Senior Manager, IT Newbuild Design

Journey with us! Combine your career goals and sense of adventure by joining our incredible team of employees at Royal Caribbean Group. We are proud to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

We are proud to be the vacation-industry leader with global brands — including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises — the most innovative fleet and private destinations, and the best people. Together, we are dedicated to turning the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations for our guests.

Royal Caribbean Group’s IT - Shipboard Newbuild Team has an exciting career opportunity for a full time Senior Manager, IT Newbuild Design reporting to the Senior Director, IT Program Newbuild .

Position Summary

The Senior Manager, IT Newbuild Design is responsible for leading the IT design and integration for Royal Caribbean Group’s new ship classes. This role ensures that IT components align with business objectives, adhere to governance processes, and are seamlessly integrated across shipboard operations, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and external partners. The position requires collaboration with internal IT teams, marine and engineering stakeholders, and shipyard partners to define capability requirements and oversee the IT portfolio for new builds.

This role also manages project planning, financial oversight, and resource allocation, ensuring that initiatives stay on budget ($6M-$10M annually) and deliver strategic value. The Senior Manager supports executive decision-making by providing portfolio reporting, identifying risks, and driving process improvements that enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness. By fostering cross-functional partnerships and leveraging industry best practices, this position plays a key role in shaping the future of IT within Royal Caribbean Group’s fleet expansion and innovation efforts.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Supports the intake process of projects through the governance process, inclusive of IT projects and broader Royal Caribbean Group initiatives related to New Build.
• Lead the capability requirements definition across the various IT stakeholders (Infrastructure & Operations, Shipboard, Cyber Security) for each ship’s business model and integration requirements with product owners for architecture and build out.
• Lead design and integration activities between IT and RCG’s internal and external partners.
• Create a collaborative partnership among portfolio stakeholders that enables initiative strategic alignment and project pipeline planning decisions.
• Lead and manage the partnership with New Build Design and Architecture and the Product Development Innovation, Marine / NB Sustainability and local New Build Shipyard offices.
• Partners with other business departments (Marine, Logistics, Newbuild, Engineering, Architecture) to engage and onboard needed resources in order to design the scope and provide the guidelines for implementation.
• Manages portfolio artifacts, decisions, communications, metrics, and reporting.
• Manages $6-10M annual budget across multiple projects including budget expenditures, spend analysis, variances and developing controls and metrics for ensuring on-budget performance KPIs for the program design phase.
• Support product integration within RCG sites and asset with insight contributions from within, and across, portfolio activities.
• Build strong relationships within Royal Caribbean Group to understand the business challenges and opportunities.
• Manages Executive Portfolio views and reports, provide timely and actionable stakeholder updates in reduce roadblocks and risks for the NB Design stage
• Support the development, innovation and adherence to the Royal Caribbean Group’s IT Delivery Team methodologies including the support & creation of project management best practices, tools, and ways for Royal Caribbean Group to drive efficiency in order to reduce costs and add value.
• Works closely with Product teams, Site Architects and Construction partners to develop design for the New Builds and execution strategies related to the project scope.
  
  

Qualifications, Knowledge And Skills

Minimum of 10 years of experience in IT project management, IT solution design and integration of IT design with Architecture or IT operations, with at least 5 years in a leadership role. Experience in the IT Solution design in the cruise industry preferred.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. A Master's degree is preferred.
• Strong leadership and team management skills.
• Able to present direct and concise information to Vice President and above roles.
• Experience working with hospitality systems preferred.
• Experience in the IT design engagement and working with architects in construction projects
• Experience in executing IT infrastructure projects in a construction environment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• In-depth knowledge of IT project management methodologies and tools.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
• Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Knowledge of industry trends and best practices in IT project management.
• Demonstrates a wide degree of creativity with strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Must have ability to adapt to shifting priorities and align activities to meet organizational goals
• Drives value engineering processes in partnership with the NB site office teams to drive cost down.
• PMP, PRINCE2, or other relevant project management certifications are preferred.
  
  

We know there's a lot to consider. As you go through the application process, our recruiters will be glad to provide guidance, and more relevant details to answer any additional questions. Thank you again for your interest in Royal Caribbean Group. We'll hope to see you onboard soon!

It is the policy of the Company to ensure equal employment and promotion opportunity to qualified candidates without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sexuality, gender identity or expression, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Royal Caribbean Group and each of its subsidiaries prohibit and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.