Sr. Director, Loyalty Products

Th Senior Director, Loyalty Products will build our web member engagement and enrollment strategy focused on showcasing the benefits of Bonvoy and our broad portfolio of properties on Marriott.com and the Marriott Bonvoy apps.  The Product Leader will partner with our Loyalty Marketing, Program, and Capabilities teams to build out our unique features and a distinct value proposition globally, including US/CA, EMEA, APAC, and CALA.   S/he will serve as a key member of our three-year enterprise-wide Modern Growth Platforms (MGP) initiative, advising on new platform capabilities to improve our transactional and customer data platforms, understanding the implications of certain decisions and making trade-offs in terms of complexity, depth and timelines. The Product Lead will establish and maintain the Loyalty digital roadmap, managing a variety of efforts to help members earn and burn Points, and increase their membership tier. Is the product evangelist and subject matter expert and serves as the “go to leader” for timely updates to internal and, where applicable, external customers.The person in this role will partner with other Product Leads, UX, Engineering, other technology and business partners to ensure a frictionless, member experience across products, regions, and languages. In addition, this role oversees and partners with teams to ensure delivery across respective Business and Enterprise Product and Platform teams. 

The ideal candidate is a proven innovative leader with large global brands that can motivate large teams, has deep ecommerce/digital expertise, experience managing large transactional websites and Apps, demonstrates analytical and financial management acumen, and ultimately has a passion for the travel business and delivering great products and digital experiences that consumers love.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Education and Experience

• Demonstrated ability to deliver results under difficult conditions, particularly when faced with complexity and ambiguity.
• 4-year degree from an accredited university in Business Administration, Hospitality Management, Technology or related major.
• Experience leading with Agile development methodologies
• Proven ability to lead and work with cross-functional teams in support of business priorities
• 8+ years’ experience in product management, strategy, or related function

Preferred

• Proficient with web/app/api technologies, and user interface design
• Adobe experience, with focus on AEM and Target
• Demonstrated success managing large-scale digital implementations
• Experience with loyalty or membership programs in the Travel (air, hotel, cruise, OTAs) industry
• Digital analytics experience, including Excel, data visualization (e.g. PowerBI, Tableau),
• A/B and multi-variate testing with deep understanding of best practices in user experience, and conversion drivers
• Proven ability to lead and work with cross-functional teams in support of specific business priorities
• Effective written and oral communications skills, with sensitivity to global communication needs
• Ability to solve problems quickly, think creatively, and satisfy Internet speed-to-market requirements
• Ability to execute budget-sensitive plans with tight timelines
• Demonstrates strong presentation, negotiation, and persuasion skills
• Demonstrated ability in product lifecycle management with deep demonstrated empathy for guest travel needs
• Adaptable and energized by change; willingness to test new approaches and drive change

• Team player that works well with counterparts from various functions/departments and has the ability to influence the work of counterparts without direct reporting accountability
• Highly motivated individual with a strong sense of ownership, responsibility, attention to detail and demonstrated track record in managing multiple projects/tasks concurrently on tight timelines

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES

Activating Digital Features to Enhance Member Experiences

• Champions the effort to understand how digital experiences can enable key opportunities to expand Bonvoy membership and benefits awareness
• Organize and align across all digital teams to plan, sequence, manage and support growth efforts.
• Identify areas of impact across the customer experience end-to-end, and collaborates with product teams to capture requirements in support of Loyalty and Digital objectives
• Communicate and champion customer experience considerations to business and enterprise technology partners
• Partner with data and analytics team to understand the value and business outcomes are defined
• Participate in Digital agile ceremonies to collaborate with team on prioritization and backlog management
• Establishes and/or participates in cross-functional forums for the oversight and management of Loyalty efforts in Digital
• Manage budgets and forecasts to ensure on time and on-budget delivery
• Understand how business and technology needs are evolving, providing insights, raising opportunities and developing short and long-term roadmap recommendations in partnership with Loyalty stakeholders , Digital and Global Tech partners.
• Gather and detail product requirements from stakeholders across the organization to inform roadmap; evaluate technical complexity of requirements, and assess value impacts to appropriately prioritize work and manage expectations cross-functionally.
• Develop and lead the technology roadmap and backlog to implement specific product capabilities, ensuring critical requirements are identified, the best solutions for the end user are delivered every time, and alignment with broader group and portfolio objectives.
• Advocate for the end user (members and potential members) by developing a deep understanding of their needs through feedback and research
• Collaborate with cross-functional team members to drive value and develop customer friendly features and enhancements
• Provide direction for the technology development, including cost estimation, budget management, scope and delivery strategy definition, and establish milestones/schedules
• Plan design, delivery, integration & test, and post-launch support for all elements required in product delivery, working with applicable teams
• Owns the loyalty-related feature quality and overall product performance, leading user testing and establishing KPI monitoring with QA partners.
• Manage project/scrum teams based upon roadmap(s). Meet regularly with the team(s) to gather work statuses, discuss obstacles, provide advice, guidance, encouragement, and constructive feedback to ensure deliverables are met timely.
• Collaborate across teams, and creatively solve problems to constructively balance priorities and overcome or remove blockers required to successfully deliver a new product or feature.
• Maintains the right level of demand management and capacity planning for the product, considerate of dependent teams
• Contribute to end user support artifacts/information/collateral development including feature/capability descriptions, end user business value stories, etc.

Manage and conduct Human Resources activities

• Interviews and hires employees.
• Ensures employees are treated fairly and equitably.
• Ensures that regular, ongoing communication is happening in department (e.g., pre-shift briefings, staff meetings).
• Fosters employee commitment to providing excellent service, participates in daily stand-up meetings and models desired service behaviors in all interactions with guests and employees.
• Incorporates customer satisfaction as a component of staff/operations meetings with an emphasis on generating innovative ways to continually improve results.
• Sets goals and expectations for direct reports using the performance review process and holds staff accountable for performance goals.
• Solicits employee feedback.
• Utilizes an “open door policy” and reviews employee satisfaction results to identify and address employee problems or concerns.
• Ensures policies are administered fairly and consistently, disciplinary procedures and documentation are completed according to Standard and Local Operating Procedures (SOPs and LSOPs) and supports the Peer Review Process.
• Conducts annual performance appraisal with direct reports according to Standard Operating Procedures.
• Champions change ensures brand and regional business initiatives are implemented and communicates follow-up actions to team as necessary.
• Identifies talents of direct reports and their teams and assists with their growth and development plans.

MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

Leadership

• Communication - Conveys information and ideas to others in a convincing and engaging manner through a variety of methods.
• Leading Through Vision and Values - Keeps the organization's vision and values at the forefront of employee decision making and action.
• Managing Change - Initiates and/or manages the change process and energizes it on an ongoing basis, taking steps to remove barriers or accelerate its pace; serves as role model for how to handle change by maintaining composure and performance level under pressure or when experiencing challenges.
• Problem Solving and Decision Making - Identifies and understands issues, problems, and opportunities; obtains and compares information from different sources to draw conclusions, develops and evaluates alternatives and solutions, solves problems, and chooses a course of action.
• Professional Demeanor - Exhibits behavioral styles that convey confidence and command respect from others; makes a good first impression and represents the company in alignment with its values.
• Strategy Development - Develops business plans by exploring and systematically evaluating opportunities with the greatest potential for producing positive results; ensures successful preparation and execution of business plans through effective planning, organizing, and on-going evaluation processes.

Managing Execution

• Building a Successful Team - Uses an effective interpersonal style to build a cohesive team; inspires and sustains team cohesion and engagement by focusing the team on its mission and importance to the organization.
• Strategy Execution – Ensures successful execution across of business plans designed to maximize customer satisfaction, profitability, and market share through effective planning, organizing, and on-going evaluation processes.
• Driving for Results - Sets high standards of performance for self and/or others; assumes responsibility for work objectives; initiates, focuses, and monitors the efforts of self and/or others toward the accomplishment goals; proactively takes action and goes beyond what is required.

Building Relationships

• Customer Relationships - Develops and sustains relationships based on an understanding of customer/stakeholder needs and actions consistent with the company’s service standards.
• Global Mindset - Supports employees and business partners with diverse styles, abilities, motivations, and/or cultural perspectives; utilizes differences to drive innovation, engagement and enhance business results; and ensures employees are given the opportunity to contribute to their full potential.
• Strategic Partnerships - Develops collaborative relationships with fellow employees and business partners by making them feel valued, appreciated, and included; explores partnership opportunities with other people in and outside the organization; influences and leverages corporate and continental shared services and/or discipline leaders (e.g., HR, Sales & Marketing, Finance, Revenue Management) to achieve objectives; maintains effective external relations with government, business and industry in respective countries; performs effectively as a liaison between locations, disciplines, and corporate to ensure needed resources are received and corporate strategies are understood and executed.

Generating Talent and Organizational Capability

• Developing Others - Supports the development of other’s skills and capabilities so that they can fulfill current or future job/role responsibilities more effectively.
• Organizational Capability - Evaluates and adapts the structure of assignments and work processes to best fit the needs and/or support the goals of an organizational unit.

Learning and Applying Professional Expertise

• Continuous Learning - Actively identifies new areas for learning; regularly creates and takes advantage of learning opportunities; uses newly gained knowledge and skill on the job and learns through their application.
• Technical Acumen - Understanding and utilizing professional skills and knowledge in a specific functional area to conduct and manage everyday business operations and generate innovative solutions to approach function-specific work challenges
  • Business Process and Analysis – Knowledge of multiple processes within sponsor department; ability to document key process flows, recognize processes for redesign, identify opportunities and translate business processes into information system’s needs.  Ability to define quality measures and evaluate performance against standards and to identify issues, risks and possible paths of resolution or mitigation strategies. 
  • IT Business Management – Ability to monitor and evaluate trends in technology, technology delivery mechanisms and IT organizational processes and tools.  This includes the ability to redefine processes, make recommendations, and perfect process governance frameworks. 
• Basic Competencies - Fundamental competencies required for accomplishing basic work activities.
  • Basic Computer Skills - Using basic computer hardware and software (e.g., personal computers, word processing software, Internet browsers, etc.).
  • Mathematical Reasoning  - The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly, correctly, and in a way that allows one to solve work-related issues.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

This position requires proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 prior to the first date of employment, subject to applicable law. If you are offered employment, this requirement must be met by your date of hire, unless a reasonable accommodation request is received and approved.