Head of National Accounts

Celebrity Cruises is a global, multi‑billion‑dollar luxury cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, with local offices in Sydney, Australia. Operating a modern fleet of 15 ships, the brand sails to destinations across the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Asia, South America, the Galapagos and Australia/New Zealand.

Celebrity has a strong and long‑standing presence in Australia and New Zealand, contributing approximately 60,000 guests annually, with around 50% travelling internationally. The deployment of the award‑winning Edge® Series to the region underscores Celebrity’s continued investment and growth ambitions locally.

Renowned for innovation, design and service excellence, Celebrity Cruises has earned hundreds of global industry awards, including recognition from TIME and Forbes Travel Guide. Guided by its purpose to “Open up the World,” the brand is committed to delivering exceptional guest experiences, championing diversity and inclusion, and advancing sustainability across its fleet and destinations.

With this investment, the brand is targeting significant growth over the coming years, with all global regions expected to source more guests and grow revenues. 

POSITION SUMMARY

The primary purpose of the Head of National Accounts role is to drive superior commercial performance across the Australian market by exceeding guest, revenue and Average Per Diem (APD) targets. The role is accountable for delivering the High‑Value Trade Partner strategy, driving new business growth, increasing sales performance and attracting affluent consumers to Celebrity Cruises.

Reporting directly to the Director of Sales (DOS), the role leads a team of two Business Development Managers and operates across the Australian market to manage, deliver and execute the trade distribution strategy. This includes ensuring trade partners are equipped with the right tools, insights and support to sell Celebrity Cruises effectively.

The role has end‑to‑end accountability for the operational and commercial performance of Celebrity Cruises’ valued trade partners. Through robust account planning, effective commercial negotiation, and senior‑level partner engagement, the role drives sustainable, profitable growth and builds strong, long‑term partnerships. Interstate and/or international travel is required.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

COMMERCIAL PLANNING & PERFORMANCE

• Develop and execute fully integrated sales, marketing and training plans for high valued trade partners, aligned to the booking curve and long‑term growth objectives.
• Translate partner, market and consumer insights into robust, multi‑year account plans that deliver sustainable and profitable growth.
• Produce bespoke annual account plans for both key accounts, clearly outlining initiatives to improve all key performance metrics, including revenue, passengers, APD and share.
• Provide operational insight into the Annual Operating Plan, ensuring account strategies are aligned to overall commercial and distribution priorities.
• Analyse account profitability, distribution effectiveness and return on investment, ensuring all initiatives and investments drive optimal commercial outcomes.
• Identify and interpret industry, market and consumer trends to uncover future growth opportunities for Celebrity Cruises within both partners.
• Lead the analysis of weekly trading performance, reviewing channel and partner data, identifying trends, and providing actionable insights and recommendations to the trading and commercial teams.
• Gather and share competitive intelligence, recommending strategies to defend and grow performance in a competitive trade environment.
• Ensure Celebrity Cruises maintains strong brand visibility and advocacy across both partners, supported by deep product and sector expertise.

KEY ACCOUNT LEADERSHIP & ENGAGEMENT

• Own and manage multi-level relationships, including senior key decision‑makers, product managers, and influencers at Key Account Trade Partners.
• Design and deliver bespoke engagement initiatives that drive loyalty and advocacy, including familiarisation programs, ship visits, leadership events and strategic activations.
• Manage the communication plans for both partners, ensuring clear, timely and impactful engagement on major announcements, deployments, season launches and milestones.
• Develop and implement a contact plan and wiring plan that drives shared accountability and delivery of agreed objectives.
• Ensure team call plans and engagement activity are tightly aligned to strategic priorities and performance goals.

CAPABILITY, TRAINING & BRAND ADVOCACY

• Oversee the delivery of targeted product, sales and automation training tailored specifically to the needs of Key Account Trade Partners to improve conversion and reduce service drivers.
• Identify and implement bespoke training solutions aligned to each partner’s strategy and performance objectives.
• Act as a senior brand ambassador for Celebrity Cruises at trade, consumer and industry events.
• Lead and host high impact customer events and educational experiences (e.g. ship visits, conferences and launches), ensuring clear objectives, targeted follow up and measurable ROI.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

• Provide leadership, motivation and personal development to the team, including an ongoing programme of development and the setting of SMART objectives and regular appraisals.
• Drive team engagement through regular communications, proactive feedback, work/life balance and group activities.

• Drive adoption of all systems available to us to deliver our goals including PowerBI, Salesforce and Social Media channels.
• Ensure the sales team has the right tools to enable them to sell effectively and efficiently.
• Perform 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.

EXPERIENCE / KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• Strong relationship‑building and stakeholder management capability, with the ability to engage, influence and present credibly at senior levels both internally and externally, particularly with large, complex key accounts.
• Collaborative and inclusive people leader, able to motivate, develop and engage a high‑performing sales team within a matrix organisation.
• High level of understanding and experience with digital marketing practices, able to identify, challenge and shape partnership marketing activity to ensure high returns on investment.
• Brings a constructive, solution‑oriented approach, combining independent thinking with resilience and a consistently positive, can‑do attitude.
• Strong analytical and commercial capability, with the ability to interpret data, evaluate risks and opportunities, and translate insights into clear actionable roadmap that drive performance.
• Demonstrated ability to oversee and govern a portfolio of national accounts, maintaining a holistic view of performance, investment and execution to ensure alignment with commercial objectives and long‑term growth priorities.
• Proven influencing and negotiation skills, able to align partner priorities with business objectives and deliver mutually beneficial commercial outcomes.
• Proactive and results‑driven leader, demonstrating initiative, ownership and accountability in delivering agreed targets and strategic priorities.
• Well‑organised with strong planning, prioritisation and execution skills, able to manage multiple workstreams and long‑term account plans effectively.
• Resilient and persistent, maintaining momentum and focus when navigating complexity, change or competitive pressure.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to develop, communicate and execute account and growth plans that drive sustainable performance.
• Strong selling and persuasion capability, with a clear understanding of how to position a premium/luxury product within a competitive trade environment.
• Demonstrated commercial acumen, including experience in contract management, forecasting, budget oversight and ROI evaluation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate clearly, concisely and persuasively.
• Highly effective presentation and storytelling skills, able to influence outcomes at executive and partner level.
• Comfortable as an early adopter of AI‑enabled and emerging technologies, using innovation to enhance efficiency and commercial outcomes.
• Solution‑oriented, with a practical approach to identifying issues and implementing effective solutions.
• Flexible and adaptable, with the ability to travel extensively and work across varying partner and business environments.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION

• 5+ years’ proven success leading, developing and motivating a sales or account management team in a commercially driven environment.
• Demonstrated experience in key account management, planning & executing contracting and acquisition, preferably with large or complex partners.
• Strong track record of commercial negotiation and delivering profitable growth outcomes.
• Experience working effectively within a matrix or global organisation is preferred.
• Sales or commercial experience from any relevant sector considered; travel or hospitality experience advantageous but not essential.
• Valid driver’s licence with a clear driving record.

INTERNAL/ EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

• High Valued Trade Partners
• Celebrity Cruises Australia, New Zealand and International Team
• The wider Sales Team, Trade Marketing and Sales Support team in AUNZ
• Shared services including GTS, Guest Engagement and Finance