About Panache Cruises
Panache Cruises is not just another travel agency. Launched mid-pandemic by James Cole, we are the UK's fastest-growing luxury cruise retailer. We operate across the UK, USA, and Australia and will soon expand further. We’ve been named the fastest-growing business in the North of England, ranking in the FEBE Growth 100 as one of the fastest growing businesses in the UK. Our awards shelf is running out of space for industry awards, but we’re especially proud of our ‘Best Workplace in Travel’ and ‘Sunday Times Top 50 Employer’ awards, not to mention that our Cruise Connoisseurs have been recognised with individual industry awards. Even with all this success, we’re just getting started.
What makes Panache Cruises different is not just the growth. It is the way we do things. We tailor-make luxury and ultra-luxury cruise holidays, working with 25 of the world's leading cruise lines across ocean, river, expedition, and yacht-style cruising. Our ethos is "nothing is too much trouble" and we truly mean it, for our colleagues, customers and cruiselines.
Role Purpose
Panache Cruises is growing fast and recruiting more Cruise Connoisseurs globally than ever before. Every single one of them needs to be brilliant from the start, because our clients expect nothing less. Right now, the way we make that happen is through a four-week face-to-face induction that gives new starters the product knowledge, the sales confidence, and the Panache Cruises mindset to hit the ground running. It works, and it needs to keep working as we scale.
This is where you come in.
We are looking for someone who knows cruise from the inside, who can walk into a room of new starters and earn their confidence on day one, and who is genuinely energised by the idea of helping other people get better at what they do. Your first job is to own and deliver the induction programme brilliantly.
Your bigger opportunity, developed over time and in close partnership with the People & Culture Director, senior management team & cruise lines, is to help us think about what comes next: how we build a learning approach that works across three countries, that does not depend on any one person being in any one room, and that develops our Cruise Connoisseurs not just in their first four weeks but throughout their careers at Panache Cruises.
You’ll report into the People & Culture Director, who will lead the bigger picture planning and invest directly in building your knowledge and confidence alongside it. This is not a role where you arrive already knowing everything. It is a role where you arrive with the right foundations and grow into something more significant. If you want to be part of a business that is genuinely going somewhere, and you want a hand in shaping how it develops its people along the way, this is a rare and exciting place to do it.
Key Responsibilities
Induction Delivery
- Take full ownership of our four-week face-to-face sales induction, learn it thoroughly, then own it entirely
- Deliver the programme to new cohorts across the UK, USA, and Australia as required
- Ensure every new Cruise Connoisseur leaves induction with product depth, sales approach, and Panache Cruises values embedded and ready to perform from week one
Ongoing Development
- Support continuous development of sales staff beyond induction, including product updates, skills refreshers, and coaching conversations
- Build trusted relationships with sales managers across all three markets
- Begin documenting and codifying core product knowledge and sales methodology into reusable formats, reducing reliance on any single individual
Strategic contribution
- Contribute structured thinking to the design of a learning approach that works across three countries without requiring constant travel
- Participate actively in designing a learning model that scales alongside the business
- Collaborate with cruise lines to further develop sales team on new products
- Take on increasing ownership of learning and development planning as experience and confidence grows, with clear support and investment from the People Director throughout.
Person Specification
Essential
- Genuine cruise industry background as an operator, specialist agent, or retailer
- Experience coaching, mentoring, or training colleagues in a sales or product context
- Confident facilitator who is able to hold a room and adapt their style to different audiences
- Structured, logical thinker who looks for patterns and improvements
- Collaborative and coachable, ready to be developed and not just to deliver
- Able and willing to travel internationally to the UK, USA, and Australia
Desirable
- Experience in a formal training or programme delivery role
- Exposure to luxury or ultra-luxury client environments
- Familiarity with learning platforms or digital training tools
- CIPD L&D qualification or interest in pursuing one, actively supported
- Experience working across multiple markets or time zones
If you have any questions or would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Sarah Allen, People & Culture Director via email at: [email protected]
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Employee discount
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Financial planning services
- Free parking
- On-site parking
- Referral programme
- Sick pay
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Chorley PR7 1PS
