The posting
Job Description
One of the best-known names in cruising, Princess is the world’s leading international premium cruise line and tour company, carrying millions of guests each year to hundreds of destinations around the globe. We give our guests the Medallion Class experience others simply can’t. The Love Boat promises something for everyone.
We are looking for a Director, Network Solutions and Operations. The Director, Network Solutions and Operations reside within the Global Connectivity IT organization of Princess Cruises. This role provides strategic leadership and operational ownership for the Network Platform across a fleet of 17 cruise ships and shoreside operations. The Director serves as a key business partner to senior stakeholders across brands, technology, and operations, translating complex network strategies into measurable business outcomes as well as translating business requirements into infrastructure supportive enablement. Success in this role requires executive leadership presence, sound business judgment, and deep expertise in enterprise network infrastructure — spanning ship, shore, data center, and cloud environments.
Here’s a summary of what Princess is looking for in the Manager, Port Operation. Is this you?
Responsibilities:
Strategic Leadership & Vision:
- Define and drive the multi-year network and connectivity strategy aligned to enterprise business goals and the guest experience roadmap for Princess Cruises
- Serve as an executive-level thought leader on network infrastructure, influencing organizational direction and investment decisions.
- Build and maintain strategic relationships with senior stakeholders across Technology, Operations, Finance, and brand leadership teams.
- Communicate complex technical strategies clearly to non-technical executives, translating infrastructure capabilities into business value.
- Champion innovation by monitoring industry trends and emerging technologies, ensuring the network platform remains competitive and future-ready.
Platform Ownership & Operational Excellence:
- Accountable for end-to-end Network and Connectivity Operations (shipboard and shoreside), ensuring reliability, stability, and security compliance.
- Oversee effective delivery of all third-party and internally managed network infrastructure, including management of system integrators and providers, supporting enterprise business processes across the fleet.
- Establish and enforce operational standards, SLAs, and KPIs that drive measurable improvements in network uptime, latency, and guest/crew satisfaction.
- Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and problem resolution activities, driving systemic improvements to prevent recurrence.
Team Leadership & Organizational Development:
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing, geographically distributed network engineering and automation team spanning shoreside and off-shore personnel.
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous learning, collaboration, and operational excellence.
- Define team structure, roles, and career development pathways to attract and retain top infrastructure talent.
- Partner with HR and senior leadership on workforce planning, talent acquisition, and performance management.
Architecture, Engineering & Governance:
- Maintain comprehensive understanding of the network architecture across all environments: ship, shore, data center, cloud, and edge-computing.
- Direct the design, build, and delivery of network infrastructure supporting business-critical applications and guest-facing services.
- Establish and enforce change management and configuration management standards to ensure network stability and auditability.
- Identify network bottlenecks, evaluate new technologies, and recommend strategic upgrades and investments.
Financial Management & Business Accountability:
- Develop, manage, and optimize operating and capital budgets for the network domain, ensuring spend aligns to strategic priorities.
- Build and present business cases for technology investments, articulating ROI and strategic impact to leadership and finance stakeholders.
- Monitor expenses and drive cost optimization initiatives without compromising service quality or resilience.
Vendor & Partner Management:
- Develop and manage strategic relationships with key technology vendors, network carriers, and managed service partners.
- Participate in commercial negotiations for major network contracts, ensuring optimal value, performance commitments, and contractual protections for the enterprise.
- Govern vendor performance through structured SLA reviews, escalation frameworks, and continuous improvement programs.
- Collaborate with internal partners such as Experience Operations, Application Development, Platform Ops, Data Security, Business stakeholders and others.
Knowledge & Skills:
- Scope: Responsible for global network operations spanning shipboard and shoreside environments, impacting guest and crew connectivity across Princess Cruises’ fleet.
- Problem-solving: Expected to address complex network challenges, including integration of ship, shore, data center, and cloud platforms, and resolve issues impacting operational performance and guest experience.
- Impact: Directly influences business outcomes by ensuring network reliability, security, and scalability, supporting operational excellence and guest satisfaction.
- Leadership: Provides executive leadership to IT teams, manages resources and budgets, and drives strategic initiatives in collaboration with senior stakeholders For all roles:
- Knowledge: Understanding of workplace policies and procedures / Familiarity with team collaboration tools and techniques.
- Skills: Strong time management and organizational skills
- Abilities: Ability to maintain reliable and consistent attendance / Capacity to be punctual and meet deadlines / Ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues and work as part of a team / Demonstrated professionalism in all interactions and tasks..
Requirements:
- A Bachelor’s degree in the field of Computer Science, Information Systems, or Electrical/Computer Engineering is required, advanced degree (Masters) in Management, MBA or related field a plus.
- Global perspective. Accustomed to doing business around the world and comfortable working with professionals with diverse cultural backgrounds. An understanding of project management methodologies and tools accompanied with creativity and innovative thinking to find solutions to complex problems that can balance short and long-term objectives.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to translate technical content for executive and non-technical audiences.
- Strong organizational and documentation skills, including architecture diagrams, as-built documentation, and roadmap presentations.
- Global perspective; comfortable working across cultures and time zones with international teams, partners, and stakeholders.
- Experience implementing technology in support of cruise line or maritime operations is a significant plus.
- 12+ years of progressive experience in enterprise network engineering and infrastructure, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role managing cross-functional or geographically distributed teams. Demonstrated experience in one or more of the following complex environments is highly desirable:
- Maritime / cruise line or other operationally demanding, 24×7 network environments
- Multi-site or multi-brand global enterprise infrastructure Satellite and hybrid WAN connectivity in bandwidth-constrained environments
Travel: Less than 25% with shipboard travel likely
Work Conditions: Work primarily in a climate-controlled environment with minimal safety/health hazard potential.
Physical Demands: Work beyond normal business hours or on weekends may be required occasionally to support business needs, projects, or operations.
This position is classified as “in-office.” As an in-office role, it requires employees to work from a designated Princess office Monday through Thursday each week. Employees may work from their homes on Fridays.
Princess provides comprehensive and innovative benefits to meet your needs, including:
What You Can Expect
- Cruise and Travel Privileges for You and Your Family
- Health Benefits
- 401(k)
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Training & Professional Development
- Tuition & Professional Certification Reimbursement
- Rewards & Incentives
Our Culture… Stronger Together
Our highest responsibility and top priority is compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, the people in the communities we touch and serve, and our shipboard and shoreside employees. Please visit our site to learn more about our Culture Essentials, Corporate Vision Statement and our Core Values at: princess.com/en-us/company-information
Princess is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Princess will provide reasonable accommodations with the application process, upon your request, as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require assistance in this application process, please contact [email protected].
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