Director, Entertainment Experience

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd•Miami, FL

7d•Onsite

About The Position

Journey with us! Combine your career goals and sense of adventure by joining our incredible team of employees at Royal Caribbean Group. We are proud to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world. We are proud to be the vacation-industry leader with global brands — including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises — the most innovative fleet and private destinations, and the best people. Together, we are dedicated to turning the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations for our guests. Royal Caribbean Group’s Celebrity Cruises Brand has an exciting career opportunity for a full time Director, Entertainment Experience reporting to the VP, Entertainment for Celebrity Cruises. This position will work onsite in Miami, Florida. This position is not eligible for work authorization sponsorship. Position Summary: Reporting to the Vice President, Entertainment for Celebrity Cruises, the Director, Entertainment Experience leads the evolution, execution, and guardianship of the strategic vision for Activities, Youth, Music, Broadcast, and the onboard teams that support these domains, with robust fleet-wide accountability for both shoreside and shipboard operations. In close partnership with the VP, Entertainment, this leader shapes and advances entertainment experience strategies, ensuring alignment with brand positioning and guest expectations. The Director provides strategic leadership, coaching, and development for both shoreside and vessel-based teams, driving performance excellence and delivering a consistently exceptional guest experience. Under the VP's guidance and in partnership with cross-functional teams, this role oversees the end-to-end creation, development, and deployment of new entertainment experiences and programs, and ensures the recruitment and ongoing development of the highest-caliber onboard entertainment staff to uphold a premium standard of service.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in Entertainment, Arts Administration, Recreation or comparable work experience in the entertainment, hospitality or cruise industry with an emphasis in developing and managing entertainment programs and overseeing daily operations for shipboard and shoreside teams.
12+ years of experience in entertainment operations within cruise, hospitality or live events, with demonstrated leadership for entertainment and activities teams; leadership for shipboard teams, a plus.
Proactive, entrepreneurial mindset, forward-thinker who acts with a sense of urgency and is on the pulse of trends within entertainment experiences, youth programming, live music, broadcast and the cruise industry.
Demonstrated ability to use AI-driven tools to accelerate creative development, optimize analysis and streamline operations.
Financial acumen in forecasting, budgeting and cost control capabilities.
Strong leadership, coaching and talent development abilities.
Proven data-driven decision making and performance measurement.
Proven track record of collaboration in developing and launching successful large-scale entertainment experiences and programs, meeting timeline and budget requirements.
Excellent business communication skills both verbally and in writing; ability to read, analyze and interpret general business periodicals, analytics reports and legal documents.
Ability to write and create comprehensive reports, presentations, RFPs, business correspondence and department policies and procedures.
Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from executive management, groups of managers, employees, staff and partners; Proficiency in PowerPoint and Microsoft Office software.
Ability to build and maintain successful business relationships throughout the department, the company as a whole and with external vendors.
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with multiple projects and priorities.
May be required to travel internationally approximately 25-30% of work-related time. This individual will work approximately 70-75% of the work time at the Miami office and periodically at the production studio in North Miami. Ability to work flexible hours and time zones, as necessary.

Nice To Haves

Previous hotel, resort, casino, and/or theme park experience, a plus.
Previous onboard cruise ship experience, preferred.

Responsibilities

Define and execute the strategic vision for Celebrity Cruises’ Activities, Youth, Music, and Broadcast programs and provide leadership to the teams both shipboard and shoreside that own these areas; ensure fleetwide alignment with Celebrity’s brand positioning and guest expectations.
Attract and develop best-in-class Cruise Directors who reflect our brand values; manages scheduling and continuous professional growth.
Set and monitor fleet Activities, Youth, Music and Broadcast standards and measure through comprehensive auditing tools to elevate guest satisfaction and performance against ratings benchmarks.
Ensure onboard operations across Activities, Youth, Music and Broadcast comply with all established standards, policies, and regulatory requirements and provide a consistent experience across the fleet; lead audits, address deviations, implement corrective actions to safeguard program integrity and deliver an exceptional guest experience.
Partner with VP, Entertainment to translate strategy into actionable roadmaps, budgets, resource plans and timelines for entertainment initiatives across the fleet.
Partners with Product team on conceptualization, development and execution of innovative entertainment experiences and activities including potential partnerships that keep our brand leading the industry and driving guest satisfaction. Research and vets best-in-class partners to create elevated programming that aligns with our brand.
Leads team that oversees fleetwide Activities and Youth program strategy, development, recruitment and management, ensuring focus on elevating activities across the fleet.
Leads team that oversees fleetwide Music strategy, development, recruitment and management, including live bands, musicians, BGM and DJ programming.
Leads team that oversees fleetwide entertainment Broadcast and Media strategy and programming operations including, but not limited to, channel strategy, internally produced content, partner management and repair and maintenance.
Leads planning, production process and team calendar for departmental projects, collaborating with internal departments and external vendors.
Forecasts and oversees management of capital and operating budgets with a focus on delivering measurable ROI; analyzes program performance, optimizes resource allocation and reports variances to leadership.
Collaborates with Legal and Finance teams to develop most cost-effective and favorable contracts for programs, partnerships and vendors, ensuring any licensing requirements are met.
Responsible for the safe, efficient and successful installation of new onboard entertainment experiences, leading teams during creation and installation process to ensure projects are executed in compliance with policies, safety and brand standards.
Oversees creation and implementation of departmental policies and procedures, ensuring safety standards are met and policies are appropriately recorded.
Develops and sustains robust talent pipeline, including succession planning and ongoing professional development for onboard entertainment staff and leadership roles.
Creates presentations that visualize current or proposed future programming for presentation to senior leadership.
Partners with Sales, Marketing, PR, Product Development, IT, Hotel Operations and other departments to develop and execute entertainment experiences and to support campaigns and sales initiatives across the organization.
Works with analytics team to monitor guest feedback and customer demographics to ensure successful programming and continuous improvement in ratings through action plan follow up.
Reviews and audits onboard entertainment experiences and programs, offering guidance to ensure an elevated guest experience is offered and brand standards are being met.
Collaborates with Marketing and PR to create correct messaging and stories enabling a greater global reach and positive message.
Works with team to ensure Celebrity Cruises and Entertainment websites accurately reflect onboard entertainment experience and to attract top talent for onboard positions within the department, ensuring highest level of talent is sourced.
Performs other duties as required. This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor or management.