Director, Hotel Operations

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd•Miami, FL

8d•Onsite

About The Position

In this land-based position, you would be responsible for the onboard hotel operation of Silversea ships with a strong focus on safety, guest experience, crew satisfaction and financial results. You would directly oversee the entire guest experience onboard, including the Hotel Directors, “Silversea Way” culture and brand standards, Forbes 5-Star Standards, serve as product owner of special events and cruises (i.e. World Cruise, Grand Voyages), be responsible for the ownership of all costs in the hotel P&L, new builds and revitalizations for the fleet, and expedition operations. The position works closely with operational groups to assure that each ship is effectively supported at all times. This includes Hotel Operations (F&B, Onboard Revenue, Entertainment & Cruise Programs, Guest Services, Housekeeping), Marine Operations, Global Marine Operations, IT, Human Resources, International offices, Marketing, Accounting, Internal Audit, Safety and Environment, Corporate Communications, Land Operations, Revenue Management, Deployment, Legal and Customer Service. You would work closely with executive leadership in developing integrated programs that support the company’s growth strategy while maintaining the overall Company business vision and objectives. This role covers both Shipboard and Shoreside operations for Hotel Operations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field of study; Master’s Degree in Business and/or hospitality preferred.
At least 15 years of experience determining strategies and overseeing the overall hotel operations in an ultra-luxury upscale hotel, resort, or cruise line experience including housekeeping, food and beverage, entertainment, and revenue management activities.
At least 5-10 years of experience in luxury expedition cruising in remote polar regions.
Demonstrated the highest level of strong F&B experience in luxury hospitality.
Development of programs on a dynamic and highly complex international environment with multi-national work forces with an orientation towards multi-cultural diversity.
Extensive experience in the areas of business development, contract negotiation and finance with excellent proven leadership characteristics.
Proven track record of success in a comparable position with a highly visible, prestigious, and forward-thinking organization.
Proven Senior Leader focused on team engagement and employee development.
Strong and very advanced leadership and project management skills.
Strong ability to interact with senior management team and build effective relationships within the company as well as with internal and external customers.
Strong planning capabilities to identify and prioritize strategies and activities as well as to meet the deadlines required to support the overall hotel operations function and business needs.
Exceptional interpersonal, communication and listening skills, including the ability to adjust style to successfully implement ideas across the business / ships and effectively interact with external and internal channels.
Must be extremely customer-service oriented.
Strong decision-making skills considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Creativity and strategic thinker.
Excellent negotiation skills.
Must possess knowledge of the hospitality industry, current market trends, and economic factors; preferably within an international organization and accustomed to working with a highly diverse and remote work group.
Deep knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluations of customer satisfaction.
Strong knowledge of business and management principles in strategic planning, resource allocation, and human resources modeling.
Domain about computer software and systems applicable to the hotel operation activities.
Availability to travel up to 25% of the time and flexibility to support unexpected business events outside of the regular business hours including holidays and weekends.
Results/Business oriented.

Nice To Haves

Master’s Degree in Business and/or hospitality preferred.

Responsibilities

Ensures that all ships are operated safely, effectively, and efficiently in compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements and SQM guidelines.
Serves as the authority and contact for all groups which support shipboard operation.
Ensures the Silversea cruise vacation experience is delivered in accordance with Silversea Way hospitality excellence and standards while allowing for local flavors, revenue opportunities and sourcing driven expectations.
Continuously tracks individual ship performance and reviews and analyses Medallia guest experience data as well as various competitive industry reports.
Maintains overall responsibility for the entire hotel P&L (including all cost, ~$100M annually) to ensure effective and efficient cost management and ship financial target performance.
Owns the planning, design, and execution of special voyages and events including World Cruises and Grand Voyages.
Helps lead the strategy, design, and execution of our world class hospitality culture, the “Silversea Way”.
Acts as a key leader to design, plan, and implement Forbes 5-Standards and drive toward being the first cruise line and brand to achieving Forbes 5 Standards.
Monitors trends and innovations within the cruise and luxury hospitality industry to identify opportunities which can strengthen our product and help to maintain a competitive advantage.
Represents Hotel Operations in situation management / sit rep calls and is expected to make critical decisions for ships impacted by unusual situations in the best interest of the company, its guests, and crewmembers.
Ensures the ship and shipboard team is fully familiar with the fleetwide OPP, infection prevention standards and other critical processes.
Collaborates with all operating groups of the Silversea brand and the Royal Caribbean Group to identify trends, opportunities, risks and provides input into development of new products and experiences.
Liaises with Global Marine and Marine Operations to ensure the SOA (Ship Overall Appearance) and maintenance programs are well managed.
Works closely with Global Marine and Marine Operations groups to address R&M issues.
Ensures new ship startups, dry docks, and revitalization projects are properly planned and executed.
Organizes and attends regular ship visits to deliver an in-depth evaluation of the guest experience onboard.
Reviews and analyses internal and external audit and inspection reports and disseminates information for follow up and continuous improvement.
Participates in deployment planning and provides operational guidance during the process.
Supports the Miami and European based hotel operation teams which support and guide ships in the region. Works and communicates directly with shipboard teams.
Responsible for planning and coordinating the successful startup of new ships and ships which return to service after dry dock or extended revitalization.
Aligns the Hotel Operations function with strategic business initiatives and partners to meet business requirements.
Develops short-term and long-term tactical strategic plans that meet the brand’s objectives, maximizes service, responsiveness, drive guest satisfaction, and works to enhance the company’s growth and profitability objectives.
Develops and quantifies over-arching revenue and capital asset plan that parallels financials asset and performance plans including return on investment.
Directs the development, implementation, and coordination of shipboard hotel directors and their teams, housekeeping, butler, guest relations, customer service, to position the company as best-in-choice in the luxury industry.
Responsible for leading a team who recruits, hires, trains, and develops the top leadership role on the ship, the hotel director to build and implement our future talent strategy including developing an Associate Hotel Director program.
Develops strategies and plans to improve NPS scores across the entire operations functions.
Acts as the leader and liaison for hotel operations and ancillary departments including Shore Excursions, Onboard Revenue, Concessions, Expeditions, pre and post, and guest port services.
Assists in supporting the guest services team and develops strategies and plans to improve our ability to resolve issues onboard. Leads a cross functional task force to root cause and mitigate issues before they occur.
Assists in supporting housekeeping and butler teams and is responsible for strategizing and developing plans to improve our NPS scores to deliver personalized, genuine and consistent hospitality across this aspect of the guest experience.
Owns the guests first and last impressions with the brand and leads their teams and respective cross functional teams to elevate this aspect of the guest experience.
Determines strategies of new luxury hospitality experiences including all elements of the product development spectrum and external best-in-class benchmarking such as concept generation, feasibility analysis, business proposals, recommendations, and coordination of product implementation.
Takes full ownership of the holistic guest experience on all Expedition ships to ensure we deliver 5-Star standards including the guest experience pre and post (transfers, hotels, flights, charters, onboard experience).
Responsible for owning a program to ensure we are not only internally focused, but that we look externally, by secret shopping, best in class land-based luxury hospitality to identify trends and spot opportunities.
Develops / enhances talent acquisition programs and processes to identify, recruit, develop, integrate, and retain talent for shipboard operations.