Senior Director, Product Strategy and Operations

Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873. Our ships offer innovative features and enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel, inviting guests to savor the journey.
We’re looking for an experienced Senior Director, Product Strategy & Operations to fill this role. Develops and provides strategy, vision, and direction for Product Strategy & Operations across multiple functions, programs, business areas, and transformation portfolios. Owns the POLAR roadmap and strategy and implements company-wide governance models, PMO standards, portfolio processes, product strategy practices, change implementation methods, and operating rhythms that support Commercial priorities and long-term business objectives. Applies advanced understanding of the company, competitive environment, commercial operations, guest and trade needs, technology-enabled transformation, AI-enabled business change, and cross-functional dependencies to shape priorities, influence executive decision-making, and drive measurable enterprise impact.                         

Here’s a summary of what Holland America Line is looking for in its Senior Director, Product Strategy & Operations. Is this you?

Responsibilities

• Governance & Portfolio Management

  • Own and lead the enterprise governance model for POLAR, AI innovation and other commercial priorities; this includes portfolio intake, prioritization, sequencing, decision rights, executive forums, escalation paths, and operating rhythms.

  • Establish and continuously improve brand standards, frameworks, scorecards, dashboards, and portfolio review processes that guide investment decisions, resource allocation, and strategic tradeoffs across POLAR, PMO, AI-enabled transformation, and related business initiatives.

  • Serve as a senior advisor to executive leadership by developing executive-ready recommendations, business cases, scenario analyses, portfolio health reporting, risk assessments, and decision packages that translate ambiguous opportunities into clear priorities and funded action plans.

  • Ensure portfolio decisions are tied to measurable business outcomes, guest and trade impact, operational readiness, financial value, risk mitigation, and long-term Commercial strategy.                                                

• Product Strategy

  • Own the POLAR product roadmap and strategy, including multi-year vision, strategic priorities, capability sequencing, business requirements, value proposition, stakeholder alignment, and roadmap governance.

  • Translate Commercial, brand, guest, trade, operational, and technology priorities into an integrated product strategy that defines what capabilities should be built, why they matter, when they should be sequenced, and how success will be measured.

  • Lead strategic planning for POLAR and related commercial products by evaluating market trends, internal business needs, AI-enabled opportunities, operational constraints, user adoption, and competitive dynamics.

  • Partner with IT, AI Innovation, Revenue, Sales, Marketing, Contact Center, Hotel Operations, and other business leaders to ensure product roadmaps are actionable, scalable, integrated, and aligned to enterprise priorities.

  • Own KPI frameworks, business cases, benefits tracking, value realization methods, and product performance routines that connect roadmap decisions to commercial growth, operational efficiency, user experience, and adoption outcomes.

• Project Management & PMO

  • Lead the PMO function for Commercial Product Strategy & Operations, ensuring strategic initiatives move from concept through planning, execution, launch, measurement, and sustainment with clear ownership, governance, timelines, dependencies, and accountability.

  • Establish PMO standards, tools, templates, planning disciplines, meeting cadences, status reporting, dependency management, risk management, issue resolution, and executive communication practices that can scale across brands, functions, and transformation portfolios.

  • Direct program and project teams through subordinate managers and senior professionals, ensuring teams are equipped to manage complex, cross-functional workstreams, executive milestones, and competing priorities.

  • Partner with PMO leaders and functional stakeholders to prioritize work, balance demand and capacity, identify resource constraints, sequence initiatives, and ensure the portfolio remains aligned to strategic and financial objectives.

  • Drive proactive identification and resolution of program risks, cross-functional dependencies, policy decisions, change impacts, and operational barriers that could affect delivery, adoption, or business outcomes.                                

• Change Management & Implementation

  • Own the business-side change management and implementation strategy for POLAR, AI-enabled initiatives, and other commercial systems work as solutions transition from build and scale into business adoption and sustained operations.

  • Define readiness criteria, business deployment approaches, training strategies, communication plans, stakeholder engagement models, cutover plans, hypercare structures, adoption metrics, and sustainment routines that ensure new capabilities are embedded into day-to-day work.

  • Build scalable implementation playbooks, business transition models, support structures, role-based training content, adoption toolkits, operating procedures, and feedback loops that can be reused as transformation and AI capabilities expand across the organization.

  • Partner with IT, AI Innovation, Business Operations, PMO, and functional leaders to ensure technical delivery is matched with business readiness, operational ownership, change impact management, user adoption, and benefits realization.

  • Monitor adoption, usage, process compliance, operational performance, and stakeholder feedback after launch; identify gaps and direct continuous improvement actions to increase value realization and reduce business disruption.     

• Leadership

  • Lead, coach, and develop a team of managers, project managers, product strategy professionals, and business operations talent responsible for product strategy, PMO, governance, implementation, analytics, and change management capabilities.

  • Build the organizational capability, leadership bench, skills, roles, and ways of working required to support a maturing Product Strategy & Operations function and an expanding portfolio of POLAR, AI-enabled, and process improvement initiatives.

  • Set clear objectives, performance expectations, talent development plans, and decision-making norms for the team while fostering a culture of accountability, strategic thinking, collaboration, continuous improvement, and enterprise impact.

  • Influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners without direct authority, aligning teams around common priorities, resolving competing stakeholder needs, and translating strategic direction into coordinated execution across the organization.

  • Represent Product Strategy & Operations in executive-level discussions and serve as a trusted subject matter expert on product strategy, portfolio governance, PMO maturity, change implementation, and business operating model design.

  • Performs other duties as assigned                             

Requirements

• PMO leadership, program governance, dependency management, executive reporting, and risk/issue escalation

• Change management, implementation planning, business readiness, training strategy, hypercare, adoption measurement, and sustainment

• Operating model design, process improvement, decision frameworks, prioritization models, and scalable ways of working

• Enterprise strategy development, product strategy, roadmap ownership, and portfolio governance

• Capability planning, business case development, KPI design, and value realization

• Executive communication, stakeholder influence, financial acumen, strategic storytelling, and decision support

• People leadership through subordinate managers, talent development, coaching, performance management, and organizational capability building

• Ability to operate in ambiguity, synthesize complex information, and translate long-term strategy into executable plans and measurable outcomes

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Technology Management, Product Management, Operations, Strategy, or a related field required; advanced degree preferred.

• Demonstrated leadership experience developing strategy, product roadmaps, portfolio governance, PMO practices, business cases, KPI frameworks, implementation plans, and change management approaches across multiple functions.

• Experience leading subordinate managers and senior professionals in a matrixed, cross-functional environment.

• Strong executive communication, financial acumen, business case development, stakeholder influence, and strategic decision-support capabilities.

• Experience with commercial technology platforms, product operations, transformation programs, AI-enabled business change, or large-scale operational implementation is strongly preferred.

• This is a hybrid position, based in our Seattle office. Candidates must be comfortable coming into the office 4 days/week (currently Monday-Thursday)

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

• Base Salary/Hourly Range: $158,700 to $214,300. The range is applicable for the labor market where the role is intended to be hired. Final base salary is directly related to each candidates' qualifications and experience uniquely.

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: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/our-company/mission-values.html
Holland America 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) 

Holland America 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 recruiting@hollandamericagroup.com

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