By
Alex Smith |
Aros Marine is a turnkey interior outfitting company on an upwards trajectory, and its diverse leadership team has been at the heart of its success. Jurga Šiugždinytė, who became CEO of Aros Hero in 2024, has worked in various operational and leadership roles, from planning and logistics to managing large, cross-border teams.
“Each position has shaped how I approach high-pressure, multi-stakeholder projects with a focus on structure, team clarity and risk anticipation,” she says. “Taking on the role of CEO was a significant step. It came with full accountability for project outcomes, team performance and long-term business development. I saw it less as a promotion and more as an opportunity to shape the systems and culture that enable others to succeed.
“This role demands agility not just in decision-making, but also in building processes that help others deliver consistently. In fast-paced marine environments, stability often comes from how well you can listen, frame the challenge and enable the team to move forwards. It’s not about having all the answers, it’s about building the right environment for those answers to emerge quickly.”
Šiugždinytė is leading an interior refit on a passenger ship in Germany. The €50 million ($58.6 million) project is notable for its scale and scope: it includes design, materials and execution for an area spanning over 34,000 square metres and has involved more than 300,000 hours of work. “At its peak, the project has brought together around 250 professionals across various trades,” she says. “Coordinating a project of this size has required us to refine how we plan, communicate and execute, and balance structure with flexibility at every stage. What makes this project exceptional is how quickly we’ve had to scale, align and adapt in real time.”
On this project, Šiugždinytė has had to factor in a couple of aspects not typical for an Aros Marine refit. “Over 70 per cent of the workforce was new, including specialists who had never worked together before,” she says. “And the project required different approaches at different stages, and close coordination with multiple departments on the client side.
“To meet project challenges, we adapted our internal structure early on and implemented daily planning routines that focused on tasks, engineering progress and material flow. This helped us manage both our in-house workforce and subcontractors effectively and allowed us to stay ahead of potential bottlenecks.
“Some of the most impactful moments come from simply creating space to respond quickly, whether that means reshuffling teams, proposing alternative technical solutions or resolving blocking points on short notice. The success of large-scale projects often comes down to one thing: how quickly you can adjust when things don’t go to plan – because they rarely do.”
Aros Marine’s commitment to developing a diverse leadership team is another key factor in its ability to deliver large-scale projects successfully, says Šiugždinytė.
“Refit projects in the marine sector are demanding by nature and not just technically, but mentally as well,” she says. “It’s a high-pressure environment with constant change, moving parts and tight timelines. Whether you’re a man or a woman, leadership requires clear priorities, fast decisions and emotional resilience.
“I believe that diversity in leadership brings real value. It opens space for different thinking styles, new ways of managing pressure and a more balanced, long-term perspective. Diversity also brings contrast, which leads to better questions, better decisions and more innovative outcomes. At Aros Marine, we’re seeing that teams with a mix of perspectives and leadership styles are often better equipped to respond to today’s challenges, whether it’s digitalisation, sustainability or shifting client expectations. Diverse leadership isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about performance and having people who see problems differently often means solving them faster.”
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