Your Purpose
As General Manager, you are the senior hospitality leader onboard and the ambassador of the Explora Journeys guest & host experience.
You are accountable for translating the Explora Journeys Ocean State of Mind vision, values, and luxury service philosophy into measurable operational, financial, and guest experience outcomes, ensuring seamless alignment between shipboard execution and shoreside strategic priorities.
You are responsible for leading all Hotel Operations, driving exceptional guest satisfaction, commercial performance, operational excellence, and brand delivery across every aspect of the onboard experience. You will oversee a diverse leadership team and ensure that every journey reflects the highest standards of luxury hospitality, personalized service, and operational efficiency.
As the face of Explora Journeys onboard, you serve as a key Brand Ambassador, creating meaningful connections with guests, inspiring your teams, and delivering memorable experiences that strengthen guest loyalty and commercial success.
Your Impact
Strategic Leadership
- Provide visible, inspiring, and hands on leadership across all Hotel Operations departments.
- Foster a culture of excellence, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Lead, coach, mentor, and develop a multicultural management team to achieve exceptional results.
- Drive employee engagement, talent development, succession planning, and leadership growth.
- Serve as the senior Hotel Operations executive onboard, providing strategic leadership across all departments and ensuring alignment with Explora Journeys' operational, commercial, and guest experience objectives, while fostering strong collaboration with shipboard and shoreside leadership teams.
- Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, empowerment, and continuous improvement, encouraging leaders to proactively identify opportunities to enhance operational efficiency, service excellence, and business performance.
Guest Experience Excellence
- Champion the delivery of world class, intuitive, and highly personalized luxury hospitality experiences throughout every stage of the guest journey, ensuring consistent adherence to Explora Journeys brand standards, service philosophy, and applicable operating procedures.
- Drive the achievement of guest satisfaction, loyalty, retention, and Net Promoter Score (NPS) objectives through exceptional service delivery, personalized engagement, and memorable guest experiences.
- Actively engage with guests and serve as the senior onboard representative and ambassador of the Explora Journeys brand, fostering meaningful relationships and ensuring the highest standards of guest experience are consistently delivered.
- Resolve complex guest concerns with professionalism, empathy, and sound judgment in alignment with the business and financial settings.
- Continuously identify opportunities to elevate the guest experience and exceed expectations and share via the dedicated channels with the business stakeholders for inclusion.
- Monitor guest behaviors, feedback trends, satisfaction metrics, and loyalty indicators to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and the delivery of exceptional guest experiences.
Commercial Performance & Revenue Generation
- Responsible for the onboard revenue performance across all guest facing and revenue generating areas, including Food & Beverage, Retail, Spa, Destinations, and other ancillary revenue streams.
- Execute shoreside commercial strategies and onboard initiatives while continuously monitoring performance indicators to maximize revenue growth without compromising the luxury guest experience.
- Monitor business trends, guest preferences, and operational data to identify opportunities for growth.
- Lead the department leaders to achieve and exceed business targets.
- Collaborate with Onboard Revenue Management, F&B and Hotel Operations Shoreside Leadership to identify emerging revenue opportunities and enhance guest spend penetration.
- Drive accountability for onboard revenue performance through regular business reviews, forecasting, and performance analysis.
- Foster a culture of commercial awareness throughout the leadership team.
Financial Management & P&L Accountability
- Maintain full accountability for Hotel Operations P&L performance, delivering financial targets through effective revenue management, expense control, and resource optimization.
- Responsible for the control of operational budgets while ensuring alignment with business objectives.
- Monitor ship’s financial performance trends, identify risks and opportunities, and implement corrective actions in collaboration with shipboard and shoreside stakeholders.
- Drive sustainable cost efficiencies without compromising safety, service quality, or brand standards.
- Fully Accountable for an effective Equipment inventory management, workforce optimization, resource allocation, Breakage and expense control.
Operational Excellence
- Oversee all Hotel Operations functions, ensuring seamless delivery across guest services, food and beverage, housekeeping, entertainment support, wellness, retail, and other hospitality operations.
- Ensure compliance with company policies, procedures, brand standards, and regulatory requirements.
- Drive operational consistency and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Partner closely with the Ship Master and senior officers to ensure safe and efficient vessel operations.
- Ensure the overall maintenance and operational readiness of the vessels through proactive monitoring and timely resolution of equipment defects, safeguarding asset integrity, financial performance, and guest satisfaction.
- Champion digital innovation, process optimization, and operational excellence initiatives to enhance efficiency, improve service delivery, and drive continuous business improvement.
Food & Beverage Leadership
- Provide strategic oversight of all Food & Beverage operations onboard.
- Ensure delivery of exceptional culinary experiences aligned with Explora Journeys standards.
- Drive guest satisfaction, quality, profitability, and operational excellence across all Food & Beverage venues, with a primary focus on revenue generating programs within the beverage category.
- Partner with F&B leaders to continuously enhance service delivery, operational standards, guest satisfaction, and revenue generation opportunities.
Food Safety & Compliance
- Maintain overall accountability for food safety standards throughout the ship.
- Ensure compliance with USPH, HACCP, ISO standards, public health requirements, and company food safety programs.
- Promote a culture of food safety excellence across all departments.
Brand Ambassadorship
- Serve as the principal onboard ambassador of the Explora Journeys brand, fostering exceptional guest experiences, strengthening guest loyalty, encouraging repeat business, and promoting positive brand advocacy.
- Build and maintain strong partnerships with shoreside stakeholders to ensure seamless alignment, consistent brand delivery, and effective execution of strategic initiatives.
- Embody and promote the company’s values, culture, and luxury positioning.
- Ensure every guest interaction reinforces the Explora Journeys brand promise and Ocean State of Mind philosophy.
Your Journey So Far
Mandatory Experience
- Previous cruise ship experience is mandatory.
- Minimum 3 years of senior leadership experience as General Manager, Hotel Director, Guest Services Manager, Food & Beverage Director or equivalent executive hospitality leadership position.
- Proven experience managing large-scale luxury hospitality operations with full financial accountability.
- Strong understanding of the cost drivers and performance metrics within an all-inclusive operating model, with comprehensive knowledge of key operational areas including accommodations, Food & Beverage, logistics, and other guest service functions.
- Demonstrated success in revenue generation, commercial performance management, and operational leadership.
- Strong experience overseeing Food & Beverage operations and Guest Services functions.
- Proven experience managing multicultural teams within complex international environments.
Preferred Experience
- Luxury cruise, ultra luxury cruise, luxury hotel, luxury resort, or premium hospitality experience.
- Previous new build, start up, launch, or pre-opening experience.
- Experience operating within highly service focused luxury brands.
Technical & Professional Expertise
- Strong commercial acumen with the ability to balance guest experience and profitability.
- Advanced understanding of hospitality financial management, budgeting, forecasting, and cost control.
- Comprehensive knowledge of luxury service delivery and guest experience management.
- Strong analytical and decision-making capabilities.
- Demonstrated ability to lead organizational change, transformation initiatives, and continuous improvement programs within complex, fast paced operational environments.
- Exceptional stakeholder management, influencing, and executive communication skills, with the ability to build alignment across diverse internal and external partners.
- Proven capability in strategic planning, business performance analysis, and data driven decision making, with the ability to balance commercial objectives, operational priorities, and guest experience outcomes.
Language Requirements
- Fluent English, both written and spoken.
- Additional languages such as Italian, French, Spanish, German, or Portuguese are highly desirable.
Required Certifications
- Valid Passport and all travel documentation required for international maritime employment.
- STCW certifications as required by flag state and company policy.
- Food Safety and HACCP Certification.
- Any additional certificates required by maritime regulations and company standards.
Why Explora Journeys
At Explora Journeys, we are redefining luxury ocean travel through extraordinary experiences, genuine connections, and a profound respect for the ocean.
This is an opportunity to lead one of the most innovative luxury hospitality concepts at sea, shaping unforgettable journeys for discerning global travelers while inspiring a world class team and driving exceptional business performance.
Join us and help create the future of luxury ocean travel. Your Ocean State of Mind begins here.
Our commitment
At Explora Journeys, we are redefining luxury ocean travel － where discovery, well-being, and a deep respect for the seas come together in harmony.
We seek passionate professionals who share our vision of a more immersive, transformative way to discover the world’s most inspiring destinations by sea.
Are you ready to turn your passion into something extraordinary? Join us at Explora Journeys, where an ocean of opportunities awaits. Your journey to the Ocean State of Mind starts here.
