Special Technical Projects Manager - NYC Ferry

Hornblower Group is a global leader in experience and transportation. Spanning a 100-year history, Hornblower Group’s portfolio of international offerings includes water- and land-based experiences and ferry and transportation services. City Experiences, Hornblower Group’s premier experience division, offers dining and sightseeing cruises and walking and food tours through the City Cruises, Walks, and Devour brands. City Ferry, part of Hornblower Group’s Ferry and Transportation Division, is the largest private operator of high-speed passenger and vehicle ferries in the United States, carrying more than 10 million passengers annually and operating services including NYC Ferry, Puerto Rico Ferry, and other regional ferry systems. Hornblower Group’s subsidiaries include Hornblower Marine, which provides vessel outhaul and maintenance services at Bridgeport Boatworks in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Seaward Services, Inc., a full-service shipping, waterfront logistics and management company that specializes in the operation and maintenance of government and commercial vessels. Additionally, Anchor Operating System, LLC, a Hornblower Group subsidiary and independent entity, provides reservation, ticketing and website integration services for clients in the transportation, tourism and entertainment industries. Today, Hornblower Group’s global portfolio covers over 10 countries, over 50 U.S. cities and serves more than 20 million guests annually. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Hornblower Group’s additional corporate offices reside in San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; London, United Kingdom; New York, New York; Dublin, Ireland; and across Ontario, Canada. For more information, visit hornblowercorp.com.


Position Summary:

The Senior Technical Project Manager will serve as the primary technical authority and owner's representative for the NYC Ferry Tier IV vessel conversion project, which involves upgrading five (5) K-Class Tier 3 passenger vessels to meet EPA Tier IV emissions standards. This role requires a unique combination of marine engineering expertise, design review proficiency, and construction management experience. The position holder will act as the critical bridge between design consultants, shipyard contractors, regulatory authorities, and operational stakeholders, with a primary mandate to prevent costly change orders through rigorous technical review and to ensure successful project delivery on schedule and within budget.
This individual will wear multiple hats throughout the project lifecycle, serving as both a technical design reviewer who validates engineering deliverables and identifies potential constructability issues, and as an on-site construction manager who ensures quality execution and regulatory compliance. The ideal candidate will possess the technical depth to catch design errors before they reach the shipyard, the practical experience to foresee construction challenges, and the project management skills to coordinate multiple concurrent vessel conversions while maintaining NYC Ferry operational requirements.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Design Review & Change Order Prevention
• Lead comprehensive technical reviews of all vessel design packages, including general arrangements, construction plans, structural modifications, propulsion systems, exhaust systems, SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) systems, electrical systems, cooling systems, and piping systems to identify gaps, conflicts, errors, and omissions before construction begins
• Review and validate vessel design deliverables from Incat Crowther (naval architect), E4 Power (exhaust system designer), and other technical consultants to ensure completeness, accuracy, constructability, and compliance with specifications
• Conduct detailed constructability reviews to identify design elements that may be difficult, impossible, or excessively costly to build, flagging these issues for resolution during the design phase rather than during construction
• Coordinate technical reviews between multiple engineering disciplines to ensure proper integration of the Tier IV propulsion system, cooling system modifications (keel cooler vs. raw water cooling analysis), exhaust and SCR systems, urea storage and delivery systems, and electrical modifications
• Proactively identify incomplete specifications, missing details, ambiguous instructions, or contradictory information in design documents that could lead to contractor Requests for Information (RFIs), delays, or change orders during construction
• Maintain detailed design review logs documenting all technical questions, consultant responses, design changes, and outstanding issues, ensuring traceability and accountability throughout the design process
• Review Baudouin engine specifications, SCR system components, and OEM requirements to ensure compatibility with vessel desi