quark expeditions

Quark Expeditions is the world leader in polar expedition travel. Headquartered in Toronto, we operate transformative voyages to Antarctica and the Arctic, including Greenland, Northern Canada, and Svalbard, aboard three state‑of‑the‑art expedition vessels: Ultramarine, Ocean Explorer, and World Explorer.

Since 1991, Quark has pioneered many of the industry’s greatest firsts—from the first commercial transit of the Northeast Passage to the first circumnavigation of Antarctica with guests. Today, we continue to push boundaries as part of Travelopia, the world’s leading experiential travel group backed by KKR.

The Role

We’re hiring a Vice President, Product & Planning to own Quark’s end‑to‑end product vision and the strategic intent behind the guest experience, while providing senior oversight of long‑range and cross‑business planning.

This role ensures that what we build, why we build it, and when we build it are tightly aligned with guest experience ambitions, operational reality, sustainability commitments, and Quark’s long‑term strategic direction.

Beyond leading product vision and experience design, this role plays a central part in connecting and sequencing enterprise‑level initiatives across the executive team. As a trusted partner to the President and fellow executives, the VP Product & Planning strengthens strategy narratives, supports long‑range planning, and ensures major initiatives are aligned, coherent, and forward‑looking—without slowing execution.

This role partners closely with the VP Operations and functional leaders but retains clear accountability for product intent, strategic clarity, insight synthesis, and planning coherence—not operational delivery.

What We’ll Offer

• A senior executive role shaping Quark’s product future and strategic direction
• Broad enterprise visibility and influence across the leadership team
• The opportunity to work at the intersection of guest experience, strategy, and execution
• High autonomy, trust, and access to decision‑making
• Competitive executive compensation, benefits, and long‑term development opportunities.

What You’ll Do

Planning & Destination Strategy

• Own the end‑to‑end sailing schedule as the single point of accountability for schedule integrity
• Use deep destination knowledge to define and differentiate Quark’s product offering
• Support fleet strategy and evolution from a product perspective

Go‑to‑Market Partnership

• Partner with Marketing to translate product intent into compelling, accurate go‑to‑market briefs
• Provide product narratives, differentiators, and experience detail to underpin strong storytelling
• Act as the internal product authority, supporting training and experience‑standards alignment
• Collaborate across functions to ensure launch readiness and organizational alignment

Product Vision, Portfolio & Guest Experience Intent

• Own Quark’s product vision across destinations, itineraries, vessels, and guest experiences
• Develop a clear product portfolio and innovation pipeline that balances ambition, differentiation, and commercial performance
• Ensure product decisions are grounded in guest insight, brand ambition, and long‑term value
• Support experience design in partnership with Marketing, Operations, and cross‑functional teams
• Represent the executive “voice of the guest” in planning and strategy discussions

Strategic Planning, Insights & Portfolio Coherence

• Provide strategic oversight for long‑range and cross‑functional planning
• Synthesize guest, market, and competitive insights to inform strategy and portfolio decisions and long‑term planning.
• Support the development and refinement of strategy decks, long‑range plans, and enterprise narratives
• Identify overlaps, dependencies, and sequencing risks across initiatives, surfacing trade‑offs and options
• Serve as the connective tissue between strategy, product ambition, and operational reality

Sustainability, Science & Community Program Design

• Own the design and evolution of Quark’s sustainability, science, and community engagement programs, ensuring they are authentic, differentiated, and aligned with brand ambition, guest expectations, and operational reality.
• Partner with Operations, External Relations, and field teams to ensure these programs can be delivered safely, credibly, and at scale.

Planning vs. Delivery Clarity

• Own portfolio‑level planning, prioritisation, and sequencing of major initiatives, ensuring clarity and coherence across the executive agenda.
• Support alignment across the executive team by framing initiatives in a shared, enterprise context — without owning day‑to‑day project delivery or functional execution.

What You’ll Bring

Essential Requirements

• Senior leadership experience in product, experience design, strategy, or portfolio management
• Deep understanding of expedition travel operations and polar environments, ideally within small‑ship marine contexts
• Ability to think long‑range while operating effectively in fast‑moving environments
• Strong judgment and the ability to synthesize diverse inputs into clear strategic narratives
• Executive‑level credibility with the ability to influence without formal authority
• Strong commercial acumen and understanding of guest‑led value creation

Valuable Extras

• Experience in expedition travel, cruising, or experience‑led consumer brands
• Background working with operationally intensive or asset‑heavy businesses
• Experience supporting strategy in private‑equity‑backed or multi‑brand environments

What Success Looks Like in 12–24 Months

• Quark’s product portfolio is clearly differentiated, future‑focused, and aligned to strategy
• The executive team has clearer visibility into priorities, sequencing, and strategic trade‑offs
• Strategy decks and long‑range plans are sharper, more cohesive, and easier to execute against
• Product ambition and operational delivery are consistently aligned, with fewer late‑stage conflicts

We believe people perform best when they can be their true selves and diverse teams drive better results. We’re committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment where everyone can succeed.

Travelopia ensures an inclusive workplace for all. If you need accommodations during the recruitment process, please inform us here: Talent@Travelopia.com

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