Description
Chief Sales Officer
Position Summary
The Chief Sales Officer (CSO) is a senior executive role responsible for setting and executing Azamara’s commercial strategy across global sales and sales-adjacent functions, in full collaboration with the Chief Sales Officer, International. This role is accountable for driving profitable revenue growth, strengthening trade and strategic partnerships across North America, and providing executive leadership across Field Sales (North America), National & Key Accounts, Charters and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events (MICE), Onboard Sales (OBS), U.S. Consumer Sales, Sales Planning & Analysis, and the Global Contact Center to ensure a consistently premium guest and trade experience.
The CSO works in close partnership with functional leaders to align strategy, performance outcomes, and customer experience standards. In addition, this role partners with the Chief Sales Officer, International to co-develop, align, and govern the end-to-end commercial strategy, ensuring consistent priorities, trade partner approach, and execution across markets. This role is both an execution leader and enterprise strategist, serving as a member of the Executive Leadership Team and collaborating closely with Marketing, Revenue Management, Finance, Operations, Digital, and HR.
What Success Looks Like in This Role
A successful CSO at Azamara will:
- Consistently deliver revenue and profitability outcomes aligned to annual operating plans
- Establish a clear, effective Global Contact Center strategy and governance model, enabled through strong AVP leadership
- Strengthen trade and strategic account partnerships that improve productivity and long-term value
- Provide effective executive oversight to U.S. Consumer Sales while enabling accountable, capable leadership
- Act as a trusted commercial partner to the CEO and ELT
- Partner seamlessly with the Chief Sales Officer, International to align commercial strategy, priorities, and governance across markets
Key Responsibilities
Commercial & Revenue Leadership
- Set and execute Azamara’s global sales strategy to drive profitable growth across key source markets.
- Translate corporate strategy into clear commercial priorities, targets, and execution plans.
- Partner with the Chief Sales Officer, International to co-create the global commercial strategy, align go-to-market priorities, and establish a shared operating cadence for performance management and decision-making.
- The CSO and Chief Sales Officer, International are jointly accountable for global commercial strategy, shared standards, and enterprise priorities; each leader retains decision-making authority for market-specific execution within their respective organizations.
- Lead annual planning cycles, including revenue forecasting, sales incentives, and investment decisions, in partnership with Finance and Revenue Management.
- Monitor performance through disciplined KPIs and take action to address risks and opportunities.
Global Contact Center (Strategic Oversight)
- Provide executive oversight and strategic direction for Azamara’s Global Contact Center, led by an AVP-level operations leader.
- Define contact center strategy, service standards, performance expectations, and success metrics in alignment with Azamara’s premium brand positioning.
- Partner with the AVP to review operational performance, workforce strategy, quality outcomes, and cost-to-serve.
- Ensure appropriate governance, escalation, and accountability mechanisms are in place.
- Sponsor major technology, process, and capability initiatives that enhance scalability, productivity, and omnichannel guest engagement.
U.S. Consumer Sales (Strategic Oversight)
- Provide executive direction and strategic oversight for U.S. Consumer Sales, without assuming daily operational management.
- Align Consumer Sales goals, KPIs, and incentives with enterprise revenue and brand objectives.
- Review performance regularly with Consumer Sales leadership, offering guidance, challenge, and support.
- Partner with HR to ensure strong leadership capability, succession planning, and accountability within Consumer Sales.
Trade & Strategic Accounts
- Lead strategy and direction for trade, consortia, and strategic account relationships.
- Oversee major commercial negotiations, ensuring competitiveness while protecting margin and cost of sales.
- Use data and insights to improve partner productivity, engagement, and long-term value creation.
Brand, Marketing & Guest Experience Collaboration
- Partner with Marketing on customer acquisition, loyalty, CRM, and campaign effectiveness.
- Act as a senior commercial voice in initiatives impacting guest and trade experience across digital, contact center, onboard, and post-cruise touchpoints.
- Ensure sales and service strategies align with Azamara’s premium brand promise.
Leadership & Governance
- Build and sustain high-performing leadership teams with clear expectations and accountability.
- Provide clear, concise reporting to the CEO and ELT on performance, risks, and opportunities.
- Lead through change, ensuring teams remain engaged and focused during periods of transformation.
Financial Responsibilities
- Accountability for delivering revenue and profitability targets aligned to approved operating plans.
- Executive oversight of sales and Global Contact Center budgets, with a focus on ROI, productivity, and cost discipline.
- Continuous improvement of conversion, efficiency, and cost-to-serve across sales and service channels.
Requirements
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
- 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in sales, revenue, or commercial roles.
- Experience in travel, hospitality, luxury consumer services, or complex service businesses strongly preferred.
- Proven ability to lead multi-channel, customer-facing organizations through senior leaders.
Knowledge, Skills & Leadership Capabilities
- Strong commercial and financial acumen
- Executive-level communication and influencing skills
- Strategic planning paired with operational execution discipline
- Senior-level understanding of contact center and customer service operations
- Ability to lead through ambiguity and organizational change
- Commitment to developing leaders and building accountable teams
- Strong data-driven decision-making skills and comfort with modern CRM and sales technologies