Lead, Recruiter

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd; Weybridge; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd is seeking a Lead Marine Recruiter to drive strategic recruitment for shipboard operations and leadership roles. You will mentor recruiters, oversee daily activities, and provide insights to optimise hiring effectiveness across global teams.

You will collaborate with HR, operations leaders, and regional teams to anticipate workforce needs, build talent pipelines, and ensure compliance with maritime standards while delivering excellent candidate experiences.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years recruitment experience, ideally within marine or cruise industries.
• Proven leadership experience mentoring recruitment teams.
• Familiarity with shipboard operations and maritime labour regulations.
• Expertise in passive sourcing strategies and executive recruitment.
• Ability to influence and collaborate with operational leaders and senior management.
• Proficient in using recruitment metrics and dashboards.

Responsibilities

• Analyse recruitment forecasts and workforce plans to manage capacity and hiring velocity.
• Oversee daily sourcing and recruitment for shipboard roles across units.
• Partner with HR Operations and leaders to align recruitment with workforce needs.
• Lead proactive sourcing for management and executive shipboard roles.
• Review final candidate shortlists and provide hiring recommendations.
• Represent the company at global recruitment events to enhance employer brand.

Skills

Leadership

Recruitment

Talent Sourcing

Interviewing

Data Analytics

Stakeholder Management

Compliance

Tools

ATS

CRMs

Smartsheets

Excel

Job description

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Position is based in Weybridge, Surrey.

Join Our Global Talent Team!

If you’re a dynamic, results-driven talent acquisition professional passionate about the marine industry, we invite you to apply and be part of a global team committed to operational excellence at sea! We are pleased to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

Position Summary:

The Lead Marine Recruiter plays a pivotal role in driving strategic recruitment initiatives, ensuring a continuous pipeline of top-tier talent for shipboard Marine operations. This leadership role is responsible for overseeing daily recruitment activities, mentoring Recruiters, and providing strategic insights to optimise hiring effectiveness. The Lead Recruiter collaborates with key stakeholders, analyses workforce demands and ensures recruitment processes align with global maritime standards and company objectives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Talent Acquisition Leadership:

• Analyse recruitment forecasts and operational workforce plans to manage recruiter capacity, hiring velocity, and resource allocation
• Oversee and drive the daily sourcing and recruitment efforts, ensuring a strong pipeline of qualified candidates for shipboard positions across multiple business units
• Partner closely with HR Operations, HRBPs, and operational leadership to ensure alignment between recruitment strategies and workforce needs
• Proactively identify external talent market trends and adjust sourcing strategies to meet evolving business demands
• Develop and implement recruitment strategies for hard-to-fill and critical leadership roles, ensuring operational continuity

Talent Sourcing & Identification:

• Lead proactive sourcing initiatives for management and executive shipboard roles, including passive candidate strategies, Boolean searches, professional networking, referrals, and cold calling
• Manage and maintain gap talent pools for specialised marine roles, continuously monitoring external factors affecting candidate supply
• Directly source, screen, and interview high-impact candidates for leadership and technical roles
• Ensure the continuous development of talent pipelines to meet both short-term and long-term hiring goals
• Conduct in-depth, competency-based interviews to assess candidate suitability for shipboard environments and leadership readiness
• Oversee the standardisation and continuous improvement of candidate assessment tools and interview frameworks
• Review and approve final candidate shortlists, ensuring alignment with hiring goals, operational needs, and company standards
• Provide hiring recommendations and collaborate with leadership on final candidate selection for key positions

Stakeholder Management & Collaboration:

• Act as a trusted advisor to hiring leaders, providing recruitment data insights and market intelligence to support informed decision-making
• Lead regular collaboration meetings with department heads to review hiring progress, pipeline health, and talent acquisition strategies
• Develop and deliver presentations on recruitment effectiveness, process improvements, and hiring trends to executive stakeholders
• Facilitate ongoing partnerships between the recruitment team and operational leadership to ensure talent strategies align with business objectives

Operational Excellence & Compliance:

• Ensure all recruitment activities comply with international maritime labour standards (MLC) and company-specific policies (SQM)
• Continuously review and refine recruitment standard operating procedures (SOPs) for process efficiency and compliance
• Monitor and maintain detailed recruitment records, ensuring adherence to global labour regulations and data protection policies
• Mitigate legal risks by staying informed of regional employment laws and providing ongoing training to the recruitment team

Data-Driven Recruitment Management:

• Utilise recruitment data, dashboards, and productivity reports to monitor individual and team performance against hiring targets
• Leverage data insights to optimise sourcing strategies, streamline hiring workflows, and ensure resource efficiency
• Prepare comprehensive reports, including hiring forecasts, talent gap analyses, and operational efficiency metrics for leadership review
• Provide ongoing mentorship and professional development to recruitment team members, fostering continuous learning and performance improvement
• Lead recruiter training sessions, including new recruiter onboarding, competency-based interviewing techniques, and refresher workshops
• Offer guidance to resolve recruitment challenges, providing escalation support and process improvements when needed
• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, and excellence within the recruitment team

Employer Branding & Candidate Experience:

• Champion a positive candidate experience by ensuring timely feedback, transparency, and professionalism throughout the recruitment process
• Represent the company at global recruitment events, hiring fairs, and industry conferences to strengthen employer brand visibility
• Communicate the company’s value proposition effectively, emphasizing career growth, shipboard culture, and global opportunities

Qualifications and Experience:

• Minimum 5 years relevant recruitment experience, ideally within the marine or cruise industries
• Proven leadership experience mentoring and leading recruitment teams with expanding responsibilities for performance oversight
• Familiarity with shipboard operations, including maritime labour regulations (MLC), SQM policies, and vessel staffing structures preferred
• Expertise in passive sourcing strategies, including Boolean searches, direct outreach, and professional networking for leadership roles
• Demonstrated experience in competency-based interviewing and candidate evaluation for both technical and leadership roles
• Ability to influence and collaborate with operational leaders, HRBPs, and senior management across multiple regions
• Proficient in using recruitment metrics, talent analytics, and dashboards to drive process improvements and hiring decisions
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel (pivot tables, data visualisation, and reporting tools), ATS, CRMs and Smartsheets a plus
• Global Mindset: Knowledge of global labour markets, international recruitment practices, and regional employment regulations

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, colour, 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.