Joseph P. Ruddy

Joseph P. Ruddy is the chief innovation officer (CINO) for the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) and in this role he oversees the port’s strategic planning, process excellence, commercial pricing and customer service teams.

Joe’s work experience help him to understand the business and the value of various functions within the port. He finds that in understanding how The Port of Virginia operates at its core, he along with his department, can better relate to the mission of the company.

“In order to better link our tasks to the goals of the port, I work to understand my team members and embed them within the operations we serve – so that they are learning and working with others outside the department — where appropriate. This helps to drive accountability so we can responsibly support the various functions of the port. By learning how other departments operate, we can better conduct analyses in order to make comprehensive business decisions.”

Joe ensures that his team takes the innovation seriously. He wants his department to deliver core innovation that works to improve daily processes for safer, economical, and more efficient productivity as well as administer growth innovation.

Joe believes that the only way to achieve clarity on how to run a successful port is to apply the reality to the numbers that they examine. He works to create reliability in data production by consistently having data readily accessible.

“We don’t just deliver data, but work to show how and why it matters.”

Before stepping into the CIO’s role, Joe was chief operations officer and helped Virginia International Terminals, LLC, (VIT), which is the port’s private terminal operating subsidiary, earn its reputation as an honest and reliable terminal operations organization. Before that, he served as the director of operations and labor at VIT and also held a senior position at Virginia Intermodal Management, a subsidiary company responsible for managing and administering all aspects of a port-wide chassis pool.

Joe also held several positions with international ship-line companies including France’s CMA-CGM and National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia.

Joe serves on various boards, including We Are VB and Beach FC. In 2013, he was the recipient of the Global Excellence Award, presented by the Virginia International Business Council, based in Richmond.

Joe has a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Wesleyan University and a master’s degree from the College of New Jersey.