Head of Retail Sales

About Celebrity Cruises and Role Overview

Celebrity Cruises, a renowned luxury cruise brand with a fleet of 15 modern ships, is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and maintains offices in Sydney, Australia. Serving destinations worldwide, including the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Asia, South America, Galapagos, and Australia/New Zealand, the company welcomes approximately 60,000 Australian and New Zealand guests annually. The deployment of the acclaimed Edge® Series ships marks Celebrity's sustained investment and expansion in this region. Known globally for innovation, design, and exceptional service, the brand has received prestigious accolades from TIME and Forbes Travel Guide. Their mission to "Open up the World" drives a commitment to remarkable guest experiences, diversity, inclusion, and environmental sustainability. The company is pursuing significant growth across all markets, focusing on increasing guest numbers and revenue.

The Head of Retail Accounts role is crucial in propelling commercial success across Australian and New Zealand retail trade accounts (excluding two major accounts) by surpassing targets related to guests, revenue, and Average Per Diem (APD). Reporting to the Head of Sales, this position holds full accountability over operational and commercial performance for a varied portfolio of trade partners. The role involves crafting and implementing strategic distribution plans, ensuring partners are equipped with insights, tools, and support necessary for effective sales performance. Advanced relationship management, in-depth commercial analysis, and high-level engagement underpin sustainable growth and robust partnerships throughout the region. The role also contributes to sales leadership and strategic decisions for the ANZ retail segment and requires interstate and international travel.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement comprehensive sales, marketing, and training plans targeting Australian accounts and the New Zealand market that align with booking patterns and long-range growth goals.
• Convert partner, market, and consumer knowledge into comprehensive multi-year account strategies fostering both growth and profitability.
• Develop annual account plans with clear initiatives to enhance revenue, passenger numbers, APD, and market share.
• Provide insights into the Annual Operating Plan ensuring trade tactics complement overarching commercial and distribution strategies.
• Analyze profitability, distribution efficiency, and return on investment, guaranteeing that initiatives and expenditures optimize financial returns.
• Identify emerging trends in the industry, market, and customer preferences to capitalize on growth opportunities across trade partnerships.
• Lead weekly sales performance reviews by analyzing partner data, recognizing trends, and delivering actionable recommendations to trade and commercial teams.
• Collect and disseminate competitive intelligence, proposing strategies to safeguard and enhance market positioning within the trade landscape.
• Maintain strong brand presence and promote advocacy across trade partners through expert product and sector knowledge.
• Manage extensive multi-level relationships including senior decision-makers, product managers, and other influencers across assigned trade partners.
• Create and execute customized engagement programs that foster loyalty and advocacy, such as familiarization trips, ship visits, and activations.
• Coordinate partner communications to ensure clear and timely updates about launches, deployments, and major milestones.
• Develop and maintain structured contact and communication plans to promote accountability and goal achievement.
• Conduct targeted product, sales, and systems training tailored to partners' requirements to improve sales conversion rates.
• Identify and implement customized training solutions aligned with partner strategies and performance needs.
• Represent Celebrity Cruises as a senior brand ambassador at trade, consumer, and industry events.
• Lead and host impactful customer and partner events (including ship visits, conferences, launches), with defined objectives, targeted follow-up, and measurable returns.

Required Skills and Experience

• Proven ability to build strong relationships and manage stakeholders at various organizational levels within retail trade partners.
• Collaborative team player capable of working effectively within matrix organizational structures and across multiple departments.
• Deep understanding of digital marketing strategies to optimize partnership marketing investment returns.
• Constructive and solution-focused mindset with resilience and a positive, proactive attitude.
• Strong analytical skills paired with commercial insight, capable of interpreting data, assessing risks, and formulating actionable strategies.
• Experience in managing a portfolio of retail accounts, maintaining an overarching view of performance and investment impact.
• Excellent negotiation and influencing skills to align partner priorities with business objectives for mutual benefit.
• Self-driven and results-oriented with a strong sense of accountability in achieving targets and strategic goals.
• Effective planner and executor able to prioritize and manage multiple concurrent projects.
• Strategic thinker capable of building and implementing sustainable growth plans.
• Excellent persuasion skills with a firm grasp of premium brand positioning in competitive retail markets.
• Strong commercial acumen including experience with forecasting, budgeting, and evaluating returns on investment.
• Outstanding communication skills (written, verbal, presentation) facilitating influence at partner and leadership levels.
• Comfortable adopting AI-enabled and emerging technologies to improve efficiency and results.
• Adaptable, solution-oriented, and adept at operating across multiple markets and travel requirements.

Qualifications and Additional Information

• Extensive experience in retail account management or sales leadership within a performance-driven environment.
• Demonstrated success in strategic account planning, partner development, and commercial negotiations.
• Experience in matrix or global corporate structures is preferred.
• Background in sales or commercial roles across relevant sectors; travel or hospitality experience is advantageous but not mandatory.
• Valid driver's license with a clean driving record is required.

Internal and External Collaboration

• Engagement with Australian and New Zealand trade partners (excluding two key accounts).
• Collaboration with Celebrity Cruises teams in Australia, New Zealand, and internationally, including sales leadership.
• Interaction with Trade Marketing, Sales Support teams, and shared services such as Guest Engagement, Finance, and Global Technology Services (GTS).