Expedition Product Planner

A bit about the role:

At HX our purpose is to awaken people to the beauty and fragility of the planet, with adventure that reignites a sense of wonder. We take curious travellers to incredible destinations, sustainably in true expedition-style with science and education at the heart of every journey. We bring them off the beaten track, to special destinations across the Arctic, Antarctic, Galapagos, British Isles, Alaska, Northern Norway, and Central / South America.

The Expedition Product Planner works closely with the Expedition Product Manager to develop expedition cruise experiences, create authentic, educational, and sustainable guest programs while coordinating with local communities, excursion providers, and onboard teams. The successful candidate brings a positive, can-do attitude that truly identifies and believes in sustainability, community engagement, and science.

At HX, we are a passionate team who deliver our global operations from every corner of the world and our people are instrumental in continuing to inspire this adventure, play their part and deliver on our promise of guest centric and memorable experiences, benefiting the communities we visit, enriching our guests and inspiring a more sustainable world – to change the way they see the world.

Key Responsibilities & Deliverables :

Expedition Product Design & Storytelling

• Support designing and delivering inspirational expeditions that provide guests with unique experiences that focus on local culture, wildlife, nature, science and history.
• Actively engage in the design and development of activities, shore excursions and content in line with our science program and our core values of sustainability and guest education.
• Create compelling voyage narratives that shape and connect the onboard experience, shore excursions, and guest journey throughout each voyage.
• Ensure that destinations are represented authentically and honestly with a focus on stories told by and through local voices.
• Support in the planning of and production of content to inform the shipboard teams and train the commercial marketing and customer service on the expedition product.

Partner & Community Relationship Management

• Investigate, select, and manage contracting and relationships with shore excursion providers in relevant regions, owning responsibility for the delivery of the guest experience through internal and external providers.
• Establish and maintain relationships with small communities with limited tourism infrastructure to ensure that their voices and opinions are at the forefront of voyage planning.
• Work closely with on-board expedition and fleet operations teams in support of the end-to-end success of the Expedition Product including emergency operations as needed.

Guest Experience & Business Collaboration

• Support the identifying of opportunities for guest experience improvements, and delivering these improvements in collaboration with operations, commercial, finance, digital, and other support teams.
• Be aware of the competitive landscape in specific regions in which we operate in relation to both expedition cruise and general travel industry trends.
• Capture and monitor region specific cost implications in collaboration with other stakeholders - specifically in relation to excursion costs and regulatory expenses.
• Contribute to broader team and business priorities as needed.
• Thinks sustainably and brings this mindset to their team and partners.
• Champions the HX Spirits.

Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Experience in maritime, expedition, or cruise industry.
• Experience creating meaningful experiences for guests including voyage narratives, shore excursion and activities.
• Experience negotiating contracts and managing invoicing with local communities and shore excursion/tour providers.
• Experience identifying and implementing product improvements for expedition experiences.
• Significant regional knowledge, gained from having lived or worked extensively in destinations that we operate in is beneficial but not required.
• Experience building relationships with diverse local communities.
• Comfortable with travelling to remote destinations as needed.
• Experience with audit reviews of vendors in destinations.
• Tech-forward and adaptable, with a proven ability to quickly learn new systems.
• Proficiency in MS Office applications including Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
• Experience working in a multi-national organisation with a global guest mix.

Key Personal Attributes/Behavioural Competencies:

• Safety and Compliance minded for yourself and others.
• High degree of personal integrity and honesty.
• Excited to work in a hybrid work environment to leverage time in person with colleagues across the business.
• Passionate about inclusion and belonging. You take pride in bringing people and different perspectives together to promote a diverse and inclusive workplace.
• Clear and effective communication with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to manage execution and competing demands.
• Ability to adapt to change in a positive, productive manner.
• Highly developed sense of empathy and a commitment to guest satisfaction.
• Effective problem solving, conflict resolution, networking, continuous improvement, and technical aptitudes.