Sr. Manager, Business Development

Senior Manager of Strategic Accounts

Celebrity Cruises | Australia & New Zealand

About Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises is one of five cruise brands owned by Royal Caribbean Group, headquartered in Miami, Florida, with a local office in Sydney.

For more than 35 years, Celebrity Cruises has been redefining premium travel, delivering elevated holiday experiences across a fleet of ships that sail to nearly 300 destinations in more than 70 countries across all seven continents. Renowned for innovation and award-winning experiences, Celebrity continues to set new standards for the industry, with the highly anticipated Celebrity Xcel joining the fleet in Fall 2025.

Celebrity Cruises currently operates fourteen ships across the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Asia, South America, and Australia/New Zealand. Since 2010, Celebrity's Solstice Series ships have sailed each summer season in Australia and New Zealand, welcoming both local and international guests to the region. In 2023, Celebrity revolutionised cruising in Australia and New Zealand with the arrival of Celebrity Edge for her highly anticipated inaugural season Down Under.

Why Join Celebrity Cruises?

This is an opportunity to lead a high-value portfolio for a globally recognised premium travel brand at a pivotal stage of growth across Australia and New Zealand. You'll combine strategic leadership, commercial ownership and partner engagement while helping shape the future direction of Celebrity Cruises across the region. Working alongside a passionate and high-performing team, you'll have the chance to influence business outcomes, strengthen industry partnerships and represent an innovative brand that continues to redefine premium holidays at sea.

Join us as we embark on an exciting journey ahead!

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Manager of Strategic Accounts drives commercial performance across a strategically diverse portfolio of retail travel partners throughout Australia and New Zealand, encompassing leading luxury networks, home-based agency groups, and high-growth emerging portfolios. Through strategic account leadership, business development, and market expansion initiatives, the role is accountable for exceeding guest, revenue, and Average Per Diem (APD) targets while growing market share and maximising partner value.

Reporting directly to the Head of Sales, the role has end-to-end accountability for the commercial and operational performance of a portfolio of trade partners across Australia and New Zealand, leading the development and execution of trade distribution strategies that drive brand advocacy, sales performance, and revenue growth. The position ensures partners are equipped with the tools, insights, and support required to successfully represent and sell Celebrity Cruises. This role offers the opportunity to influence the growth strategy of some of the travel industry's most recognised retail partners while working closely with senior leaders across both Celebrity Cruises and the broader travel sector.

As a senior member of the sales leadership team, the role contributes to broader retail strategy, channel performance, and commercial decision-making across ANZ. Through disciplined account management, commercial leadership, and executive stakeholder engagement, the position strengthens strategic partnerships and delivers sustainable business outcomes. Interstate and/or international travel is required for this role.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES COMMERCIAL PLANNING & PERFORMANCE

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Develop and execute integrated sales, marketing and training plans for assigned Australian trade accounts and the New Zealand market aligned to the booking curve and long-term growth objectives.

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Translate partner, market and consumer insights into clear, actionable multi‑year account plans that deliver sustainable and profitable growth.

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Produce annual trade account plans, outlining clear initiatives to improve key performance metrics including revenue, passengers, APD and share.

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Provide operational insight into the Annual Operating Plan, ensuring trade strategies align with broader commercial and distribution priorities.

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Analyse account profitability, distribution effectiveness and ROI, ensuring initiatives and investment decisions deliver optimal commercial outcomes.

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Identify and interpret industry, market and consumer trends to unlock growth opportunities across the trade portfolio.

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Lead the analysis of weekly trading performance, reviewing partner data, identifying trends and providing actionable insights and recommendations to the trading and commercial teams.

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Gather and share competitive intelligence, recommending strategies to protect and grow performance within a competitive trade environment.

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Ensure strong brand visibility and advocacy across trade partners, supported by deep product and sector knowledge.

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Present account performance, growth opportunities and strategic recommendations to senior internal leaders and partner executives.

TRADE PARTNER ENGAGEMENT

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Own and manage multi-level relationships, including senior key decision‑makers, product managers, and influencers across assigned Australian and New Zealand trade partners.

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Design and deliver bespoke engagement initiatives that drive loyalty, advocacy and commercial outcomes, including familiarisation programs, ship visits and targeted activations.

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Plan and execute partner communications, ensuring clear, timely and effective engagement around major announcements, deployments, season launches and milestones.

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Develop and maintain a contact plan and wiring plan that supports shared accountability and delivery of agreed objectives.

CAPABILITY, TRAINING & BRAND ADVOCACY

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Deliver targeted product, sales and systems training tailored to the needs of trade partners to improve conversion and sales effectiveness.

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Identify and implement bespoke training solutions aligned to partner strategies and performance objectives.

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Act as a senior brand ambassador for Celebrity Cruises at trade, consumer and industry events.

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Lead and host high‑impact customer and partner events (e.g. ship visits, conferences and launches), ensuring clear objectives, targeted follow‑up and measurable ROI.

EXPERIENCE / KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

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Strong relationship‑building and stakeholder management capability, with the ability to engage, influence and present credibly at multiple levels across retail trade partners.

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Collaborative and team‑oriented, with the ability to work effectively within a matrix organisation and across multiple functions. Actively steps beyond core responsibilities to support colleagues and contribute to shared team outcomes.

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High level of understanding and experience with digital marketing practices, able to identify, challenge and shape partnership marketing activity to ensure high returns on investment.

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Brings a constructive, solution‑oriented approach, combining independent thinking with resilience and a consistently positive, can‑do attitude.

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Highly analytical and commercially astute, able to interpret data, evaluate risks and opportunities, and translate insights into clear actionable roadmap that drive performance.

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Demonstrated ability to oversee and manage a portfolio of retail accounts, maintaining a holistic view of performance, investment and execution.

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Proven influencing and negotiation skills, aligning partner priorities with business objectives to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes.

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Proactive and results‑driven, demonstrating initiative and accountability in delivering agreed targets and strategic priorities.

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Strong planning, prioritisation and execution skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives and account plans concurrently.

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Strategic thinker capable of developing and executing growth plan that drive sustainable performance.

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Strong selling and persuasion capability, with a clear understanding of positioning a premium or luxury brand within a competitive retail environment.

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Demonstrated commercial acumen, including experience in forecasting, budget management and ROI evaluation.

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Excellent written, verbal and presentation skills, with the ability to influence outcomes at partner and internal leadership level.

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Comfortable as an early adopter of AI‑enabled and emerging technologies, using innovation to enhance efficiency and commercial outcomes.

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Solution oriented, adaptable and comfortable working across multiple markets and travel requirements.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EDUCATION

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3-5 years of experience in Key Account Management or National Account Management.

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Demonstrated success in account planning, partner development and commercial negotiations.

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Experience working within a matrix or global organisation is preferred.

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Sales or commercial experience from any relevant sector considered; travel or hospitality experience advantageous but not essential.

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Valid driver’s licence with a clear driving record.

Join Us on an Exciting Journey Ahead!

This is a unique opportunity to combine strategic leadership and commercial ownership while influencing the growth trajectory of a world-class premium travel brand. If you're passionate about building high-value partnerships, delivering commercial results, we'd love to hear from you.**

If this sounds like you, apply today or reach out to our Celebrity Cruises Hiring Team to learn more about this exciting opportunity. **