Senior Product Manager, Cruise Liners & Port Operations

Kpler is expanding into high-value maritime verticals, with Cruise Liners and Port Operations representing two important opportunities. Both address a common market need: the lack of independent, reliable insights into actual performance, built on observed data rather than published schedules or self-reported information.

In the cruise sector, operators and analysts often rely on published itineraries rather than actual vessel movements, despite the significant fuel and carbon costs associated with fleet operations. In ports, performance data is often incomplete or self-reported, creating a need for independent benchmarking as berth-level emissions carry increasing financial implications under schemes such as the EU ETS.

As a Senior Product Manager, Cruise Liners & Port Operations, you will own both products end to end, from strategy and roadmap through to the first release and go-to-market. Working closely with the Lead Product Manager – Maritime & Logistics, you will build two early-stage products in parallel, leveraging Kpler’s network of more than 13,000 AIS receivers and over 10,000 mapped ports and berths.

For Cruise Liners, you will develop itinerary intelligence for tracked fleets, providing an independent view of actual sailed itineraries, fuel consumption and emissions. For Port Operations, you will build a product focused on port-level vessel activity monitoring, giving port authorities a reliable, live view of activity and performance.

This is an individual-contributor role for an experienced product professional with a background in maritime, cruise, travel, ports or an adjacent B2B data/SaaS environment. You will need to balance competing priorities across two products, establish trusted data methodologies, engage customers and bring both products to market through a pragmatic, build-and-iterate approach.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the product strategy and roadmap for Cruise Liners and Port Operations, prioritising customer needs and commercial opportunities while making trade-offs between the two products explicit.
• Lead market discovery with cruise operators, port authorities, harbour masters and terminal operators, gathering requirements and translating customer needs into product priorities.
• Drive delivery across both products, maintaining clear roadmaps, delivery cadences and launch plans, with a pragmatic approach focused on launching initial capabilities and iterating based on feedback.
• Establish trusted data and benchmarking methodologies for both products, developing an independent view of cruise itineraries, fuel and emissions, alongside consistent port call-cycle measurement and performance benchmarking.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Data, Sales, Product Marketing and other product teams to align delivery, reuse shared data and emissions capabilities, and develop early data and distribution partnerships.
• Define the Cruise Liners product direction, delivering fleet itinerary intelligence based on live, observed vessel movements that reflects actual sailed journeys rather than published schedules.
• Build the Port Operations product, providing port authorities with a reliable, live view of vessel activity using Kpler’s AIS receiver network and mapped port and berth data.
• Develop product positioning and competitive strategy, identifying opportunities to differentiate Kpler’s independent, first-party observed data from existing cruise analytics and port operations offerings.
• Drive go-to-market execution for both products, working with Product Marketing on positioning, packaging, pricing input and launch planning, and establishing repeatable customer discovery and design partnerships.

Skills & Experience

• 6–10 years of senior product or commercial experience in maritime data, cruise or travel, ports, or an adjacent B2B data/SaaS business, with a proven track record of delivering products that customers adopt.
• Working fluency in at least one of cruise or port operations, with the ability to develop expertise quickly in the other.
• Direct experience in the cruise or ports industry, with an established network among operators, port authorities and terminals.
• Experience translating customer needs into product strategy and working closely with product and engineering teams to deliver solutions.
• Experience managing multiple products or workstreams simultaneously, balancing competing priorities and maintaining delivery momentum.
• Strong product discovery and roadmap prioritisation skills, with the ability to engage customers and translate market insights into actionable product requirements.
• Experience working with data and engineering teams to deliver data-driven products.
• Understanding of go-to-market planning, including product positioning, packaging and pricing input.
• Familiarity with maritime and trade data concepts, including AIS, port calls and voyage legs.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and commercial teams and senior external stakeholders.
• A self-directed approach, with strong ownership, sound judgement and a pragmatic bias towards action.
• Comfort working in an ambiguous, early-stage environment, with a build-and-iterate mindset.

Nice to have

• Experience launching a new product line or building a product from concept to market, rather than solely managing an established offering.
• Understanding of the regulatory environment shaping maritime and port operations, including the EU ETS, FuelEU Maritime, CII and green port incentive schemes.
• Experience establishing customer design partnerships and building relationships with industry stakeholders to support product discovery and adoption.