Vice President of Fleet Technical Operation

Seattle, WA

About UnCruise Adventures

We are a small-ship adventure-based travel company dedicated to creating experiences that connect people with nature, wildlife, and local cultures - we kayak among icebergs,travel to hidden waterfalls, and share air with whales. Every team member plays a role in bringing the adventure to life. Operating seven vessels carrying 22 to 86 guests, we explore destinations, including Alaska, Hawaii, Baja California , and Costa Rica.

Job Summary

The Vice President of Fleet Technical Operations provides executive leadership for UnCruise's shipyard, capital project, technical operations, regulatory compliance, and long term fleet asset strategy. This position is directly accountable for technical and capital budgets, drydock execution, major vessel projects, regulatory readiness, and overall fleet reliability.

The VP owns the full lifecycle of major repair and capital work, from long term planning, scope development, budgeting, and vendor negotiation through execution, commissioning, and closeout. The position provides leadership and oversight across Fleet Technical Operations, ensuring vessels are appropriately maintained, technically reliable, regulatorily prepared, and supported by disciplined project and asset management practices.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who thinks like a project owner and budget owner while maintaining the technical knowledge necessary to make informed decisions. The successful candidate must be comfortable moving between the engine room, shipyard, budget meeting, and executive discussion. They must understand technical detail, challenge assumptions, ask the right questions, and make sound decisions without becoming the person who personally solves every technical problem.

Strong leadership and accountability are central to this role. The VP is expected to establish clear priorities, define ownership, set measurable expectations, and hold the team accountable for results while providing the authority and support necessary to succeed. They must be willing to make difficult decisions, address performance or execution issues directly, and create an environment where problems are raised early, communicated clearly, and brought forward with proposed solutions.

The VP must be an effective developer of people and teams. This includes recognizing individual strengths, delegating appropriately, building technical and project management capability, mentoring emerging leaders, and creating succession and knowledge sharing within the department. The successful candidate will foster a culture where team members take initiative, collaborate across disciplines, and understand that ownership includes following work through to completion.

The role requires strong communication and cross functional leadership. The VP must be able to translate complex technical issues into clear operational, financial, and business impacts for company leadership while communicating effectively with vessel crews, contractors, regulators, and technical professionals. They must be able to bring stakeholders together, resolve competing priorities, and maintain productive working relationships even when timelines, budgets, or operational demands create pressure.

The VP is expected to lead proactively rather than reactively by anticipating fleet needs, identifying technical and financial risks before they become emergencies, establishing priorities across multiple vessels and projects, and creating systems that improve planning and accountability. During vessel casualties, shipyard challenges, or other high pressure situations, the VP must provide calm, decisive leadership, establish a clear path forward, and ensure the appropriate people remain accountable for execution.

Success in this position requires high personal accountability, sound judgment, transparency, and follow through. The VP should be comfortable taking responsibility for the performance of the department while creating a culture in which leaders at every level take responsibility for their areas. The ultimate goal is to build a Fleet Technical Operations organization that is collaborative, technically capable, financially disciplined, and consistently focused on the long term reliability and improvement of the fleet.

This position works closely with teams throughout the organization as well as vessel leadership, shipyards, vendors, classification societies, flag administrations, and…