Director, Strategy & Development

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The Royal Caribbean Group’s Celebrity Cruises brand has an exciting career opportunity for a full time Manager, Brand Innovation reporting to the Sr. Manager of Brand Strategy & Innovation.

Position Summary:

The Strategy and Development Director will lead a high-performance team that develops the long-term strategy and development planning for Royal Caribbean Internationals (RCI) portfolio of product offerings, including Newbuilds, Fleet Modernization, Private Destinations, port and destination development, and special projects. In partnership with Marketing, Destination Development, and International Strategy teams, the Director will lead efforts to recommend an optimal future fleet size and mix and influence strategic capital investment decisions. The Director will in turn lead the financial business case and scope development process for Newbuilds, Fleet Modernization, and Private Destinations, which is defined in collaboration with Product Innovation, Revenue Strategy, Destination Development, Deployment & Itinerary Planning, Marketing, Hotel Operations, Newbuild, Brand Finance, and Corporate Strategy.

The Director will also lead a high-performance team responsible for the budget oversight and financial reporting of Private Destination development projects. This includes forecasting capital spend and analyzing actual results to identify and mitigate project financial risk. The Director is required to lead other highly skilled professionals. The role is highly visible and will require a significant level of collaboration with key marketing, operations, revenue, deployment, financial, newbuild, corporate, and other cross functional executives. Expected to solve tough industry problems, the Director will need high levels of drive and is entrusted to develop strategic plans, both in the short and long term, that grow the brand profitably.This position will work on-site in Miami, Florida.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Lead the 10-YR planning efforts for Newbuilds, Fleet Modernization, and Private Destinations. This includes cross functional collaboration to identify key markets and perform targeted research and competitive analyses to size opportunities within those markets. The Director will thus directly influence RCI’s and the corporations strategic plan and financial projections.
• Lead the monitoring of the financial health of large capital programs and provide frequent updates and reporting to C-suite level executives. Such capital programs include RCI’s Newbuild order book totaling $20B-$30B over the next 10 years; RCIs ongoing $1.0B-$2.0B dollar fleet modernization portfolio; and $1.5B-$2.0B in Private Destination projects over the next 5 years.
• Manage the team responsible for the development of the financial business cases and capital appropriation requests (CARs) for large capital programs. This includes building and substantiating business cases, and once approved, tracking financial spend and updating forecasts in partnership with brand finance and newbuild finance.
• In partnership with cross functional stakeholders, manage the scope development process for Newbuilds, Fleet Modernization, and Private Destinations by applying findings from research and competitive insights, as well as understanding and measuring the performance and success of past investments.
• Use business knowledge and strategic thinking to direct the interpretation, use, and implications of consumer, marketplace, competitive, operational, financial, project, and environmental information to improve decisions and knowledge base for future strategic planning.
• Craft effective stories, present findings, and lead discussions that lead to a common understanding with partners and executives.
• Manage a team of internal / external professionals and be responsible for establishing clear priorities, while managing expectations in a high pace environment.
• Responsible for overseeing the results, timelines, deliverables, and budget of high-profile programs.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the broader finance community within the corporation.
• Provide ad-hoc analyses to guide decision-making on design of future products.
• 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.

Qualifications, Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong communications, ability to present confidently to senior leadership and cross functionals.
• Able to synthesize results into concise written findings, create presentations, and communicate the strategic implications.
• Self-motivated and able to work effectively in a fast-paced culture.
• Strong analytical, creative, and critical thinking skills
• Strong understanding of marketing and finance principles to lead management on strategic initiatives and guide analysis
• Strong financial modeling experience, including evaluating data and determining optimal ways to spend to accomplish company goals
• Ability to lead multiple teams effectively across multiple disciplines and levels of experience
• BS/BA degree in accounting, finance, business, analytics or other relevant discipline related to the requirements of this position.
• MBA or advanced degree highly preferred.
• 8+ years in advance business analysis / finance / strategy roles, with a minimum of 4+ years leading, hiring and managing high caliber professionals.

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