We're hiring:
Team Lead, Product Development and Operations (m/f/d)
Full-time at VIVA Cruises
About VIVA Cruises
Behind the VIVA Cruises brand is the renowned Swiss shipping company Scylla AG, which currently owns a fleet of more than 40 ships. With VIVA Cruises and our headquarters in Düsseldorf, we are establishing ourselves as an international provider of river cruises on major European waterways. We are proud of our commitment to quality, customer satisfaction, and continuous growth.
Please send us your application, indicating your earliest possible start date and your salary expectations to jobs@viva-cruises.com.
Brief description of the position:
We are looking for a Team Lead for Product Development and Product Operations to lead our established team of Product Development Managersand Product Operations. You will report to the Head of Product and coordinate the team’s work—from product development through launch and implementation in day-to-day operations to continuousimprovement.
Working across our offices in Baar and Düsseldorf, you will bring together the managers, cruise line management, guest services, marketing, finance, service providers, and onboard executives to ensure clear handoffs andconsistent service standards. You advise the Product Management team on guest experience, operational feasibility, and financial performance.
Main Responsibilities:
Product Strategy and Team Leadership:
- Translate VIVA’s product strategy and priorities into team plans for itineraries, shore excursions, extensionand onboard guest programs.
- Lead and coach the managers of product development and product operations and evaluate their performance;set individual goals, distribute the workload evenly, clarify decision-making authority, and establish a shared planning cycle.
- Review the product portfolio and recommend to management the introduction, modification, or discontinuation of offerings based on guest insights, market data, feasibility, and financial results.
Development and Launch:
- Support product development managers in designing itineraries, excursions, and guest programsthat reflect the character of the destination and can be reliably carried out.
- Review concepts with regard to route planning, scheduling, capacity, accessibility, the readiness of service providers, costs, appeal to guests, and the responsible use of local resources.
- Approve product briefings and give the go-ahead for launch within the scope of your delegated authority; ensure ensure a clear handover to operations, including confirmed specifications, binding commitments from service providers, training, and guest communications.
Product Operations and Guest Experience
- Support product operations managers in preparing for departures, conducting excursions and programs, ensuring service provider quality, and coordinating in a timely manner with the ships and teams on shore.
- As needed, fulfill duties according to the assigned emergency on-call schedule, even outside regular office hours; assist the relevant on-board and onshore incident command teams with product-related incidents, organizeoperational alternatives, and escalate decisions in accordance with agreed-upon procedures.
- Use guest feedback, reports, inspections, and operational data to resolve recurring issues and improve both current and future product offerings.
- Work closely with cruise management and onboard teams to ensure that experiences onshore and onboard remain aligned and responsibilities are clearly defined.
Financial Management and Collaboration with Service Providers
- Manage the budgets allocated to you for product development and product operations; work with the financeto review forecasts, costs, service provider terms, variances, and the performance of shore excursion offerings, and report to Product Management.
- Take on the overall management of key partners at travel destinations and in the excursion sector, includingnegotiations, service provider performance, and risks to the continuity of the offerings.
- Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Revenue Management, and Finance on inclusive services, product content, pricing principles, and launch dates, ensuring that sales commitments align with theactual implementation.
Success Criteria for the Position
- New or revised experiences are introduced with a clear value proposition for guests, a realisticoperational plan, confirmed service providers, and a complete handoff to the execution team.
- Guest programs and excursions meet the agreed-upon quality standards on all trips; in the event of significant disruptions, a coordinated response is initiated.
- Guest satisfaction, participation, service reliability, and service provider performance improve through a documentedprocess involving feedback and corrective actions.
- The portfolio stays within the agreed-upon budgets and achieves its financial goals; risks and deviations arereported and addressed at an early stage.
Personal Qualities
- Strategic judgment: Integrates guest insights, brand objectives, operational realities, and financialresults.
- Leadership skills: Develops managers, sets clear expectations, and fosters a sense of accountabilityin both teams.
- Collaboration: Ensures coordination among office staff, onboard teams, and external partners.
- Adaptability: Makes informed decisions when conditions change and supports teams in dealing with disruptions.
- Service Orientation: Places the guest experience at the center of product-related and operational decisions.
- Diligence: Ensures that concepts, contracts, content, and handoffs are practical and implementable.
Experience and Expertise:
- Substantial leadership experience in cruise, tour operating, multi-destination travel, or premium hospitality; European Experience and Expertise
Experience and Expertise
- Extensive leadership experience in the cruise industry, with tour operators, in multi-destination travel, or in the premium hospitality sector; experience with European river cruises is particularly desirable.
- Experience in managing experienced professionals, in developing offerings for guests, and in cross-teamimprovement of service delivery during day-to-day operations.
- In-depth knowledge of European travel destinations and waterways, the feasibility of itineraries, shore excursions, halogistics, and service provider management.
- Sound business judgment in budgeting, contract drafting, cost and margin analysis, and expensereporting.
- Clear written and oral communication skills, sound judgment under pressure, and proficiency with Microsoft Office and product or operating systems.
- Fluency in spoken and written English and German; knowledge of Italian or French is anplus.
Travel and Other Requirements
- Travel within Europe and stays on board for product inspections, on-site visits, and exchange with the teams.
- Willingness to work outside of regular office hours when operational needs or the scheduled emergency on-call duty so require.
Equal Opportunity
VIVA Cruises is an employer committed to equal opportunity. We welcome applications from people of all backgroundsand consider qualified applicants regardless of ethnicity, skin color, religion, gender, gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic characteristics, disability, or age.