Director - Sales (West)

The Gig:

As a brand, we’re passionate about our purpose to ‘Change Business for Good’ and our ambition to be ‘the world’s most irresistible travel brand.’ In the cruise industry that means we are already making waves by bringing a Virgin approach to cruising that excites customers, travel partners, and the world at large. 

We’re on the lookout for a Director of First Mate, North American Sales to join our crew. This position will work remotely in the field covering managing an “all-star” field sales team in North America that work with our top engaged First Mates and those looking to work with us for the first time.

As the leader of our brilliant field sales team and ensure we achieve our sales objectives all the while helping us become the most loved and admired sales team in the industry. You’ll always have your finger on the pulse of what is most important to our travel partners (First Mates) and you’ll think creatively to make sure it’s super easy and fun for them to send sailors our way. You’re competitive and love blowing away goals but you genuinely care that your team and your partners are winners because of it. You’re a strong, vibrant communicator with an undeniable passion for people and an ability to inspire your team to achieve great things. You’re passionate about getting things done the right way and you’re able to challenge industry standards if it means creating something better for our people, our partners, and our sailors.  

Given we’re a start-up, everybody chips in beyond their designated scope, so you’ll work with the team on different things and be open to tasks that need help to get completed.  We aren’t precious at Virgin Voyages and we all roll up our sleeves to get things done. We’ll soon wonder how we ever got along without you. Want to know more, read on. 

We’re on the lookout for a bold and brilliant Sales Director to chart big things out West. Ideally, you drop anchor at home somewhere in the Western U.S. - think California, Washington, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, or other nearby states in one of our most vibrant territories where we bring a knack for shaking up the norm, and a Virgin spirit that turns “why?” into “why not?”

What You'll Be Up To:

• Bring your leadership skills to manage, guide, and grow our Field Sales Team to achieve booking goals

• Actively engage with First Mates and the Field Sales Team to support regional events, present the brand value proposition, and drive bookings

• Lead Sales Managers to develop, implement and deliver quarterly sales targets and territory business plans, focusing on converting sales on Virgin Voyages

• Identify and nurture First Mate relationships with like-minded partners whose customers are sure to love the Virgin Voyages experience 

• Identify opportunities for First Mates to shift share to Virgin Voyages

• Be a knowledgeable “source of truth” in all product and operational details for Virgin Voyages so that your team and First Mates know how to do business with Virgin Voyages

• Understand key business drivers and be able to solve complex challenges through provocative thinking

• Always be interested in the success of your colleagues, share proven strategies and tactics that help everyone win 

• Establish and maintain excellent relationships across the Virgin Voyages enterprise

• Manage territory budget and utilize ROI analysis to optimize engagement/co-op spend

• Coach your team to be a perfect blend of purpose-driven, results-focused and people-oriented

• Help clear obstacles for your team and your partners and work to help solve them creatively

• Be an enforcer of integrity in the way we conduct ourselves and live up to our leadership values every day

• Always up for anything and ready for the ride of a lifetime 

SuperPowers Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent (10+ years experience) required

• Previous experience leading and coaching a team 

• Minimum 5 years in travel or hospitality sales; cruise industry preferred

• Working knowledge and relationships with travel industry consortia, HOST, and franchise accounts

• Proven experience growing business from large accounts across a variety of models

• Knowledge of the cruise market and its sales strategies across a variety of segments 

• An appreciation for how paramount customer and partner experiences are for Virgin Voyages to be successful 

• A proven performance track record of personal and team sales results 

• Strong analytical skills and knowledge of using data to drive results

• An ability to think outside of industry norms 

• A passion to deliver results 

• Creativity and a desire to change things for the better 

• An energy that lights us up 

• A sense of unbridled optimism 

What Matters to Us:

At Virgin, your personality matters as much as how good you are at what you do. We want you to bring it to our hangout spot and help make the place even better. So, we won’t be surprised to hear that when people talk about you they say you are clever, on top of it, able to think ahead, intuitive, passionate and someone people respect and enjoy working with because you make things happen.

Virgin Voyages is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from qualified, eligible applicants regardless of their sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy and maternity. Our greatest strength comes from our ability to come together as unique individuals -- we seek to always embrace and celebrate our differences, providing an inclusive workplace environment that allows you to be your best self.

Virgin Voyages is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Virgin Voyages via-email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written Statement of Work in place for this position from Virgin Voyages HR/Recruitment will be deemed the sole property of Virgin Voyages. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Virgin Voyages as a result of the referral or through other means.