Senior Lead, Product Strategy and Development

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd•Miami, FL

About The Position

Royal Caribbean Group's Product Development Team, supporting the Royal Caribbean International brand, has an exciting career opportunity for a full-time Senior Lead, Product Strategy and Development reporting to the Director, Product Development. The Senior Lead, Product Strategy and Development functions as an integral part of the Royal Caribbean Product Development department, and more specifically the Product Strategy team. The role will shape and lead analytical efforts to guide product strategy by understanding gaps, performance, and insights to assist in the recommendation and justification of a portfolio of products to be developed as well as recommendations on how to optimize existing guest experiences. Scope development and maximizing business growth and financial returns are essential. This role will lead cross functional teams acting as the liaison between the project teams and the corporate teams. This role will significantly influence decision-making related to product strategy, focused on newbuilds, fleet modernizations and private destination development. This role will work closely with the Newbuild and the Private Destinations teams to own and drive the financial strategy of the Royal Caribbean International portfolio and present findings to executive leadership. Along with product strategy responsibilities, this role is responsible for ad hoc analysis and reporting of strategic initiatives, and business case modeling.

Requirements

Four-year Bachelor's or equivalent required; 7+ years related business analysis, corporate finance/development experience, and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Candidate must possess strong written and oral communication skills and be able to work effectively with all levels of personnel. Strong computer skills are required.
Advanced Word, PowerPoint, and Excel - Including intricate knowledge not only of advanced formulas (such as index-match) but also Excel problem-solving abilities to extract analysis and insights out of data dumps – required.
Financial and Business Diligence: Thinking creatively and critically to dig deep into the operations of travel and hospitality businesses, to understand how businesses work and how to develop business plans for new business opportunities.
Financial Modeling: Evaluating data, determining the optimal way to spend to accomplish company goals.
Analytical: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and opportunities of alternative solutions and conclusions.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop options and implement solutions.
Presentation: Using computer skills and communication style to create, manipulate, edit, and communicate slide presentations. Understanding end-state and the best way to present a story logically and analytically to achieve desired results.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are communicating and taking time to understand points being made.
Negotiating and Persuasion: Bringing others together to try to reconcile differences and persuading others to your point of view.
Strong understanding of marketing principles to lead management on strategic initiatives and guide analysis.

Nice To Haves

Strong knowledge of the cruise industry preferred.

Responsibilities

Oversee the strategy and business cases of our growing newbuilds, fleet modernization and private destination portfolios.
Lead the decision making in defining the business cases related to the newbuilds, fleet modernization and private destination portfolios.
Be the lead liaison between the project teams and the corporate teams to ensure project details are properly communicated.
Create board materials related to the underwriting of the newbuilds, fleet modernizations and private destination projects to secure funding for project builds.
Identify and seize opportunities to pursue newbuilds, fleet modernizations and private destinations.
Manage the creation of financial models for newbuilds, fleet modernizations and private destinations – both greenfield projects and expansion of our existing private destinations portfolio. Will work cross-functionally with newbuild, hotel operations, revenue management, onboard revenue, deployment strategy, product development, corporate development, and brand/corporate finance to develop, and consistently update, reasonable assumptions based on performance benchmarks. The position will own stakeholder alignment with executive leadership, including the VP / SVP level.
Oversee business development efforts for newbuilds, fleet modernization and private destinations projects, including but not limited to joint venture development, technical accounting, business structure analysis, contract negotiations, and leading special projects around new business creation in support of Private Destinations.
Collaborate with Finance to develop and submit capital requests to secure funding for product development projects.
Work independently with consultants and external stakeholders to negotiate business opportunities on behalf of Royal Caribbean for prospective newbuilds, fleet modernization and private destinations projects.
Provide ad-hoc analyses to guide decision-making on the design of future products.
Estimation of financial models and returns for private destination projects