Owner's Representative
An owner's representative stands in for the owner wherever money and decisions are at stake, usually at a shipyard during a new build or major refit. You check the work, challenge the yard, approve or reject changes and report back in plain language. Most people in the role spent years as a captain or chief engineer first.
The jobWhat fills the day
The job is protecting someone else's money and taste. On a new build you read the specification and contract line by line, attend design reviews, walk the hull every day and log defects. You argue over change orders, check invoices against milestones and keep the owner informed without burying them in detail. On a refit the work is the same, faster: scope creep, yard delays and surprise costs are where you earn your fee. Some owners also use a rep for purchase surveys, sea trials and handovers.
Scale changes everything. A 45m refit in Palma might need one experienced ex-captain on site for four months. A 100m build in the Netherlands or Germany runs three or four years and the owner's team can include a lead rep, a technical rep, an interior specialist and a build captain with the first crew. On the biggest projects you manage that team, set inspection priorities and sit across the table from the yard's project director at monthly meetings.
Owners and management companies hire people they trust, and trust comes from a track record. Most reps are former captains, chief engineers or naval architects with at least one new build behind them. Yard-side experience as a project manager also counts. Recruiters look for clear written reports, firm but calm negotiation and enough technical depth to know when a yard is bluffing. Discretion matters: you will know the owner's budget, family and plans better than almost anyone.
There is no entry route straight into this job. The usual path runs through command or a senior engineering post, then a build captain role, then representing owners directly. Early jobs often come through a management company in Monaco or Antibes, which places you on its clients' projects. Once you have delivered a build on time and close to budget, repeat work comes from owners, brokers and designers. Senior reps move into fleet management, technical director posts or their own consultancy.
Skills employers look for
- Contract and specification review
- Shipyard negotiation
- Budget and change-order control
- Quality inspection and snagging
- Clear owner reporting
- Classification and flag rules
- Discretion with UHNW clients
A working dayWednesday at a new build yard, Viareggio, 62m motor yacht
Walk the hull before the yard's day shift settles in. Photograph the main deck fairing and note two areas that look thin on filler.
Coordination meeting with the yard project manager and the interior outfitter. Push back on a three-week slip to the owner's suite joinery.
Review change order 47 for upgraded galley equipment. The price is 30 per cent above supplier list, so you send it back with quotes attached.
Engine room inspection with the class surveyor and the build captain. Pipe insulation and cable runs signed off, one fire damper rejected.
Lunch at a trattoria near the darsena with the build captain, mostly spent planning crew arrivals for sea trials.
Video call with the owner's family office in London. Walk them through the milestone payment due next week and the open defects holding it back.
Sit with the interior designer's site rep to check marble samples against approved finishes. Reject one slab for veining.
Update the defect log and draft the weekly report, keeping it to two pages with photos.
Off site. Reply to one urgent email from the yard, then stop for the night.
Pay by experienceAnnual salary. Estimates. Bars share one scale.
Many reps work freelance on day rates of roughly EUR 800 to 1,500, with housing near the yard, travel and a car paid by the owner. Some contracts add a completion bonus tied to delivery date and budget. See the Refit, Shipyard & Project Management salary guide for figures from live adverts.
Qualifications
Must have
Gets you hired
- MCA Master (Yachts) 3000gt or Master Unlimited
- MCA Chief Engineer (Yachts) Y1 or Unlimited CoC
- ISM and ISPS internal auditor course
- Project management qualification such as PRINCE2 or APM
- Degree in naval architecture or marine engineering
Where it leadsA typical career path
Refit, Shipyard & Project Management jobsOpen now on SuperyachtRoles.com
Questions crew ask
Do I need a certificate to be an owner's representative?
No licence is required by law. In practice owners expect a senior background, usually a Master 3000gt or Chief Engineer Y1 CoC, or a naval architecture degree. The ticket gets you in the door, and your build history gets you the job.
How is this different from a build captain?
The build captain prepares the yacht for operation and the crew who will run it. The owner's rep looks after the commercial side: contract, cost, quality and schedule. On large projects both work side by side, and on smaller ones one person often does both.
Where is the work based?
Wherever the yacht is being built or refitted. The main build yards are in the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey, and the big refit hubs are Palma, La Ciotat, Barcelona and Fort Lauderdale. Expect to live near the yard for months at a time.
Is it a permanent job?
Rarely. Most contracts last as long as one project, from a few months for a refit to three or four years for a large build. Reps with a good record move from one project to the next through referrals.