Director, Newbuild Program Development

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd; Miami (FL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Royal Caribbean Group in Miami seeks a Director of Newbuild Program Development to shape early ship concepts, align brand vision with feasibility, and drive milestones before contracts. You will lead a cross-functional team across brand, technical, and shipyard partners, developing business cases, governance, and a robust operating model.

You will oversee program strategy, costing, and executive communications, mentoring the project core team, and ensuring alignment with corporate goals and risk

Qualifications

• MBA or equivalent advanced business degree from a top-tier institution required.
• Minimum of 10–15 years of experience in strategy, ideally within a leading consulting firm or corporate strategy function.
• Experience in the cruise or broader vacation industry is preferred.
• Strong financial acumen with ROI modeling and analytics expertise.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional teams across brand, technical, and shipyard partners.
• Develop project governance and charters to launch a new program with clear roles and operating practices.
• Monitor project health across design, development, financials, and risk management.
• Prepare updates for executive leadership and C-suite on status, decisions, and risks.
• Oversee budgeting, risk management, and commercial negotiations within projects.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional leadership

Executive presentation skills

Financial acumen

Stakeholder management

Strong communication

Education

MBA or equivalent advanced degree

Tools

Hyperion Studio

Essbase

SAS

R

Job description

Director, Newbuild Program Development

Journey with us! Combine your career goals and sense of adventure by joining our exciting team of employees. Royal Caribbean Group is pleased to offer a competitive compensation & benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

Position Summary / Job Purpose:

We are seeking a strategic, forward-thinking leader to join our Newbuild organization as Director of Program Development. This high-impact role is instrumental in shaping the earliest phases of ship development—well before contracts are signed by driving strategic alignment between brand vision, operational feasibility, and long-term business goals. As Director, you will lead cross-functional collaboration with brand teams, technical experts, and shipyard partners to define ship concepts, assess feasibility, and guide decision‑making.

You’ll be responsible for developing the project business cases together with the corporate and brand strategy teams, driving the design concept development, and ensuring that the project operational and business processes are well established and functioning. This role focuses on establishing our new programs and projects as a business to ensure that we can successfully manage the scale and complexity of a ship building, including but not limited to – building the project organization, defining the project charter and ways of working, enabling design and investment decisions, and driving progress towards critical milestones and quality gates.

In addition to early-stage development, the Director will lead a high-performing team focused on addressing the most critical and strategic challenges within a Newbuild project. You will oversee the daily operation of a newbuilding project, as the general manager, ensuring all business functions are progressing and in sync, including project strategy, costing and financial, program management, and commercial negotiations. Within each project you will manage multiple high-impact initiatives—ranging from strategic and executive reviews and to continuous process improvements—while mentoring and developing direct reports.

In this role, you will act as the conduit for collaboration between all department disciples and represent the front lines of the project to the brand and corporate leadership. Success in this role requires a strong communicator and strategic thinker who thrives in ambiguity, brings structure to complex challenges, and builds trusted relationships across the organization.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Serve as the leader of the Miami based operations for the new program under development
• Lead a cross functional team of leaders across a matrix organization – both directly and indirectly reporting to you
• Develop project governance and project charters to launch a new program with clear roles, responsibilities, and operational practices
• Monitor the project health including the success of key project processes in design, technical development, financial, and risk management
• Develop updates and presentations to executive leadership and C-suite (both written and oral) on a regular basis – capturing the project status, enabling key decisions, and managing risks
• Oversee the financial process and budget framework for projects
• Lead the Risk management process across all project disciplines
• Serve as the link to the corporation including the Brand and Group executive leadership
• Guide the commercial development process including business case alignment and contract negotiations with the shipyard
• Develop project strategies and initiatives
• Develop relationships across the corporation with executive stakeholders and brand customers – VP, SVP, and EVP communication on a regular basis
• Provide mentorship and daily leadership to a dedicated project core team

Performs other duties as required. This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor or management.

Education, Experience, Knowledge & Skills:

• MBA or equivalent advanced business degree from a top-tier institution required.
• Minimum of 10-15 years of experience in strategy, ideally within a leading consulting firm or corporate strategy function.
• Experience in the cruise or broader vacation industry is preferred.
• Strong financial acumen, with expertise in quantitative analysis, ROI modeling, and familiarity with tools such as Hyperion Studio, Essbase, SAS, or R.
• Experience with M&A or equity analysis is a plus.
• Proven ability to apply structured problem-solving frameworks and develop actionable solutions.
• Demonstrated success in delivering executive-level presentations and translating insights into execution.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Track record of high performance, as evidenced by reviews, recognition, and results.
• Exceptional strategic thinking and analytical capabilities, with the ability to synthesize complex data into clear, actionable insights.
• Strong communication and influencing skills, with confidence in engaging senior stakeholders.
• Quick learner with the ability to connect diverse information sources to business strategy.
• Deep understanding of value creation in the cruise industry and familiarity with key corporate data.
• High integrity and discretion in handling confidential information.

Accountable for strategic planning and special projects that span all brands and encompass the full scope of Newbuild-related issues.

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, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sexuality, gender identity or expression, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Royal Caribbean Groupand each of its subsidiaries prohibit and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.