Head of Hotel Operations - Marella Cruises

The Head of Hotel Operations is a key member of the cruise leadership team; actively participating in the governance of the Marella Cruises business by leading and driving the hotel and service strategy across the fleet, and shaping the onboard product and service proposition.

The Head of Hotel Operations will be responsible for the control and management of all hotel and other nontechnical (e.g. Entertainment) operational budgets. Working closely with cruise finance business partners and key partners/suppliers, the job holder will lead a review of budgets through regular operational governance meetings and will have oversight of the Hotel Operations Managers in the delivery of onboard revenue targets set by the Commercial team.

This role seeks to challenge the current standards of the teams on board and shore side, to ensure Marella Cruises offers customers an excellent holiday experience, while retaining oversight of the day to day operations through line management of the Hotel Operations Managers and Logistics Manager to ensure the integrity of the Marella Cruises brand.

What you will be doing

Reporting to the Director of Operations, the Head of Hotel Operations will be a key player in the senior cruise team. They will be expected to be at the heart of delivering the guest experience and optimising the recent growth and revitalisation of the Marella Cruises Fleet. To do this effectively, it is essential that the Head of Hotel Operations is an excellent communicator who interacts well with other departments and is pro-active in their engagement of both internal and external stakeholders to communicate the hotel product and service strategy. By being innovative and keeping abreast of market trends and through external networking, they will be on the front foot of the fleet’s challenges and successes and will bring recommendations to ensure that our fleet fulfils its potential and remains relevant to the target market.

The Head of Hotel Operations will lead and drive a diverse in-house and outsourced team to deliver the highest levels of food, entertainment and service, and working with the General Manager, Customer Experience will shape and implement an evolving brand and product strategy by offering sound operational knowledge and judgement in its development. and ensuring it meets customer expectation and complies with all legislation. The job holder will work closely with internal and external customers to implement and deliver the product and service standards consistently across the fleet, while ensuring all standards are well documented through a series of standard operating procedures that they will be responsible for keeping relevant and up to date by reviewing current ways of working.

The job holder will be responsible for leading and managing all operational aspects of ongoing hotel and other front and back of house refurbishment works to ensure capex projects are delivered to the highest operational standards, to timescales and to budget, while ensuring there is no impact to the customer. The Head of Hotel Operations will ensure that the 5 Year Plan includes all capex required for Hotel Operations on board the ships.

Where delivery of the hotel/ops product is outsourced, the Head of Hotel Operations will lead a regular review of contracts, and support Procurement’s due processes to tender for future services, ensuring that the contract awarded supports and protects the cruise product/Marella moving forward. The Head of Hotel Operations will document expectations around robust supplier management and service level agreements and will chair regular business review meetings to ensure outsourced partners are delivering to those expectations. This will be supported by their own onboard audits which will be reviewed, followed up and closed out and the results shared with the wider cruise team.

Working closely with the Hotel Operations Managers and Logistics Manager, the job holder will conduct regular reviews of onboard/ shore side organisational structure and processes to ensure the ships’ and head office operations teams are delivering optimal operational performance. This will involve working closely with colleagues in TUI airlines, ground handling and other external Port and Destination agents to ensure the guest journey is managed throughout each stage.

The job holder alongside the Hotel and Cruise Operations team will also be responsible for the recruitment, management, travel and welfare of Marella Cruises hotel crew. Leading and coaching people, the Head of Hotel Operations will encourage agile thinking and will look to spot talent internally and externally to ensure that we have a pipeline of talent fit for future growth and for our people to aspire to.

In your role as Head of Hotel Operations and as a leader within TUI UK&I you will form part of the 24/7 crisis response rota, supporting the business in high profile and emergency response incidents as a cruise/tour operator specialist

What we are looking for

• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Excellent knowledge of hotel operations in a high volume and customer quality environment
• A strong leader who can drive change and challenge all aspects of the shore and head office cruise
• hotel operations.
• 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 skilled communicator, comfortable and confident in challenge and tough debate
• Knowledge of overseas operations would be of benefit

Working within TUI group

TUI UK and Ireland is the UK’s largest tour operator with key brands including TUI, First Choice, Marella Cruises and Crystal Ski Holidays. Sub brands include Sensatori, Sensimar, and Family Life, as well as First Choice Holiday Villages and SplashWorld Resorts. Our airline is the UK’s third largest with 62 aircraft operating to over 88 destinations in 30 countries. We have a team of more than 10,000 employees serving over 5.5 million customers each year.

It’s our people that make us number one

TUI Group is the leading tourism business with over 67,000 employees across the world. The Group includes our unique hotel portfolio, our cruise ships, our own aircraft, tour operators, travel agencies, and much more. At TUI, we have embarked on a journey of development towards a more digital, connected and integrated future. But we haven’t arrived there yet. Join us now and shape the future of travel.

You can look forward to a competitive salary, pension scheme and further benefits such as generous holiday discounts, great rates with foreign exchange and discounts with retailers.