Lead, Activities Operations & Development

Journey with us! Combine your career goals and sense of adventure by joining our exciting team of employees. Royal Caribbean Group is pleased to offer a competitive compensation & benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

This position will work on-site in Miami, Florida.

ABOUT US

Royal Caribbean Group comprises five distinctive brands that share a vision anchored in excellence. We have a common passion for creative thinking, innovative engineering and outstanding guest service that drives continuous improvement in everything we do. The entire Royal Caribbean family is committed to the legacy of hospitality and culture of innovation that is at the core of our guest service, the protection of our natural environment and responsible citizenship in our global community.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Reporting to the Director, Entertainment Experience, The Lead, Activities Operations & Development leads operations, concept ideation, strategy, development and resourcing for Activities and Nightlife programming for Celebrity Cruises. The role focuses on leading, managing and developing the Celebrity Cruises fleet of Activity Managers and Activity Hosts whilst utilizing available data and industry trends to oversee execution of fleet activities to ensure high guest rating performance and marketability of the product.

This position serves as the internal creative project manager across Hotel Operations for the development and implementation of new Activities in collaboration with the Lead , Youth Operations, Lead, Live Music Programming  as well as acting as the owner and champion of sharing best practices within the fleet and development of successful existing programs. The function works with key stakeholders across Celebrity Cruises including Hotel Operations, F&B, Onboard Revenue, PR, Marketing, Sales, Loyalty, Finance and MICE.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Ideate experiences for global fleet, newbuilds, emerging and target markets with the goal of establishing a strong Activity brand identity across all product offerings, supporting the brand pillars of Celebrity Cruises.
• Align process sequencing across multiple projects to create centralized timelines for development and implementation of Activity and Nightlife projects, and support of Hotel Operations priorities.
• Responsible for identifying new trends in talent acquisition, retention and development for all potential Activity managers with potential to progress to Cruise Director, Activity Hosts and Sketch Artists (Edge Class).
• Responsible for the strategic scheduling and performance evaluation of the fleet’s Activity Managers and Activity Hosts.
• Ensure all projects are appropriately resourced by matching available internal resources with those of a network of external partners.
• Budget forecasting and management  to ensure programs are produced and executed in a cost-effective manner and within budget.
• Oversee the shore to ship communication process for Activities and Nightlife in the form of conference calls, follow up, feedback, motivation, coaching and auditing of Activity Managers performance. To be executed through data available remotely or through fleet visits as required.
• Oversee SOP development, SOP database and content library for Activities and Nightlife and approval of all applicable SOPs, guidelines, look books, descriptions and associated programming guidelines.
• Develop innovative Activity & Nightlife experiences driven by market research and data insights
• Manage Activities partnership strategy in support of the Vice President, Entertainment and Director Entertainment Experience on short-term and mid-range solutions to meet long term targets.
• Budget, manage, nurture and develop applicable partner relationships from vetting, negotiation, contracting and onboarding to managing cost and risk analysis, ensuring partners share our brand values.
• Further integrate and leverage the digital capabilities provided by our internal innovation team.
• Serve as the Creative Project Manager for guest Activities from idea, development to execution.
• Oversee the execution and quality while assessing and implementing adjustments based on brand values and guest feedback for Guest Activities and Nightlife.
• Participate in Marketing, Sales and Trade Events, partnering with internal and external stakeholders, as needed.
• Partner with internal and external Entertainment vendors to add production value, build brand recognition and identity to experiences and create clear processes for creative resource development and deployment.
• Manage Newbuild Owner’s Supply for Activities and work with internal and external stakeholders, as required.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders in the  development of seasonal celebrations and holiday programming, leading the guest activities, as needed.
• Constant evaluation of job descriptions, roles, responsibilities and shipboard organizational structure to ensure that leadership, management and communications flow is optimized, and talent supports the organization’s business goals in the most efficient way possible.
• Creating new maintenance, inventory and other operational systems to support financial responsibility and operational efficiency in collaboration with internal stakeholders
• 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 and social media 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.

Additionally, the Lead Activities Operations and Development is a key partner across Hotel Operations to collaborate with principals on creative projects impacting multiple areas of the Hotel Operation including Food and Beverage, On Board Revenue and MICE for activation of entertainment in non-traditional spaces, revenue-based entertainment opportunities and ongoing charter or group function requests

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

• Bachelor’s Degree in Entertainment, Arts Administration or a minimum of five (5) year’s comparable work experience in the entertainment or cruise industry with an emphasis in developing and managing entertainment programs, creative development and daily operations for shipboard and shoreside teams
• Expert knowledge of entertainment programming development process including, but not limited to, timeline creation and management, production and operating budget forecasting and management, negotiating, vendor/partner procurement and management, approval process management and rollout scheduling
• Proactive, entrepreneurial mindset, forward-thinker who acts with a sense of urgency and is on the pulse of trends within entertainment experiences, youth programming and the cruise industry
• Strong budget forecasting, tracking and management skills
• Proven track record of developing and launching successful large-scale entertainment experiences and programs within budget
• 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 departmental policies and procedures
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from executive management, groups of managers, employees, staff and customers, 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
• Previous hotel, resort, casino, theme park experience, a plus
• Previous onboard cruise ship experience, preferred
• May be required to travel internationally approximately 30% of work-related time. This individual will work approximately 70% of the work time at Celebrity Cruises’ Miami offices

We know there's a lot to consider. As you go through the application process, our recruiters will be glad to provide guidance, and more relevant details to answer any additional questions. Thank you again for your interest in Royal Caribbean Group. We'll hope to see you onboard soon!

It is the policy of the Company to ensure equal employment and promotion opportunity to qualified candidates without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sexuality, gender identity or expression, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Royal Caribbean Group and each of its subsidiaries prohibit and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.

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