Also called: Port Executive Director, Port Authority CEO
Runs a public port authority, its terminals, budget, and growth plans.
A port director meets with shipping lines, governors, and unions, pitches new terminal investments, and handles crises like supply-chain backups or storms. It is part CEO, part politician, part logistics expert.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 8 years after high school. Bachelor's in business, logistics, or engineering, often an MBA, plus 15+ years in port or logistics management.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, On-the-job training. Training cost: $60k – $150k.
Majors to look at: Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Maritime Business, Civil Engineering.
Growing about average (about 4% over 10 years).
Low risk for 10 years. AI forecasts cargo and models investments; deal-making with shipping lines, unions and governors stays human.
Classes: AP Economics, Speech and debate, AP Government.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-1011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.