As part of the TripAdvisor family, and publisher of leading travel web sites including Cruise Critic, the largest cruise site of its kind, TripAdvisor's cruise business is an exciting place to be at just the right time. Our growing cruise offering is seen by millions and millions of cruises, and many more travelers.

We continue to grow and are looking for an experienced Senior Direct of Product, Strategy & Community help us position and scale our product portfolio within the industry and market. This individual will exhibit a passion for User Experience and have a demonstrated record of success in the development and execution of front-end features for content driven, media sites. This position reports to the VP, TripAdvisor Cruise and General Manager, Cruise Critic. The successful candidate will be a skilled leader and manager who will have multiple reports, and will be a member of TripAdvisor’s Cruise Leadership Team. 

In this role, the Senior Direct of Product, Strategy & Community will be the champion for our travelers’ online experience, overseeing our core cruise site(s) and feature roadmap. The incumbent will lead a team of product managers in addition to our community forums, which provide invaluable connection and insight to our consumers. This responsibility will include leading the cross-functional Cruise Leadership Team through the strategy formation process and turning that strategy into execution through product definitions, designs, content, and implementation of all site functionality. 

We’re looking for a candidate with a depth of experience and expertise in user experience, maximization of content, appreciation for our dedicated community of travelers, and who isn’t afraid of making bold decisions based on data. 

Additional responsibilities will include:

• Responsible for evaluating and setting strategic direction for product differentiation and capability
• Be an active and engaged member of the Cruise Leadership Team, developing both short and long term strategies in the pursuit of aggressive business outcomes
• Actively work to develop cruise business unit strategy, while demonstrating leadership in its execution and acting as a catalyst and role-model to make necessary changes
• “Co-Carry the number.” Along with others on the Cruise Leadership team, bring a revenue focus to decisions. Report on progress toward revenue objectives regularly, and own the communication of drivers in the business that move the needle on the revenue number(s).
• Actively participate in revenue forecasting
• Lead a team of product and forum managers to create a world-class user experience for our family of sites across all platforms (desktop/mobile/tablet)
• Innovate consumer features and functionality across all cruise sites
• Drive product improvement with regard to our lead (CPC) marketplace
• Work closely with all members of the team, including senior management, product managers, community leaders to identify opportunities in our core product functionality and content offerings
• Build business cases and analytical support/insight for new business initiatives by identifying and understanding key issues, quantitatively analyzing these issues, and communicating key insights and results

• Understand and leverage editorial and user-generated content as they relate to user experience and revenue generation
• Provide partnership to sales on products including; pricing, performance, optimizations, etc.
• Partner with sales function to ensure we are delivering adequate new advertising products to the marketplace including products across all revenue streams: display, email, CPC, sponsorship, native, etc. 
• Coordinate ad solutions development across the product team to ensure a coordinated strategy for the entire Cruise Critic business.
• Develop strategies for our online community of travelers and social media technology

• Prioritize roadmap of product areas and initiatives for development
• Drive product definitions which translate business needs, visitor needs and technological capabilities into site features and enhancements
• Lead cross-functional teams to produce product specifications, establish milestones, and manage the development, implementation and launch against goals
• Communicate product status, key issues and launch plans to key constituents across the organization including senior management, engineering, design, sales, PR, editorial and community teams
• Measure product performance and identification of key levers of improvement - including design and analysis of relevant reports in collaboration with Business Intelligence
• Monitor the competitive landscape, identifying and leading relevant market, site and consumer research needs
• Hire, motivate, retain and grow a world-class, high-performing team that elevates user experience, and look and feel of the sites
• In addition to effectively leading direct reports, the successful individual must be able to partner across functions (e.g. Cruise Leadership Team, Sales, Editorial, Finance, Marketing).

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required, MBA preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of business experience including 5+ years in a product leadership role.
• Proven track record of managing senior-level teams & partnering with cross-functional leadership to achieve results
• Experience leading product teams in a high-volume online business
• Experience with editorial, UGC, ad products, travel a plus
• Proven quantitative, analytical and problem solving skills; must be very comfortable performing data analysis and making data-driven decisions.
• Excellent relationship building skills
• Experience analyzing business performance results and working with financial models required.
• Ability to determine how to use resources and time to meet schedules and objectives.

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