Sr. Director of Guest Experience Development & Delivery","@context":"http://schema.org","occupationalCategory":"New Building

Your Purpose

The Sr. Director of Guest Experience Development & Delivery is responsible for bringing the next generation of guest experiences to life across MSC Cruises' new class of ships.
Working closely with the Product Innovation team, this role transforms approved concepts into fully realized onboard experiences, ensuring they are operationally executable, commercially successful, and aligned with the MSC Cruises brand.
Leading the development and delivery of end-to-end guest journeys, service concepts, and onboard experiences, the Sr. Director ensures every experience is launch-ready from ship design and operational planning to crew delivery and guest activation.
The role also plays a key part in defining how new experiences are presented to guests, partnering with internal teams to shape compelling storytelling, positioning, and go-to-market strategies that maximize guest engagement and commercial impact.
As a trusted partner to senior leadership, the Sr. Director regularly presents progress, recommendations, and delivery strategies to executive stakeholders, including the CEO and Chairman, ensuring alignment from concept approval through successful launch.

Your Impact

Experience Development & Delivery

• Lead the end-to-end development and delivery of new guest experiences, from approved concept through ship launch.

• Translate approved concepts into guest journeys, service models, operational requirements, and launch plans.

• Ensure every experience remains true to the original vision while being operationally feasible, commercially successful, and aligned with MSC Cruises' brand standards.

Guest Experience Excellence

• Champion guest-centric experiences that combine hospitality, storytelling, service excellence, and commercial performance.

• Design memorable end-to-end guest journeys that create emotional engagement and enhance guest satisfaction.

• Apply industry best practices and continuous innovation to elevate onboard experiences across the fleet.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Lead collaboration across Newbuild, Operations, Marketing, Revenue Management, architects, designers, and external partners to successfully deliver new guest experiences.

• Ensure alignment between ship design, construction milestones, operational readiness, and launch activities.

• Manage stakeholder expectations, priorities, risks, dependencies, and decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.

Project & Delivery Management

• Oversee project plans, budgets, timelines, milestones, risks, and deliverables across multiple initiatives.

• Support the SVP with budget oversight, executive reporting, strategic recommendations, and delivery governance.

• Ensure projects are properly planned, resourced, and delivered on time, within scope, and in line with business objectives.

Executive Communication

• Prepare and deliver high-impact presentations and project updates for senior leadership, including the CEO and Chairman.

• Clearly communicate delivery progress, key decisions, risks, trade-offs, and recommendations.

• Support executive decision-making with data-driven insights, operational considerations, and guest experience perspectives.

Team Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of guest experience professionals.

• Build capabilities in guest journey design, hospitality delivery, stakeholder management, project execution, and operational integration.

• Foster a collaborative, accountable, innovative, and guest-first culture while developing future leadership talent.

Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Define, monitor, and report KPIs related to launch readiness, guest satisfaction, operational adoption, experience quality, and commercial performance.

• Lead post-launch evaluations, capture lessons learned, and implement continuous improvements to strengthen future experience delivery.

• Drive a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement across all guest experience development activities.

Your Journey so far

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of experience in designing and delivering physical, in-space guest experiences within hospitality, cruise ships, resorts, themed entertainment, or similar service-driven environments, with a clear focus on onboard or on-site experiences rather than digital products.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale, guest-facing physical experience projects from concept through implementation in complex operational environments such as ships, hotels, or resorts.
• Strong understanding of physical guest experience design, hospitality operations, service excellence, and in-person customer journey development within built environments.
• Demonstrated ability to translate strategic concepts into operationally executable, tangible experiences and launch plans within physical spaces.
• Experienced leader with a proven ability to build, develop, and inspire high-performing, cross-functional teams.
• Excellent stakeholder management, influencing, and communication skills, with experience presenting to executive leadership and Board-level audiences.
• Strong commercial, financial, and analytical mindset, balancing guest experience, operational feasibility, timelines, and investment.
• Experience collaborating with designers, architects, creative agencies, and operational teams to deliver immersive, physical environments and experiences.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 (PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Teams) and presentation tools to develop compelling concepts and executive communications focused on physical experience delivery.
• Fluent in English; additional languages are an advantage.
• Willingness to travel internationally up to 30%.

Your Essentials

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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.

Ready to turn your passion into something extraordinary? Join us at MSC Cruises, where new opportunities await. Apply today to be part of a global team that is pushing boundaries and achieving something remarkable. Your journey starts here!