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Better Moments As; Longyearbyen; On-site; NOK 675,000 - 825,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing in Longyearbyen

Permanent contract

Job summary

Better Moments AS in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, seeks a General Manager to take full P&L and lead commercial strategy for its Arctic experiences. The role requires residency in Longyearbyen year-round and the ability to manage a seasonal workforce in a remote environment.

You will oversee pricing, invoicing, payroll coordination, HMS obligations, and stakeholder relations with authorities and partners. Start date 1 December 2026; two months' probation; long-term appointment.

Qualifications

• Full profit and loss responsibility for a business or unit.
• Management of a seasonal or shift-based workforce.
• Direct commercial responsibility: negotiating agreements and setting prices.
• Practical financial administration: management accounts, cash flow forecasting, credit control.
• Experience of operating in weather-constrained or remote environments.
• Fluent professional English.
• Eligibility for daglig leder of a Norwegian AS: residence in Norway or citizenship + EEA residence.
• Willingness to reside in Longyearbyen year-round.

Responsibilities

• Full profit and loss responsibility, cash flow, and financing matters with the board.
• Pricing and commercial terms across all products.
• Invoicing, receivables and credit control, carried out directly.
• Employment matters and payroll coordination with the external accountant.
• Statutory health and safety responsibility (HMS) as the employer's representative.
• Environmental and permit compliance, and guest review performance as a commercial indicator.
• Relations with Sysselmesteren på Svalbard, the port authority and partner operators.

Skills

P&L ownership

Seasonal workforce

Commercial strategy

Weather/remote ops

English fluency

Residency in Longyearbyen

Job description

• Sektor Privat

Manage operations, P&L, and commercial strategy for an Arctic tour operator in Longyearbyen, Svalbard.

• Full P&L and commercial responsibility experience
• Experience managing a seasonal or shift-based workforce
• Experience in weather-constrained or remote operating environments
• Fluent professional English
• Willingness to reside in Longyearbyen year-round
• Indicative salary from NOK 750,000 gross per year
• Company-supported housing in Longyearbyen
• Membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme

BETTER MOMENTS AS

Full-time, permanent. Start 1 December 2026. Residence in Longyearbyen required.

The company

Better Moments AS operates guided Arctic experiences from Longyearbyen: snowmobile expeditions from February to May, and boat trips to glacier fronts, wildlife safaris and sea kayaking from May to September. The company owns its vessels and its snowmobile fleet, employs between four and twelve guides and skippers depending on the season, and is wholly owned by Skua Nature Group. The operating year is short, and capacity that is not sold or not delivered cannot be recovered later.

The appointment

Better Moments changed ownership and the current General Manager was appointed on a transition mandate concluding on 1 January 2027. The incoming General Manager will be the first permanent appointment under the current ownership, with a handover period provided. The appointment is intended to be long term.

The company is profitable and its products are established. The past season was operationally difficult: vessel breakdowns removed two of three boats from service for extended periods and the snowmobile season closed a month early cause the anticipated snow melting. The task is improvement rather than recovery, reducing exposure to equipment failure, strengthening margin and predictability, and developing the direct booking channel as guests increasingly book close to arrival.

Responsibilities

• Full profit and loss responsibility, cash flow, and financing matters with the board.
• Pricing and commercial terms across all products.
• Invoicing, receivables and credit control, carried out directly.
• Employment matters and payroll coordination with the external accountant.
• Statutory health and safety responsibility (HMS) as the employer's representative.
• Environmental and permit compliance, and guest review performance as a commercial indicator.
• Relations with Sysselmesteren på Svalbard, the port authority and partner operators.

Requirements

• Full profit and loss responsibility for a business or business unit, with results that can be described in specific terms.
• Management of a seasonal or shift-based workforce, including recruitment and termination.
• Direct commercial responsibility: negotiating agreements and setting prices.
• Practical financial administration: management accounts, cash flow forecasting, credit control.
• Experience of an operating environment constrained by weather, remoteness, logistics or safety regulation.
• Fluent professional English.
• Eligibility for appointment as daglig leder of a Norwegian AS. Under current Norwegian law this generally requires residence in Norway, or citizenship and residence in an EEA state.
• Willingness to reside in Longyearbyen throughout the year.

Preferred

• Tourism, expedition, hospitality or guided outdoor operations with direct guest delivery; cruise or shore excursion contracting.
• Familiarity with the Norwegian business environment: employment law, HMS, working with a Norwegian accountant and board.
• Formal safety accountability, including experience of managing an incident.
• Experience of operating under environmental protection regulation or permit conditions.
• Previous residence in Svalbard or another high-latitude community.
• A boat certificate - Norwegian D5LA, ROC or higher or seafaring experience.
• Working knowledge of Norwegian.
• A specific degree, a set number of years in a titled position and native Norwegian are not required, and no single preference above will exclude an application.

Terms

Indicative salary from NOK 750,000 gross per year, depending on experience. Svalbard applies a flat wage withholding scheme of approximately 16%, so net remuneration is materially higher than the equivalent gross figure on the mainland. Company-supported housing in Longyearbyen; membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme; permanent contract, two months' probation, three months' notice. There is no intermediate reporting layer between the General Manager and the board.

Conditions in Svalbard

Longyearbyen has approximately two thousand five hundreds residents, one supermarket, and a hospital that stabilises and evacuates rather than treats. Flights are expensive and occasionally cancelled. The sun does not rise between late October and mid-February, every year. Movement outside the settlement requires polar bear protection. The community is small enough that employment decisions and disputes are not anonymous.

Administrative work currently accounts for close to a third of the General Manager's time, and reducing it is part of the role. The season allows no recovery: a problem arising in April cannot be addressed in May.

Candidates relocating with a partner or family are encouraged to raise that situation during the process.