Role Overview
The AVP of Ecommerce is a senior commercial leader responsible for representing Celebrity Cruises as the brand's primary ecommerce voice within the Royal Caribbean Group shared services ecommerce organization. This role serves as the critical link between Celebrity brand leadership and the multi-brand ecommerce strategy group, ensuring Celebrity's priorities, positioning, and commercial objectives are fully reflected in shared ecommerce strategy, execution, and performance.
Reporting to the VP of Ecommerce with the Celebrity CMO as the chief stakeholder, the AVP partners closely with Celebrity brand leadership to integrate ecommerce thinking into the overall Celebrity brand strategy. Simultaneously, this role works with the shared services ecommerce strategy group to translate Celebrity's brand priorities into actionable ecommerce plans, ensuring alignment across Revenue Management, Brand Marketing, Product, and Business Intelligence.
This is an influence-driven leadership role that requires the ability to shape outcomes across both brand and shared services organizations without direct authority over all execution resources.
Key Responsibilities
Ecommerce Performance & Commercial Leadership
- Own accountability for Celebrity ecommerce PAX, conversion, and revenue performance targets.
- Serves as the primary Celebrity brand representative to the shared services ecommerce strategy group, ensuring Celebrity's growth objectives and commercial priorities are reflected in the multi-brand ecommerce roadmap.
- Partner with Celebrity brand leadership and the CMO to integrate ecommerce thinking into the overall Celebrity brand strategy, identifying opportunities where digital commerce can accelerate brand and business objectives.
- Lead forecasting, budgeting, and investment prioritization for Celebrity ecommerce, partnering with the shared services strategy group on resource allocation and roadmap trade-offs.
- Monitor performance against targets and work with shared services and brand partners to adjust tactics, optimize conversion, and improve yield.
Ecommerce Strategy & Shared Services Partnership
- Act as the key stakeholder and strategic partner to the shared services ecommerce strategy group, which owns the overall multi-brand ecommerce strategy and roadmap.
- Translate Celebrity brand strategy, consumer insights, and commercial priorities into clear requirements and inputs for the shared services ecommerce team.
- Influence shared services roadmap prioritization to ensure Celebrity-specific initiatives receive appropriate investment and sequencing.
- Identify and advocate for new market opportunities, emerging technologies, and channel optimization strategies on behalf of the Celebrity brand.
- Ensure Celebrity's unique brand positioning and guest experience standards are preserved within shared platform and technology decisions.
AI, Personalization & Experience Innovation
- Champion the adoption of AI-driven personalization, recommendation engines, and dynamic merchandising to improve conversion and guest engagement across the Celebrity ecommerce funnel.
- Partner with shared services Product and Engineering teams to define and prioritize personalization use cases, A/B testing frameworks, and experimentation roadmaps for Celebrity.
- Stay current on emerging technologies, AI capabilities, and industry trends to identify competitive advantages and innovation opportunities for the Celebrity ecommerce experience.
- Ensure the ecommerce experience leverages data and behavioral insights to deliver relevant, high-converting content and offers at each stage of the consumer journey.
Brand & Celebrity Partnership
- Maintain a deep understanding of Celebrity brand strategy, positioning, and business priorities.
- Serve as the primary ecommerce leader ensuring Celebrity brand priorities are reflected in digital execution, site experience, and campaign activations.
- Work directly with the Celebrity CMO and brand leadership team to align ecommerce goals with broader brand and marketing objectives.
- Represent ecommerce in Celebrity Marketing leadership meetings and contribute to integrated planning.
Content & Experience Leadership
- Manage and develop the ecommerce content team, ensuring content supports conversion, brand storytelling, and campaign objectives.
- Ensure onsite content, messaging, and merchandising align with both brand standards and ecommerce performance goals.
- Drive content strategy that balances editorial quality with commercial performance.
Operations & Execution Influence
- Serve as a key stakeholder to the shared services ecommerce operations team, influencing priorities, processes, and execution quality on behalf of Celebrity.
- Provide clear requirements, performance expectations, and feedback to shared services operations to ensure Celebrity standards are met.
- Escalate operational gaps or misalignments that impact Celebrity ecommerce performance, working collaboratively to resolve issues.
- Partner with shared services operations on capacity planning, release coordination, and execution timelines for Celebrity-specific initiatives.
Team Leadership & Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing ecommerce team spanning content and brand experience functions.
- Build a culture of accountability, experimentation, and continuous improvement within the team.
- Attract, retain, and grow talent; establish clear goals, development plans, and career paths for direct reports.
- Foster cross-team collaboration and ensure effective coordination across shared resources and matrixed stakeholders.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with Revenue Management and Brand Marketing to develop and execute tactics that increase ecommerce demand and conversion.
- Collaborate with shared services Product, Engineering, Analytics, and Marketing teams to identify opportunities, test initiatives, and scale successful programs.
- Coordinate with the multi-brand ecommerce strategy group to ensure Celebrity priorities are reflected in shared technology and roadmap decisions.
Reporting & Executive Communication
- Communicate ecommerce performance, risks, and opportunities clearly and proactively to senior leaders, including the Celebrity CMO and VP of Ecommerce.
- Translate complex ecommerce metrics and insights into executive-level narratives tied to Celebrity brand goals and business outcomes.
- Deliver regular business reviews and strategic recommendations to Celebrity brand leadership and the shared services ecommerce organization
Qualifications & Experience
Required
- 10+ years of progressive experience in ecommerce, digital commerce, or a related commercial digital role.
- Demonstrated track record of owning and delivering against ecommerce revenue, pax, and conversion targets.
- Strong commercial acumen with experience in forecasting, budgeting, and P&L management for a digital channel.
- Proven ability to lead and influence in matrixed environments, driving outcomes through partnership and stakeholder management rather than direct authority alone.
- Experience representing a brand or business unit within a shared services or center-of-excellence operating model.
- Experience connecting ecommerce metrics to broader brand and business objectives and communicating results credibly to senior stakeholders.
- Demonstrated ability to translate complexity into executive-ready insights and strategic recommendations.
Preferred
- Experience in travel, hospitality, or subscription/consideration-purchase industries.
- Familiarity with AI-driven personalization, experimentation platforms, and data-driven merchandising.
- Experience operating within a multi-brand organization with shared platform and technology resources.
- Background in consumer brand environments where commercial performance and brand integrity must coexist.
Core Competencies
- Ecommerce performance management and commercial optimization
- Brand-led ecommerce strategy and stakeholder representation
- Influence-driven leadership in matrixed and shared services environments
- AI, personalization, and experience innovation
- Forecasting, budgeting, and investment decision-making
- Team leadership, talent development, and organizational building
- Cross-functional collaboration and stakeholder management
- Executive communication and influence
