Senior Lead, Expedition Operations

Royal Caribbean Group

. Own Silversea’s global expedition permitting and compliance program across the full voyage lifecycle .

Posted 10/2/2026full-timeMiami • Florida • United StatesSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive experience in expedition permitting and compliance management, with a strong focus on regulatory affairs, budget administration, and stakeholder engagement. Proficient in navigating complex maritime operations and ensuring adherence to environmental and legal standards.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Expedition Permitting ManagementRegulatory Affairs ExpertiseMulti-Year Budget AdministrationIndigenous ConsultationIAATO and AECO Knowledge

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Expedition Cruise OperationsVoyage PlanningDocument ManagementAudit ReadinessRisk AssessmentFinancial ReconciliationRegulatory Document InterpretationDashboard DesignMicrosoft ExcelProject Management

Soft Skills

Analytical WritingNegotiationFacilitationPresentationCollaboration

Tools & Technologies

Microsoft WordMicrosoft PowerPointSharePoint

Industry Keywords

Environmental RegulationDestination ManagementGovernment RelationsCompliance GovernanceProtected-Area Management

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own Silversea’s global expedition permitting and compliance program across the full voyage lifecycle
Maintain oversight of permits, licenses, approvals, authorizations, certifications, memberships, operating conditions, and compliance obligations across operating regions
Ensure applications and supporting materials are accurate, complete, quality-checked, and submitted on time
Translate permit conditions and operating restrictions into instructions for shoreside and shipboard teams and verify acknowledgement
Coordinate voyage, industry, and regulatory reporting with onboard Executive Committees
Monitor and interpret legislation, environmental and protected-area rules, Indigenous operating requirements, maritime and aviation requirements, government policy, and stakeholder expectations
Conduct regulatory and permitting feasibility assessments for new destinations, communities, activities, infrastructure, aircraft operations, and expedition experiences
Advise Deployment, Product Development, Itinerary Planning, Port and Marine Operations, and leadership on destination readiness, access risk, deadlines, and commercial implications
Design and improve global permit management, document-control, and tracking frameworks
Establish quality assurance, peer review, verification, audit, and escalation controls
Maintain risk registers and conduct audits of voyages, permit files, conditions, reporting obligations, and records
Lead investigations into failures, near misses, and process breakdowns and develop corrective or alternative operating plans
Maintain a secure, accessible, auditable repository with version control and retention practices
Develop relationships with Indigenous communities, governments, regulators, protected-area managers, environmental authorities, and destination stakeholders
Partner with Government Relations, Expedition Operations, Product Development, and leadership on consultation, operating agreements, partnerships, and destination-access strategies
Collaborate with Port Operations, Marine Operations, Government Relations, Legal, Risk Management, Finance, Deployment, Itinerary Planning, Shore Experiences, Product Development, and shipboard leadership
Serve as principal expedition permitting and compliance contact for external stakeholders
Manage external agents and consultants and verify their deliverables
Represent Silversea at conferences, meetings, workshops, regulatory forums, and industry working groups including IAATO and AECO
Maintain executive dashboards, risk reports, milestones, and compliance metrics
Escalate material risks and provide decision-ready advice with mitigation plans and recommendations
Create and manage budgets for permit fees, regulatory charges, industry dues, subscriptions, assessments, memberships, and compliance costs
Manage multi-year portfolios of payments, prepayments, deposits, accruals, assessments, foreign-currency exposure, and operating-year obligations
Forecast commitments and partner with Finance on budgets, forecasts, accruals, invoice validation, coding, reconciliation, and reporting
Ensure payments and post-voyage reporting are accurate and completed on time
Protect lawful destination access and long-term stakeholder relationships over short-term operational convenience

Requirements

What you’ll need

8–10 years of progressive experience in expedition or maritime operations, permitting, compliance, regulatory affairs, government relations, destination management, environmental regulation, or another complex regulated environment
Demonstrated management of multi-jurisdictional permitting or regulatory programs with concurrent deadlines, dependencies, and material operational consequences
Direct work with government agencies, permitting authorities, regulators, protected-area managers, Indigenous organizations, industry bodies, agents, or specialist consultants
Experience administering multi-year budgets involving prepayments, accruals, recurring dues, assessments, invoice validation, and reconciliation, and providing concise risk-based recommendations to senior leaders
Shipboard expedition experience and direct Arctic, Antarctic, or remote-destination experience is a must
Advanced understanding of expedition cruise operations, voyage planning, remote-destination access, and dependencies among destination, port, marine, and expedition approvals
Strong understanding of operational, financial, legal, environmental, and reputational consequences of inaccurate, incomplete, delayed, or missing permits
Working knowledge of IAATO, AECO, relevant operating frameworks, reporting obligations, and membership structures
Understanding of Indigenous consultation and community engagement in destination access
Strong knowledge of compliance governance, internal controls, audit readiness, document management, corrective action, budgeting, forecasting, accruals, prepayments, and reconciliation
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills for complex tracking and financial schedules
Strong Word, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and collaborative workflow skills
Ability to design dashboards, risk registers, repositories, and auditable systems
Strong research, analytical writing, presentation, negotiation, facilitation, project management, and regulatory-document interpretation skills

Benefits

Comp & perks

Competitive compensation and benefits package
Excellent career development opportunities
Equal employment opportunities
Reasonable accommodation during the hiring process