms or corporate development functions at major corporates)
- Strategy and management consulting at a top-tier firm (e.g., McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Big 4 strategy arms)
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from a leading university in a relevant discipline (economics, finance, business, engineering, or related field). An MBA or CFA is a plus.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrable interest and prior experience in the maritime, offshore, or global logistics sectors is a significant advantage.
- Strong command of Excel with the ability to build complex models from scratch and run scenario analyses with precision and rigor.
- Ability to structure and present complex information clearly in written and presentation formats for a senior audienceProven ability to synthesize information from multiple sources to drive objective, fact-based recommendations
Personal Attributes:
- Handles sensitive information with the utmost confidentiality and exercises sound judgment in high-pressure situations.
- Genuine curiosity about how businesses operate; willing to dive into the details and see complex projects through to completion.
- Takes accountability for outcomes, operates effectively without direct authority, and builds relationships to drive alignment with senior stakeholders.
- Thrives in a fast-paced, dynamic environment; brings structure to unstructured problems as priorities evolve.
Competencies
- Commercial acumen
- Executive presence
- Intellectual curiosity
- Structured problem-solving
- Written communication
