Site Director - Shared Services Manila

MSC Cruises; Manila; On-site; PHP 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

MSC Cruises seeks a Site Director to establish and scale its Manila Shared Services Centre for MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys. This senior leader will build a high-performing team, drive service excellence, and align operations with global goals while managing budgets and governance.

The role requires 12+ years in SSC/GBS/BPO with multi-function leadership, fluency in English, and experience leading 200+ employees in a multinational setting.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience within Shared Services, GBS, BPO, Customer Operations, or Service Delivery.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Management, or a related discipline. Master's degree or MBA preferred.
• Fluent English
• Experience leading organisations of 200+ employees.
• Strong financial, commercial, and operational management experience.
• Understanding of Philippine employment legislation and regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the Manila Shared Services Centre as a high-performing organisation recognised for service excellence.
• Develop trusted partnerships with Corporate Teams and act as primary interface between Manila SSC and global leaders.
• Define and execute the site's operational strategy aligned with global objectives.
• Oversee daily SSC operations ensuring service levels, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.
• Drive governance, risk, and compliance; implement dashboards and KPIs.
• Champion transformation, automation, and organizational change across processes.
• Manage the SSC budget, headcount and cost efficiency while maintaining service quality.
• Foster a diverse, engaged workforce with strong succession planning.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Operational management

Stakeholder management

Change management

People development

Lean Six Sigma

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Operations/Management

Master's/MBA preferred

Tools

Contact centre tools

Job description

Where passion meets opportunity

The best of your adventures is the one you have yet to sail!

Your Purpose

The Site Director is the senior leader responsible for establishing, leading, and growing the Company's Shared Services Centre in Manila for both brands, MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys. The role provides overall leadership of the site, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, efficient, and scalable business services that support our global cruise operations. As we continue our ambitious growth journey, this role will be instrumental in scaling our operations from approximately 100 employees to 300 while maintaining exceptional service quality, operational efficiency, and employee engagement. The Site Director is responsible for operational performance, people leadership, financial management, governance, continuous improvement, business transformation, and the successful transition of new services into the centre. As the most senior company representative in Manila, the role is also responsible for fostering a high-performance culture, ensuring compliance with local regulations, representing the organisation externally when appropriate, and acting as a trusted partner to global business leaders. The Shared Services Centre supports multiple business functions across our global cruise operations, mainly Customer Contact Centre, Reservations Support, Guest Services Administration, but also Finance Operations, HR Administration, and other transactional back-office activities. The successful candidate will combine strong operational leadership with a continuous improvement mindset, building a high-performing organisation that delivers outstanding service to both internal stakeholders and guests. The role also ensures compliance with local regulations, represents the organisation externally when appropriate, and acts as a trusted partner to global business leaders.

Your Impact

Site Leadership

• Lead and develop the Manila Shared Services Centre, creating a high-performing organisation recognised for service excellence.
• Develop trusted partnerships with Corporate Teams and act as the primary interface between the Manila Shared Services Centre and global business leaders.
• Define and execute the site's operational strategy in alignment with the company's global objectives.
• Serve as the senior leader and company representative for all Manila-based employees.
• Ensure the centre has the organisational capability and leadership structure required to support continued growth.

Operational Excellence

• Lead the daily operations of the Shared Services Centre, ensuring service levels, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction targets are consistently achieved.
• Establish scalable operating models and governance frameworks to support rapid organisational growth.
• Establish reporting and performance management frameworks.
• Ensure operational resilience through effective workforce planning, resource allocation, risk management, and business continuity planning.
• Drive standardisation, simplification, automation, and digital transformation across supported processes.

Financial & Commercial Management

• Own the Shared Services Centre operating budget.
• Monitor headcount, workforce costs, and operational efficiency while maintaining service quality.
• Develop business cases for investments, technology, automation, and expansion initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve service delivery while reducing cost.
• Establish performance dashboards using KPIs and service analytics to support informed decision‑making.

Governance, Compliance & Risk

• Ensure compliance with Philippine employment legislation and all applicable regulatory requirements.
• Maintain effective operational controls, audit readiness, and information security standards.
• Oversee health, safety, security, and business continuity for the Manila site.
• Ensure company policies and ethical standards are consistently applied.
• Identify operational risks and implement mitigation strategies.

People & Culture

• Ensure consistent application of company values and leadership behaviours.
• Build, develop, and inspire a diverse and engaged workforce, creating a strong succession pipeline.
• Champion employee engagement, wellbeing, diversity, and inclusion.

Your Journey so far

• 12+ years of progressive leadership experience within Shared Services, Global Business Services (GBS), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Customer Operations, or Service Delivery.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Operations, Management, or a related discipline. Master's degree or MBA preferred.

Your Essentials

• Fluent English
• Understanding of local legislation concerned to run share services operations
• Significant experience leading multi-functional shared service organisations with responsibility for customer operations and transactional support functions.
• Demonstrated success in building or scaling shared service centres.
• Experience leading organisations of 200+ employees through senior leadership teams.
• Strong financial, commercial, and operational management experience.
• Proven success delivering transformation, automation, and organisational change.
• Experience working within an international or multinational organisation.
• Knowledge of contact centre tools is an advantage.
• Lean Six Sigma certification or equivalent operational excellence experience is desirable.

Our commitment

We are committed to building a future that values diverse perspectives, embraces the world beyond borders, and fosters an inclusive environment where every individual feels valued, respected and empowered to be their authentic selves. Our commitment extends to taking meaningful, measurable actions that have a long-term positive impact on our guests, our employees and our planet.