Technical Product Lead

Norwegian Cruise Line•Miami, FL

About The Position

The Technical Product Lead – Embarkation & Port Operations is responsible for the portfolio of embarkation and port operations systems as it relates to overall product strategy, technical direction, business relationships and day-to-day management of the applications supporting guest check-in, boarding, debarkation, and port/terminal operations across NCLH brands. This role drives resolution of tier-2 issues or fixes that require cross-collaboration/planning with other technical teams or business stakeholder decisions. The role leads a team of developers and oversees management of business requests, development capacity, prioritization of initiatives, and vendor relationships to deliver the approved product roadmap. This role collaborates with Global Technology Organization’s PMO, product, platform and engineering teams, business stakeholders and vendors to manage scope, understand business cases, quantify expected outcomes, validate quantifiable assumptions and monitor key performance metrics for their product portfolio. The Technical Product Lead – Embarkation & Port Operations is the direct point of contact for business leadership and vendor support to validate that the applications are functioning as intended and meeting the demands of the business organization. The role owns the full product lifecycle from ideation through delivery, adoption, and continuous optimization. The Technical Product Lead – Embarkation & Port Operations will directly lead a team of developers, driving both the product roadmap and strategy and the technical execution required to deliver it.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Business Administration, Project Management or related field.
7+ years experience working in a technology environment, involved in strategic thinking related to how to advance the organization’s technology footprint and capabilities.
3+ years management experience leading a team of 5 or more employees, including direct leadership of software developers or engineers.
Minimum of 3 years of experience in product ownership and/or product development, preferably in a digital environment.
Hands-on experience leading software development teams through the full software development lifecycle, from design through deployment and support.
Experience with embarkation, check-in, port operations, or other guest-facing and operational systems.
Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams and managing stakeholder relationships.
Proven experience in reporting to executive leadership.
Experience in managing complex environments with multiple dependencies.
Familiarity with Agile or hybrid delivery methodologies.
Ability to lead, coach, and develop high-performing product and software development teams.
Strong understanding of enterprise system architecture and integration principles.
Technical acumen to understand infrastructure required to support software applications.
Ability to balance operational stability with innovation and modernization initiatives.
Effective stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Strong analytical and decision-making capabilities in complex technical environments.
Knowledge of IT governance, risk management, security, and audit controls (e.g., SOX/ITGC where applicable).
Ability to manage multiple initiatives and shifting priorities in a fast-paced, operationally driven environment.
Clear and effective communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting distributed environments including shipboard or hotel operations.
Experience managing vendor-delivered systems and integration partnerships.
Exposure to embarkation and check-in platforms, e-ticketing and boarding solutions, biometric identity systems, port/terminal operations technology, and SPMS (Shipboard Property Management System), e.g. Fidelio or Otalio.

Responsibilities

Own and drive the product vision, strategy, and roadmap for embarkation and port operations systems, including check-in, boarding, debarkation, and terminal operations applications.
Partner with Port Operations, Guest Services, and shoreside and shipboard stakeholders to define requirements and priorities.
Manage vendor relationships, including roadmap alignment and issue escalation.
Design and management of application functionality scorecard. Distribution of regular updates within GTO and to business stakeholders on agreed upon KPIs to monitor overall application performance for both technical and functional metrics.
Support incident and defect resolution for embarkation and port operations issues impacting guest check-in, boarding, and vessel turnaround.
Ensure compliance with IT security, data, and governance standards.
Drive continuous improvement based on feedback and performance data.
Management of all product backlog requests and prioritization based on agreed-upon criteria.
General recurring understanding of market options that may offer competing product solution, manage high-level product comparison heat map.
Proactively offer business stakeholders with opportunities to enhance product functionality within resource and financial thresholds.
Management of vendor relationships, including recurring strategy touchpoints to ensure visibility of both internal and external product enhancements.
Contribute to strategic decision making ensuring cross-functional collaboration and alignment across teams they lead.
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of developers, providing clear direction and technical guidance to ensure effective execution of the product strategy across initiatives.
Drive the technical direction of the development team, including solution design reviews, code quality standards, and engineering best practices.
Manage development capacity, sprint planning, and workload allocation across the team to deliver the approved roadmap.
Ensure KPIs and Analytics are considered when defining and delivering a new feature.
Ensure thorough documentation of product features, user stories, and technical specifications.
Oversight of the management of relevant shipboard and terminal IT Assets (hardware & software), including check-in workstations, kiosks, and mobile boarding devices, in support of application functionality.
In collaboration with the PMO team, gather all requirements for major system changes, enhancements and upgrades.
Liaison with Platform Engineering on strategy and approach for application configurations, growth and compliance with ITA & Cybersecurity standards.
Oversight of annual budget inputs for all cost estimates required to deliver approved roadmap vision.
Oversight of monitoring of all system interfaces that are required to support application functionality.
Coordinate change management, delivery, testing, deployment, and release activities.
Management of defect resolution queue for assigned applications.
Collaborate with Ship Application Production support, IT NOC and other relevant teams for all P0/P1 issues that may arise and have impact to regular operations.