General Manager - Marine & Port Operations, Thomson Cruises

Reporting to the Director of Operations, the General Manager Marine and Port Operations is responsible for ensuring that, wherever possible, Thomson Cruises operates beyond compliance with regards to all national and international maritime regulations; auditing current procedures, working with the outsourced technical management company to develop new procedures and ensuring the safety, security and environmental best practice.

The General Manager Marine and Port Operations will be a key player in the senior cruise team at the heart of exciting plans for the growth and revitalisation of the Thomson Cruises Fleet. To do this effectively, it is essential that the he is an excellent communicator who interacts well with other departments and is pro-active in the engagement of both internal and external stakeholders.
Externally, the General Manager Marine and Port Operations will engage with industry bodies to represent Thomson Cruises in a positive manner and ensure its interests are represented and considered during wider industry debates.

What you will be doing

The General Manager Marine and Port Operations is a member of the Cruise Board, responsible for all aspects of the planning, execution and monitoring of marine, port and shore excursion operations. He is the line manager for the Marine Manager, Port and Shore Excursions Manager and the ships’ masters.

Working with the General Manager Product, Planning and Marketing and leading the Marine Manager and Port and Shore Excursions Manager, the General Manager Marine and Port Operations will ensure that prior to committing a vessel to any itinerary, the routes, ports and shore excursions have been properly assessed for the operational constraints of the vessel and for the safety and security of the passengers and crew. Where necessary, the Head of Marine and Port Operations will be required to lead site visits and compile a report with recommendations and limitations to present back to the Cruise Board – for example when operating in a region that is new to Thomson Cruises.

The General Manager Marine and Port Operations will carry out regular visits to the fleet and through a series of Governance Committees, ensure that marine, safety, security and environmental operations are being executed in line with best practice and complying with, or where possible beyond complying with all national and international regulations.

The General Manager Marine and Port Operations will develop a program of professional assessments and will set key performance indicators that ensure that the ships’ masters are challenged to maintain their position at the head of their vessel’s organisation structure; maintaining excellent nautical practices alongside excellent customer focus in everything they do. Whenever possible, the General Manager Marine and Port Operations will make use of the Bridge simulator facilities to assess the standards and reactions of his masters. The job holder will maintain the cruise risk register and champion risk management within cruise team.

Working with external security experts, the technical management company and TUI Group security, and leading the Marine Manager; the General Manager Marine and Port Operations will ensure that itineraries and ports have been assessed to minimise security risks, and will ensure that the ship security teams are following the processes laid down in the Ship’s Security Plan (SSP). The General Manager Marine and Port Operations will ensure that the technical manager’s Company Security Officer and Marine Manager regularly review the requirements of the SSP and amend it where necessary.

The General Manager Marine and Port Operations will ensure that all safety equipment onboard is correctly maintained and that all crew members are fully trained as per the requirements of the Safety Management System. Where necessary he will instruct the technical management company to contract external providers to provide specialist equipment training. Working with the Marine Manager he will ensure that Thomson Cruises office staff are familiar with their emergency duties and that joint emergency exercises are carried out twice a year.

Liaising with Technical and Hotel Operations, the General Manager Marine and Port Operations will ensure that Thomson Cruises carbon footprint is minimised and that efforts are made to engage with local communities. By sitting on the Sustainable Development Committee, he will ensure that Group initiatives are promoted throughout the fleet.

What we are looking for

• STCW Class II/I qualified
• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Sea going experience in a senior capacity
• A strong, proven leader who can drive change and challenge all aspects of the shore and head office cruise operations.
• A track record of effectively matrix managing internal and external resources in order to deliver projects and activities on time and within budget.
• Up to date and comprehensive knowledge of maritime regulations
• Valid industry knowledge with a proven ability to build personal networks which aid in the ongoing development of services and standards 
• A visionary who can see ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately, is future oriented
• Can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods;
• Has solid business acumen
• Excellent judgment and prioritisation skills to work efficiently through competing demands on resources
• Pro-active engagement with colleagues and partner organisations as appropriate to deliver change and improvements to cruise product and strategy
• A highly skilled communicator, comfortable and confident in challenge and tough debate

Working within TUI group

Help make our customers smile and in return you will be rewarded with a competitive salary, pension scheme and some fantastic additional benefits including holiday, flight and foreign exchange discounts, a childcare voucher scheme and lots of additional discounts and offers*

TUI UK and Ireland is the UK’s largest tour operator with key brands including Thomson and First Choice. We employ a team of 13,300 employees and serve over 5.2 million customers each year.

TUI Group is the world’s number one integrated tourism business operating in around 180 countries worldwide with over 1,800 travel agencies across Europe, six airlines operating more than 130 aircraft, more than 300 Group-owned hotels and resorts and twelve cruise ships. Our 77,000 colleagues, all with a passion for holidays, work hard to deliver our customer promise ”Discover your smile”

How to apply

Please click on the link below, the application process consists of answering a few questions and uploading your CV.

*Based on the South Coast with a requirement to travel to our Luton Head Office.