Senior River Entertainment Operations Lead

Royal Caribbean Group; Basel; On-site; CHF 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Royal Caribbean Group in Basel, Switzerland is seeking a Senior Lead, Entertainment Operations – River to shape and operationalize the river entertainment vision. Based in Basel with close collaboration with Miami, you will drive strategy and hands-on execution across the river fleet while aligning with Celebrity brand standards.

You will manage budgets, forecast resources, and partner with multiple departments to deliver destination-driven entertainment, guest experiences, and scalable

Qualifications

• Proven experience in entertainment operations, programming or talent management within ocean/river cruise, hospitality or adjacent industries.
• Ability to build or scale programs, processes or experiences in evolving environments.
• Strong commercial and creative acumen with a deep understanding of guest experience.
• Established network or familiarity with talent sourcing, agencies and entertainment trends—European markets.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to influence across functions.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to translate insights into action.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent professional experience.
• Working knowledge of German is preferred, plus proficiency in one or more of the following languages: French, Portuguese, Dutch, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian or Serbian.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the implementation and ongoing execution of entertainment programming across the river fleet.
• Support the ongoing development and evolution of Celebrity River entertainment programming in partnership with Product Development and key stakeholders.
• Evaluate guest feedback, operational results, and destination opportunities to enhance programming and guest engagement.
• Proactively identify emerging trends, talent, and creative concepts and present recommendations to leadership.
• Adapt entertainment best practices to the river environment while maintaining alignment with Celebrity brand standards.
• Collaborate with vendors and cross-functional teams to curate experiences reflecting local culture and regional authenticity.
• Develop and maintain entertainment operating standards, processes, program assets, and supporting documentation.
• Manage entertainment-related SOPs, program materials, audits, and vessel support initiatives.
• Serve as the primary shoreside contact for operational issues, contingency planning, and entertainment service recovery.
• Ensure Cruise Directors and shipboard teams are trained, supported, and operating in alignment with established standards and expectations.
• Oversee Cruise Director delivery of activity programming in partnership with the Activities team.
• Coordinate the day-to-day live music operation, including recruitment support, agency coordination, scheduling, deployment and performance oversight.
• Lead the curation and execution of shipboard background music in collaboration with Product Development, Broadcast, Live Music and external partners.
• Support onboard entertainment media delivery, including television content, films, digital signage, promotional assets and special event broadcasts, ensuring a consistent and high quality guest experience.
• Support forecasting and management of entertainment-related budgets, including talent, travel, vendor, broadcast and operational expenses.
• Establish and monitor performance metrics to evaluate program effectiveness and guest satisfaction.
• Use data-driven insights to identify opportunities for operational improvement and program optimization.
• Partner with Entertainment, Hotel Operations, Food & Beverage, Onboard Revenue, Product Development, Marketing, Legal, Finance and other stakeholders to support integrated guest experiences.
• Collaborate with Miami and Basel teams to ensure alignment of strategy, execution and operational standards across the fleet.
• Contribute to the development of scalable organizational practices and support future team growth as the river business expands.
• Embrace a test-and-learn approach to continuously improve the guest experience and operations.

Skills

Entertainment operations

Programming oversight

Talent management

Stakeholder management

Budget forecasting

German language

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Royal Caribbean Group in Basel, Switzerland is seeking a Senior Lead, Entertainment Operations – River to shape and operationalize the river entertainment vision. Based in Basel with close collaboration with Miami, you will drive strategy and hands-on execution across the river fleet while aligning with Celebrity brand standards.

You will manage budgets, forecast resources, and partner with multiple departments to deliver destination-driven entertainment, guest experiences, and scalable