We are seeking a
Vice President, Direct Consumer Sales & Experience to lead the entirety of our direct-to-consumer commercial engine. Reporting to senior commercial leadership, this executive owns inbound and outbound consumer sales, Travel Services (Air, Ground, and Hotel), and the Guest Experience Ambassador organization - the teams whose voices are, for most guests, the first expression of our brand.
This is a revenue leadership role with a hospitality soul. You will be accountable for direct consumer revenue delivery in a contact center environment, for the disciplined process and sales enablement architecture that allows that revenue to scale, and for a guest journey so seamless that the commercial machinery behind it is never once felt. You will partner closely with Marketing, Technology, Revenue Management, and our global business partners to convert demand into voyages and first-time guests into lifelong ones.
Key ResponsibilitiesCommercial Ownership & Revenue Delivery- Own the direct-to-consumer revenue target - bookings, net ticket revenue, ancillary attachment, and occupancy contribution - and deliver it against plan on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.
- Build the annual direct sales plan and operating budget, including headcount, incentive design, channel investment, and capacity modeling aligned to deployment and inventory.
- Partner with Revenue Management on pricing, promotional constructs, and inventory strategy, ensuring commercial actions protect brand integrity and rate positioning.
- Establish the forecasting and pacing rhythm that gives the enterprise early, honest visibility into demand - with clear recovery plans when pacing softens.
Inbound & Outbound Consumer Sales- Lead the contact center sales organization across inbound and outbound motions, setting the standard for how a luxury purchase is guided rather than pushed.
- Drive conversion of inbound inquiry through disciplined speed to contact, consultative discovery, and confident close - treating every call, chat, and inquiry as a guest already in our care.
- Build a purposeful outbound program: past-guest reactivation, waitlist and quote follow-up, milestone and celebration outreach, and targeted campaigns against qualified demand.
- Define and manage the core performance framework - conversion rate, revenue per contact, average booking value, contact quality, abandonment, and pipeline velocity - and hold the organization to it with transparency.
- Recruit, develop, and retain Sales Advisors who possess genuine luxury fluency.
Travel Services - Air, Ground & Hotel- Lead the Travel Services organization delivering Air, Ground, and Hotel arrangements, ensuring end-to-end journeys are curated with the same care as the voyage itself.
- Grow attachment and margin across air deviations, private transfers, and pre- and post-voyage stays, while safeguarding guest value and supplier quality.
- Own supplier and partner relationships across air, ground transportation, and hotel programs, negotiating terms that serve both the guest experience and the business.
- Ensure disruption management is anticipatory and human, that a delayed flight is resolved before the guest thinks to worry, and always with a recovery worthy of the brand.
Guest Experience & Guest Experience Ambassadors- Lead the Guest Experience Ambassador organization as the guest's single point of continuity from deposit through embarkation and beyond.
- Design the pre-voyage journey documentation, shore excursion and onboard reservations, celebration planning, and personalization, so that arrival feels expected and anticipated.
- Convert stewardship into revenue through pre-voyage curation of experiences, dining, spa, and enrichment, always framed as recognition rather than solicitation.
- Own guest satisfaction and loyalty outcomes for the direct channel, including repeat-sail rate, referral, and voice-of-guest measures tied to the pre-voyage experience.
Enterprise Partnership & Demand Generation- Partner with Marketing as a single commercial team aligning campaign calendars, demand forecasts, lead volume and quality, offer strategy, and creative messaging to booked-revenue outcomes.
- Close the loop between spend and result, establishing shared attribution and lead-disposition reporting so marketing investment is judged on voyages sold, not inquiries generated.
- Partner with Technology and Digital on the systems roadmap CRM, telephony and contact routing, booking platform, quoting tools, reporting, and AI-assisted service advocating for the capabilities that remove friction for sales advisors and guests alike.
- Represent the direct channel with global business partners, travel advisor and trade partners, and international market teams, ensuring channel strategies are complementary rather than competitive.
- Serve as the voice of the guest and of the front line to Product, Operations, Onboard Revenue, and Shipboard leadership, translating what we hear on every call into enterprise decisions.
Process Design & Sales Enablement- Architect the end-to-end direct sales process lead capture, qualification, quoting, follow-up cadence, deposit and payment, and handoff to Guest Experience with clear ownership and service standards at every stage.
- Build the sales enablement infrastructure that allows the business to excel: onboarding curricula, product and destination certification, discovery and objection frameworks, call and quality assurance programs, and a continuously refreshed knowledge base.
- Deploy playbooks, talk tracks, and battlecards that raise the performance floor while preserving each advisor's authentic voice.
- Instrument the funnel end to end and drive a test-and-learn discipline - piloting, measuring, and scaling what works while retiring what does not.
- Pursue relentless simplification: remove handoffs, redundant systems, and administrative burden so advisors spend their time with guests rather than with tools.
- Ensure adherence to consumer sales regulations, data privacy requirements, and brand and licensing standards across every market served.
Leadership & Culture- Lead a multi-site, multilingual organization of leaders, advisors, and ambassadors, building a bench deep enough to sustain growth and fleet expansion.
- Cultivate a culture grounded in The Ritz-Carlton service philosophy - Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen - where empowerment, anticipation, and genuine care are the operating norms.
- Set an unmistakable standard for accountability and craft: warm with people, exacting about results.
- Champion engagement, recognition, and inclusion, ensuring the team that sells the world's finest voyages is itself a place people are proud to build a career.
QualificationsRequired- Twelve or more years of progressive experience in direct-to-consumer sales, contact center leadership, or commercial operations, including five or more years leading leaders at the Director level or above.
- Demonstrated ownership of a consumer revenue target of meaningful scale, with a verifiable record of delivering growth against plan.
- Deep contact center fluency: workforce planning and capacity modeling, omnichannel routing, quality assurance, incentive design, and the performance metrics that govern each.
- Proven success building sales process and enablement programs from the ground up - not merely administering programs built by others.
- Sophisticated cross-functional influence, particularly with Marketing and Technology partners, and the credibility to represent the channel at the executive table.
- Command of CRM, contact center technology, and cruise reservation platforms, including Salesforce, Genesys, Five9, Seaware, or comparable systems, with comfort operating from data rather than instinct.
- Must hold experience with Seaware or a comparable cruise reservation and booking platform, including reservation workflows, pricing, inventory, guest profile management, and issue resolution across sales and guest services teams.
- Bachelor's degree in business, hospitality, marketing, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally, including shipboard visits and partner engagements.
Highly Preferred- Experience in luxury travel, cruise, resort, private aviation, or another high-consideration, high-touch consumer category.
- Exposure to global markets and multilingual sales organizations.
Attributes We Look For- A genuine luxury hospitality instinct you would rather earn a guest for life than close a booking today, and you consistently manage to do both.
- Commercial rigor: you can move from a forecast variance to a root cause to a corrective action without losing the room.
- Builder's temperament, comfortable creating structure where little exists.
- Strong executive presence and clarity in communication, from the boardroom to the sales floor.
- Discretion, poise, and an unfailing standard of personal excellence.
Work EnvironmentThis role is based in our Fort Lauderdale, Florida headquarters, with regular travel to contact center locations, shipboard operations, and partner markets. Contact center operations span extended hours across multiple time zones; the successful candidate will be present and engaged with the rhythm of the business.
