Senior Manager, Experience Product Development

Position Summary

Based in Miami, FL, and reporting to the Director, Product Development, the Senior Manager, Experience Product Development will be responsible for managing the people and teams that ideate and deliver high quality products for our guests.

This role champions the product vision to every stakeholder and partner, ensuring the Royal Caribbean International experience is manifested through amazing vacation products

The Senior Manager, Experience Product Development will lead the implementation and execution of all new concepts, experiences, activities, dedicated spaces and programming for Royal Caribbean International.

This person will manage various strategic rollout efforts on new ships, modernization efforts for our existing fleet or private destinations.

This role will lead all the elements of the guest experience, from brief, through design and execution ensuring that concepts are brought to life inline with the strategic goals and with a full understanding of feasibility (operational and construction).

To be successful, the Senior Manager, Experience Product Development must work collaboratively with other teams including Product Innovation, Operations, Newbuild, Design, Marketing, Digital, Sales, Risk Management and Revenue Management.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities :

At a high-level, responsibilities for this role will include :

Product strategy : Provide ongoing leadership for the strategic direction of the product / experience. Ensure strategic alignment between all stakeholders and partners throughout the product development process.

Leverage Consumer Insights to bring forward the voice of the consumer and ensure we are improving the overall vacation experience with every new product.

Provide guidance over the strategic direction for the new concepts and experiences. Partner and collaborate closely with key stakeholders from the various departments across the organization to understand how to adapt and evolve the strategy as necessary.

Product definition : Provides direct leadership with all partners and stakeholders ensuring that the products being created for Royal Caribbean International are viable, feasible and desirable for our guests.

In addition, the Senior Manager must foster a highly collaborative team dynamic and approach that connects various disciplines from the brand, Newbuild and all partners to ensure a successful product.

Ensure that concepts are marketable, drive guest satisfaction and ultimately drive revenue. Manage all aspects of design and execution while continually enhancing our products.

Create stories (in the form of presentations) outlining the business environment, current product positioning, competitive landscape, insights and data findings to share recommendations and updates with senior management as well as partners and stakeholders.

Product delivery : The Senior Manager is accountable for the products and experiences that are developed for Royal Caribbean International and is ultimately responsible for helping our partners prioritize to ensure final delivery of the product realizes the strategic vision and brings to life the desired experience for our guests.

Work with Operations, Newbuild, Marketing and senior leadership to ensure proper awareness, collaboration, approvals and planning is not only in place, but seamlessly integrated into a repeatable process.

Work closely with operations and design teams on run of show events to showcase programming and ensure the guest experience will be delivered on strategy / vision.

Establish startup plans and training materials to ensure each concept / experience is flawlessly executed. Work closely with Newbuild and other architectural / design / construction partners to ensure physical products meet brand expectations.

Work with creative partners to name, create visual identity and craft narratives to bring the concepts to life. Work closely with the Marketing Communications team, Public Relations, Creative Agencies and Revenue Management to ensure the latest information is being accurately depicted in the brands communication and systems.

Deliver quality products by leveraging data from Insights & Analytics to influence development of the product. Align on key product differentiators with the Go to Market teams to ensure buy-in and future marketability of new concepts and experiences.

Product standards : Leads the collaborative effort of establishing, evolving and maintaining our Royal Caribbean International experience DNA , ensuring the product development standards, practices and experience design guidelines are consistent across all products, projects and teams.

Establish and maintain design experience guidelines to ensure Creative Agencies, Operations and Newbuild teams (along with new hires within the team) have the needed information to develop proper branding, customer centric programming and are able to design and build venues that deliver against the desired guest experience.

Product roadmap : Works in close collaboration with the Project Management Office and Newbuild to develop annual operating plans for product development, including advocating for the appropriate funding as necessary to meet the proper design quality standards while ensure the aspiration for each product is delivered.

Identify clear short and long-term goals and effectively project manage complex timelines and deliverables.

Personnel management : Responsible for all aspects of personnel management (e.g., hiring, training and development, etc.

of her / his direct reports and overall team. Enhance and evolve the Product Development team by defining required skills, roles and responsibilities needed to concept and execute experiences for the brand.

Develop the critical thinking and concept development skills of team members.

Qualifications, Knowledge & Skills :

• Minimum 8-10 years in a product, design or other similar role developing experiences for consumers
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Significant experience in leading teams / organizations in bringing high quality products to marke
• Past Experience working with Architects / Designers / Creative or other Innovation Consultants required
• The ideal candidate will possess a combination of creative thinking and executional skills, able to problem solve in the moment with creative solutions that keep everyone focused on the vision.
• Past experience in the travel industry ideal
• Deep knowledge and extensive track record in leading teams through the development of physical products and experiences, with an understanding of how to get consumer-centric solutions to market with a high degree of success
• While not a technology role there should be a basic understanding of consumer technology trends (mobile device capabilities, wearables, VR, etc)
• Experience developing products grounded in strategies driven by consumer insights
• Ability to effectively provide overall vision and leadership across a large ecosystem of partners and builders, that spans product definition, design and construction
• Exceptional verbal and written communication and project / program leadership skills, including the ability to communicate effectively at the senior most executive levels of the company
• Ability to assemble, lead and influence cross functional teams to execute against a vision
• Able to craft and tell a compelling, if not influential, story for audiences of all levels including senior executives
• Able to document and package detailed operational requirements and experiences
• Proven ability to collaborate with and achieve actionable results through others, plus the ability to build strong and sustainable relationships along with the capability to interact with all levels of the organization
• Ability to think strategically and drive ideas into action, with a positive outlook and willingness to take personal initiative
• Obsessive attention to detail and follow-through
30+ days ago