Sr. Lead, AI Engineering

Summary: Leads the end-to-end AI and digital transformation pipeline, setting expectations for use cases, delivering rollouts, and measuring the value they deliver across functions.

Journey with us! Combine your career goals and sense of adventure by joining our exciting team of employees. Royal Caribbean Group is pleased to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, and excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

We are proud to be the vacation-industry leader with global brands — including Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises — the most innovative fleet and private destinations, and the best people. Together, we are dedicated to turning the vacation of a lifetime into a lifetime of vacations for our guests.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the location where this position is based. The position is not eligible for immigration or work-visa sponsorship now or in the future.

At Royal Caribbean Group (RCG), we care about your health, financial security, and overall well-being. That’s why we provide a comprehensive and competitive benefits package designed to support what matters most to you across every area of life: physical, intellectual, emotional, and social. Here’s an overview of the benefits available to you, including but not limited to:

• Cruise and Travel Privileges
• Health and Wellness Benefits
• 401(k) + Employer Contribution (US Only)
• Company-Paid Life and Disability Insurance
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Comprehensive Time Off Package
• Parental Leave
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Training & Professional Development
• Tuition & Professional Certification Reimbursement (US Only)

Position Summary:

Digital transformation and AI enablement are the core work of the Newbuild Transformation Office. The Office is accountable for how Newbuild digitizes, automates, and applies AI across every function, with one objective: giving every function and every region simple, fast access to the information and tools they need, so time moves from wrestling with process to the judgment and partnership that build extraordinary ships.

That objective only becomes real when solutions reach every function, every hub, and every skill tier, not a handful of power users. Implementation & Value Management is the team that makes that happen. It takes in problems and ideas from across the organization, moves promising concepts through proof of concept, scales what works to every group with the same problem, and owns the value each use case is expected to deliver. Other teams build and run the tools; this team puts them to work in real workflows and holds adoption long after the initial enthusiasm fades.

The Sr. Lead, AI Engineering is responsible for carrying that pipeline end to end. The role sets the expected value of each use case at intake, is accountable for realizing it as the use case scales, and decides whether to scale, adjust, or stop based on independent measurement of results. It defines the operating model for intake, proof of concept, scaling, and value tracking; develops and delivers rollouts; defines requirements for custom tools built by partner teams; builds the Digitization & AI Champions network; and leads technical and delivery partners to committed dates. It ensures every deployment meets standards for data classification, access control, and responsible AI use, partnering with Information Security and Data & AI Governance. What it learns in the field feeds back into strategy and standards.

This is a global role based in Miami, Florida, supporting a team across hubs, time zones, and cultures. It requires strong independent judgment on sequencing and adaptation, and approximately 20% travel, including international travel to Newbuild hubs and shipyards. Success is measured in solutions in use by actual teams, and in the value they deliver.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Define and own the operating model for use case intake, proof of concept, scaling, and value tracking including decision criteria, review cadence, and the handoffs between teams — and answer for how the pipeline performs.
• Run the use case intake process: capture problems and ideas from across the organization, record the expected value of each (hours saved, errors avoided, cycle time), and prioritize the pipeline on value and effort.
• Perform structured opportunity scanning across each function — inventory tools, systems, and manual workflows; map friction points to the right stage of the transformation approach; score opportunities on value and effort; and maintain the resulting backlog on a regular review cadence.
• Run or take part in proofs of concept alongside the Senior Director and teams across the organization, define success criteria before each one starts, and recommend whether to scale, adjust, or stop.
• Develop and own the rollout approach for proven digital and AI solutions across functions, hubs, and regions, deciding which teams go first, in what order, with what prerequisites and success criteria.
• Deliver rollouts end to end, from planning and configuration of existing tools through content and process changes, testing, launch, and handover to steady-state ownership.
• Where a proven solution needs a custom-built or hosted tool, define the requirements and hand them to the teams that build and run tools, while retaining ownership of the rollout.
• Support the development of AI platforms and tools by identifying and helping clear roadblocks such as access, data availability, approvals, competing priorities, or missing input from the field and by connecting the teams that build them with the users and decisions they need.
• Adapt solutions to new functional and regional contexts without losing what made them work, and determine when adaptation has gone far enough that the underlying approach must be reconsidered.
• Diagnose where a solution breaks at scale and decide whether to fix, redesign, or retire it.
• Own the value of each use case: set the expected benefit at intake, agree the baseline with the measurement function before a proof of concept begins, and be accountable for the gap between expected and realized value.
• Be responsible for adoption outcomes: define what adoption means for each solution, use independent measurement to segment intervention by user population, and act where uptake stalls.
• Specify the training, materials, and support model each solution and audience requires, and partner with the learning and development team, which designs and delivers it.
• Build and sustain the Digitization & AI Champions network across every function, hub, and region as the channel for peer-led rollout and field feedback, so support does not bottleneck on a single point. (Executing)
• Lead internal technical partners, solution delivery partners, and hub-based contacts to committed dates, making the trade-off calls when scope, quality, and timing collide.
• Ensure every deployment operates within the guardrails set by the Senior Director and meets company standards for data classification, access control, and responsible AI use — transparency, privacy, oversight, and fairness — including grounding and citation of AI outputs to verified sources, and partnering with Information Security and Data & AI Governance on required reviews.
• Run listening and continuous improvement activity pulse surveys, usage review, and retrospectives and feed the results into the next round of targeted training and tooling decisions.
• Close the feedback loop: bring what is learned while scaling what sticks, what does not, and which problems keep recurring into prioritization, roadmap, and standards discussions with the Senior Director, and propose scaling opportunities independently.
• This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor or management

Qualifications, Knowledge & Skills:

• Four-year Bachelor's or equivalent required; Master’s degree in business, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• 10+ years in program delivery, digital transformation, technology deployment, or a closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated experience scaling a solution from one team to many across a distributed, multi-site organization this is the core skill of the role and should be evidenced explicitly.
• Strong independent judgment; able to make sequencing, design, and trade-off decisions and stand behind them.
• Track record leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing senior leaders and peers without direct authority.
• Demonstrated ability to build and defend a business case, set expected benefits up front, and be held accountable for realizing them experience in benefits realization, portfolio management, or value management.
• Proven change management capability in an environment where adoption, not technology, was the hard part.
• Strong enablement and facilitation skills; credible in front of both digitally fluent users and experienced hands-on teams who have seen initiatives come and go.
• Working understanding of data foundations — governed sources, ownership, unique identifiers — and why AI built on fragmented data fails.
• Able to run multiple parallel workstreams across time zones without losing threads.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, effective from the yard floor to senior leadership.
• Effective across cultures in an international organization.
• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 20%, including internationally.

Preferred:

• Experience in maritime, shipbuilding or another complex capital project environment.
• Experience running a use case or demand intake process and taking proofs of concept through to scaled rollout.
• Formal organizational change management grounding or certification (Prosci ADKAR, Kotter, or equivalent), applied in practice rather than held as a credential.
• Familiarity with Workfront, SharePoint, or comparable enterprise project, workflow, and document platforms.
• Experience with AI-assisted knowledge retrieval, document synthesis, or reporting automation in a production setting.

Work Environment

Approximately 20% travel required, including international travel to Newbuild hubs and shipyards. Global team collaboration across time zones.

Agency and Third-Party Submissions: Please note this is a direct search by the Company, and applications through agencies and other third parties will not be accepted, nor will fees be paid for unsolicited resumes. Any unsolicited resumes will be considered the Company's property.

We know there's a lot to consider. As you go through the application process, our recruiters will be glad to provide guidance, and more relevant details to answer any additional questions. Thank you again for your interest in Royal Caribbean Group. We hope to see you onboard soon!

It is the policy of the Company to ensure equal employment and promotion opportunity to qualified candidates without discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and related medical conditions), age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sexuality, gender identity or expression, marital status, citizenship or immigration status, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Royal Caribbean Group and each of its subsidiaries prohibit and will not tolerate discrimination or harassment.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to support candidates with disabilities during our hiring process. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at [hraccess@rccl.com](mailto:hraccess@rcc.com). This email is for disability-related accommodation requests only.