VISUAL MERCHANDISER (CRUISE RETAIL DIVISION)

Location: Remote within the UK or EU

Travel: International travel required

POSITION OVERVIEW

Diamonds International is seeking a creative, commercially minded and hands-on Visual Merchandiser to support the onboard retail operations of world-renowned luxury cruise lines. This is a unique opportunity to take ownership of visual merchandising standards across a global fleet of luxury cruise ships. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining consistent visual merchandising standards across multiple retail categories and locations.

The role will combine remote fleet support with international travel to vessels for launches, store setups, re-merchandising, training and ongoing VM development. Previous cruise experience is not required. We are looking for someone with strong visual merchandising experience who understands how to make retail environments look elevated, fresh and commercially effective.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Visual Merchandising Standards:

• Develop and implement visual merchandising standards across a global luxury cruise retail fleet.
• Create clear and practical VM SOPs, guidelines and visual standards that onboard retail teams can easily follow.
• Establish standards for product placement, display density, product adjacencies, signage, fixtures, mannequins, windows and promotional areas.
• Ensure stores maintain a premium and luxury appearance appropriate to the cruise line’s guest demographic.
• Regularly review onboard photographs and videos and provide clear VM direction and feedback to shipboard teams.

Planograms and Product Presentation:

• Develop planograms and merchandising guides for key brands, categories and retail spaces.
• Create guidance for new product launches and seasonal assortment changes.
• Ensure merchandise is presented in a way that balances brand standards, luxury presentation and commercial performance.
• Identify opportunities to improve product visibility, storytelling and customer engagement through stronger merchandising.

Multi-Category Merchandising - the role will support a broad retail assortment, which may include:

• Apparel
• Handbags and accessories
• Fragrance
• Cosmetics and skincare
• Fashion jewellery
• Fine jewellery and watches
• Gifts and general merchandise
• Destination and cruise-specific merchandise

Previous experience across every category is not required. However, candidates should have strong visual merchandising experience within one or more relevant retail categories and be comfortable applying those principles across a broader assortment.

Ship Launches and Onboard Support:

• Travel internationally to support new ship launches, retail installations and major re-merchandising projects.
• Work hands-on with shoreside and onboard teams during store setups.
• Review existing stores and identify opportunities to improve layouts, displays and product presentation.
• Support stores during major assortment changes, new brand introductions and retail refreshes.
• Work within existing onboard fixtures and retail environments to maximize the commercial potential of each space.

Training and Development:

• Transferring visual merchandising knowledge to onboard teams.
• Develop practical VM training materials for shipboard retail teams.
• Conduct virtual and in-person training sessions.
• Coach Store Managers and retail teams on maintaining visual standards.
• Create easy-to-follow visual guides and examples that can be replicated across the fleet.
• Build sufficient VM knowledge onboard so teams can confidently maintain and refresh their stores between visits.

IDEAL CANDIDATE

We are looking for someone who is:

• Creative with a strong visual eye.
• Commercially minded and understands that visual merchandising should ultimately support sales.
• Hands-on and comfortable physically merchandising stores.
• Highly organized and able to manage multiple ships, brands and projects simultaneously.
• Comfortable providing clear direction and constructive feedback to retail teams.
• Able to work independently in a remote environment.
• Flexible and comfortable working within existing fixtures and operational restrictions.
• Comfortable traveling internationally and working in a fast-paced environment during ship launches.

EXPERIENCE

Required:

• Previous professional experience in Visual Merchandising.
• Strong understanding of retail merchandising principles.
• Experience creating or implementing visual merchandising standards.
• Ability to translate creative concepts into practical instructions for store teams.
• Strong communication and training skills.
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally.

Highly Desirable:

• Premium or luxury retail experience
• Department store experience
• Apparel/fashion experience
• Beauty, cosmetics, and fragrance experience
• Accessories and handbags
• Jewellery and watches experience
• Experience working in multi-brand retail environments
• Experience creating planograms, VM manuals, SOPs or retail training materials

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

The objective of this role is to establish a recognizable and consistent visual merchandising standard across a global luxury cruise retail fleet. Success will mean that stores remain visually elevated not only immediately following a launch or VM visit, but throughout the year. The successful candidate will establish strong systems, planograms, training materials and VM standards that enable onboard teams to continually refresh their stores, confidently re-merchandise product and maintain a world-class luxury retail environment across the fleet.

Diamonds International is an equal opportunity employer and celebrates diversity across our global workforce.