Senior Sales, Planning & Activation Manager

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.

Celebrity Cruises is one of five brands owned by the global cruise company Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity offers a Relaxed Luxury ℠ resort at sea experience, where guests can sail on the world's best places to the world's best places. We invite travellers to explore multiple countries in one sailing, dine in a new restaurant at every meal, rest in luxurious spaces designed to the last detail for comfort, find their wellbeing miles away at sea, all with the world at their service. Truly, Nothing Comes Close to Celebrity Cruises as we offer unique experiences in over 300 destinations across all seven continents.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The primary purpose of the role is to plan and optimize trade sales activity & resource to ensure maximum agent engagement and achieve sales targets for the UK, Ireland & EMEA regions.

Work collaboratively with various teams and coordinate the activation plans inclusive of trade engagement, campaign planning and training across the full sales team.

Work primarily with the Head of Sales, Field Sales Manager & Head of Trade Marketing & Communications to ensure the right focus & activity is allocated across the right channels and with the right trade partners.

Responsible for the management and motivation of a sales team of 2 x Business Development Executives.

Deliver & develop the Business Development Strategy ensuring the Business Development team are managing the right portfolio of key accounts, influencing internal and external stakeholders through great relationships to ensure the guest, revenue and APD targets are exceeded at an optimal cost of acquisition.  Your team will be responsible for introducing new partners working with them from initial set-up to nurture and grow our mutual business.  

Ensuring end to end implementation of key trade events & activities across the EMEA region. Work alongside the Event Lead to develop a strategic plan including project management, creative development, budget management and ROI evaluation of all events.

The role will direct the execution of all sales planning activities with effective and timely communication.

Perform investigative research of internal and external factors and data sources to provide the business rationale and back drop for new initiatives.

Work closely with the Head of Trade Marketing, Communication & Sales Support to ensure maximum impact and competitive advantage via trade communications.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Sales Planning & Activation

• Project lead and oversee all trade projects that drive change, across our tools/systems, commercials, and engagement. Work alongside our Events Lead on Trade Events, award ceremonies, internal events, conferences, ship visits & ship launches (not exhaustive).
• Develop a fully integrated sales and marketing calendar to deliver the Sales Strategies.
• Set relevant KPIs to ensure we measure all internal processes, activities, and productivity to reach our specific goals or objectives.
• Measure the ROI of monies spent amongst the relevant distribution channels and course correct if necessary.
• Work with Sales leadership to form proposals & influence the brands priorities & policies.
• Ensure the sales organisation has the right tools to enable the Sales team to sell more efficiently and effectively.
• Regularly review our best practices (Systems/Tools/Processes) including identifying and evaluating all systems to drive change, efficiencies, and automation. Ensuring all are fit for purpose.
• Consolidate feedback and contribute to Long-term planning meetings to shape the future campaign landscape.

Account Planning & Execution 

• Oversee the implementation, development, and management of the sales strategy for new business opportunities by the Business Executives.
• Provide leadership, motivation, and personal development to the team of 2, including an on-going programme of mentoring and skill development, the setting of objectives and regular appraisals.
• Utilise a broad understanding of the commercial and financial landscapes of the organisation and provide recommendations and insights which help identify new business opportunities.
• Embrace Salesforce as the operating platform for team management and provide regular reporting and insights to the wider sales team weekly and monthly.
• Ensuring we have robust annual sales and marketing plans in place.

• Fully accountable for the Business Development performance.
• Provide insight to the sales team on market trends and implement action plans with accounts accordingly.
• Act as an ambassador for Celebrity Cruises at key trade events. Demonstrate an exceptional level of product & sector knowledge. Network with trade partners at all levels within their business.

Execution

• Own & align the execution of all promotional & product campaigns including creation and distribution of campaign briefs.
• Work with Trade Marketing and the full Marketing team to develop the Celebrity Cruises strategy and activity plan accordingly through to execution.
• Partner with key stakeholders to ensure relevant information from different business areas is collected, reviewed, and analysed in a comprehensive way.

Communication

• Work side by side with the Head of Sales, Field Sales Manager and Head of Trade Marketing & Communication to deliver seamless communication across the broader team ensuring uniformity with guidelines and working practices.
• Work closely with the Trade Marketing and the Trade Support teams to ensure that all communication to trade partners is relevant and targeted and not ‘one size fits all’.
• First point of contact for all policies and procedures communication.

Financial Responsibilities

• Efficiently manage Travel Agent Conferences and Events budget.
• Work closely with FP&A team to ensure spend forecasts are accurate.
• Measure return on investment for all activities.

Other:

• 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 AND SKILLS

• Project Management – Communicates clearly and effectively. Manages the quality, time & cost of the project. Identifies and manages project stakeholders. Oversees work is completed in a timely manner and ensures objectives are met.
• Team Management - Ability to actively direct & lead cross-functional teams to define and implement the relevant projects and strategies.
• Influencing – takes others on the journey with them and ability to persuade others.
• Problem Solving skills – Can identify the problem, think on their feet, and address disputes and problems.
• Multi-tasker – Ability to simultaneously manage a variety of projects and events & at different planning stages whilst meeting required deadlines.
• Style – Leads with integrity, empathy and is self-aware.
• Enthusiastic – Demonstrates passion, enthusiasm and is eager and excited towards own goals and development of the team.
• Analytical – Logically analyses facts, data, and situations.
• Takes initiative – Understands what needs to be accomplished and proceeds within the accountabilities of the job.
• Planning - Can formulate ideas related to the steps of achieving the objective.
• Organised – Can place and maintain order in an environment and situation.
• Selling – Has a skill to convince and influence others to purchase a product or service.
• Persistent – Is tenacious despite encountering setbacks and obstacles.
• Optimistic – Believes the future will be positive and demonstrates a positive attitude in all situations.
• Written/Language - Clear and concise communication detailing the level of interest in formulating words that convey the meaning.
• Flexible - Working hours and travel will be fluid.

• Proven success in project managing and leading teams.
• All Sales backgrounds (sectors) considered.
• Experience of working in a matrix organization is preferable.

INTERNAL/ EXTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Total EMEA business
• Senior Leadership Team
• Miami Stakeholders

What we Offer . At Royal Caribbean Group, we are client-centric but put people first. We have a culture where everyone is trusted and valued in equal measure, whatever your role in the company. We are propelled by people. Our employees and crew are the driving force behind our success. Our aim is to recruit, develop and retain world class people, who come to Royal Caribbean to do the best work of their careers.

We are committed to employee development, and you will have the opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced people in the business. We regularly reward and promote success, encouraging staff to take on new challenges and responsibilities to aid progression.

Our remuneration package includes our competitive pension, private healthcare, life assurance cover to name a few. In addition, every permanent member of staff that works at Royal Caribbean is eligible for our cruise request program and friends & family cruise discounts.

With good transport links to our modern offices in Surrey, we have plenty of free parking, a free shuttle bus from the train station, on-site restaurant, and on-site gym. We take a flexible approach to work. We currently work a combination of days in the office and work from home.

Come join the team - Journey with us, succeed with us, grow with us.

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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