Senior Director Client Development

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection; United States; Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is seeking a Senior Director, Client Development to define and lead a global clienteling strategy for high-potential luxury guests. The role sits at the intersection of Sales, Marketing, CRM, Guest Experience, Analytics, and Operations, turning guest insights into meaningful action and coordinated journeys across voyages.

The role leads Client Relations, establishing standards, segments, tools, and KPIs to scale personalized relationship management while

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• Experience in luxury hospitality, travel, or high-touch relationship businesses is essential.
• Proven track record in client development, retention, and lifetime value growth.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the global client development and clienteling strategy.
• Create client segments and relationship strategies using guest signals.
• Establish ownership, contact strategy, recognition, and escalation standards for high-value guests.
• Lead Client Relations and set service expectations, workflows, and performance standards.
• Partner with Direct Sales, Trade Sales, Marketing, and CRM teams for lifecycle campaigns and events.
• Define governance for guest profiles and preferences with Technology, Legal, and Privacy.
• Set KPIs for retention, repeat rate, and share of wallet.
• Represent client voice in commercial planning and executive decision making.

Skills

Luxury clienteling

CRM and loyalty

Data analytics

Relationship marketing

Executive presence

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Personalization

Stakeholder influence

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Hospitality, Customer Experience

Tools

CRM software

Job description

**Job Summary**The Senior Director, Client Development defines and leads The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s strategy for developing deeper, more valuable relationships with existing, high-potential, and high-value guests. The role builds a luxury clienteling model that uses insight, recognition, personalized outreach, and curated experiences to increase repeat business, retention, lifetime value, referral, and share of travel. Sitting at the intersection of Sales, Marketing, CRM, Guest Experience, Analytics, and Operations, the Senior Director ensures that guest intelligence becomes meaningful action and that priority clients experience a coordinated relationship with the Collection before, between, and after voyages. The role leads Client Relations and establishes the standards, segmentation, tools, and performance measures required to scale personalized relationship management without losing the human connection that defines luxury.**Essential Functions*** Define and execute the global client development and clienteling strategy focused on acquisition of high-potential clients, retention, repeat business, lifetime value, referrals, and reactivation.* Create meaningful client segments and relationship strategies using booking history, preferences, engagement, value, propensity, and other relevant signals.* Establish a differentiated model for high-value and ultra-high-value guests, including ownership, contact strategy, recognition, curated experiences, and escalation standards.* Build scalable clienteling practices that enable personalized, relevant, and timely outreach while maintaining the discretion and authenticity expected in luxury.* Lead Client Relations and establish clear relationship-manager roles, service expectations, workflows, handoffs, and performance standards.* Partner with Direct Sales to identify and develop high-potential guests and convert relationship opportunities into incremental revenue.* Partner with Trade Sales to ensure appropriate coordination and respect for advisor relationships when engaging shared clients.* Partner with Marketing and CRM teams on lifecycle communications, segmentation, activation, reactivation, events, gifting, and personalized campaigns.* Partner with Guest Experience and yacht teams to strengthen recognition, preference capture, recovery, and continuity across the pre-voyage, onboard, and post-voyage journey.* Define governance for guest profiles, preferences, relationship notes, and clienteling data in partnership with Technology, Legal, and Privacy.* Establish KPIs for retention, repeat rate, rebooking, client development, lifetime value, share of wallet, reactivation, referral, engagement, and incremental revenue.* Use client analytics and qualitative insight to identify emerging needs, behaviors, and opportunities among luxury travelers.* Create business cases and ROI frameworks for client-development initiatives, events, experiences, gifting, and partnerships.* Develop clienteling capability across sales leaders and frontline teams in partnership with Sales Capability.* Benchmark luxury clienteling practices across hospitality, travel, retail, private aviation, yachting, and other relevant sectors.* Represent the voice of the client in commercial planning and executive decision making.**Other Duties**Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Functions, duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.**Competency****Education:**Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Hospitality, Customer Experience, or related field required; advanced degree preferred.**Experience:*** 10–12+ years of experience in client development, CRM, loyalty, clienteling, relationship marketing, luxury sales, or customer strategy, including leadership responsibility.* Demonstrated success building programs that improve retention, repeat business, engagement, and lifetime value.* Strong luxury-sector experience required; luxury hospitality, travel, cruise, retail, private aviation, yachting, or other high-touch relationship businesses preferred.* Experience working with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients and maintaining appropriate discretion strongly preferred.* Strong CRM, segmentation, customer analytics, personalization, and lifecycle-management experience.* Experience leading cross-functional initiatives across Sales, Marketing, Operations, Digital/Technology, and Analytics.**Skills:*** Deep understanding of luxury clienteling: recognition, discretion, personalization, emotional intelligence, relationship continuity, and thoughtful surprise.* Commercial mindset with ability to connect relationship activity to measurable revenue and client value.* Strong analytical capability and comfort using data to prioritize clients and investments without making the experience feel transactional.* Exceptional judgment, diplomacy, written communication, and executive presence.* Ability to design scalable operating models while protecting personalization and brand exclusivity.* Strong team leadership, coaching, and stakeholder influence.* Embodies Candor, Care, Curiosity, and Connection and acts as a steward of guest trust.**Work Environment**Primarily office-based/hybrid role in a professional environment with regular use of computers, collaboration technology, and standard office equipment. The role requires effective collaboration with global shoreside and shipboard teams and may include visits to yacht operations, industry events, partner locations, or other company facilities.**Physical Demands**Requires sitting, standing, walking, bending, and reaching. May require lifting or pushing up to 25 pounds. Requires manual dexterity sufficient to operate standard office machines such as computers, presentation equipment, telephones, and other office equipment.**Expected Hours of Work**The position is full-time and requires flexibility to support priority clients and events. Domestic and international travel, including yacht visits, is expected up to approximately 25%.