Belmond
Senior VIP & Culture Manager
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Belmond is on a mission to become the world's most desirable luxury travel brand. Within our Creative Team, the Senior VIP & Culture Manager plays a vital role in ensuring Belmond not only creates legendary travel experiences but also resonates deeply within contemporary culture.
This role is responsible for strategically identifying, engaging, and collaborating with celebrities and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to increase brand/ product awareness and to create compelling, culturally relevant storytelling across various formats, including film and editorial. This individual will champion Belmond's presence in culture more generally, working with our KOL and cultural communications agency to amplify our unique activities and narratives. This is a vital role requiring incredibly strong relationship management skills, often navigating complex teams and powerful agents/managers, to build and nurture a vibrant community around the Belmond brand.
Key Responsibilities:
Cultural Strategy & KOL Management:
- Cultural Intelligence: Develop a deep understanding of current cultural trends, emerging personalities, and relevant storytelling opportunities to position Belmond at the forefront of luxury travel and lifestyle conversations.
- KOL Identification & Curation: Proactively source, recommend, and engage a diverse portfolio of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), tastemakers, and celebrities for collaborative projects, including events, hosting, film production, and general storytelling formats.
Content & Storytelling:
- Work closely with KOLs to co-create authentic and engaging content that perpetuates the legendary art of travel, captures the essence of Belmond properties, and resonates with target audiences. This includes conceptualising and executing Belmond led storytelling projects.
- Relationship Management: Continuously build and nurture strong, long-term relationships with KOLs, celebrities, influencers, their agents, and managers, ensuring seamless collaboration and a positive experience.
- Cultural Amplification: Collaborate with Belmond's cultural communications PR agency to strategically express and amplify Belmond's cultural activities and content, enhancing brand perception and reach within relevant cultural landscapes.
Agency Management:
- Alongside the Global Communications and Divisional teams, manage global agencies - markets include: UK, USA, France, China, Southeast Asia, Australia, Spain, and Brazil.
VIP, KOL & Community Building:
- KOL Strategy: Plan and implement the global KOL strategy for the Belmond brand, aligning with overall brand/product strategy and ensuring cultural relevancy. Work closely with the Global Communications team to plan and implement key KOL activations and hosting opportunities that align with the annual communications calendar.
- Community Growth: Accelerate community growth by strategically engaging and managing a diverse range of influencers.
- Advocacy Opportunities: Work in collaboration with PR, Social Media, and Brand teams to maximise advocacy opportunities and performance across all brand and property initiatives.
- Influencer Trips & Campaigns: Organise and manage global influencer trips to amplify visibility of key global/local initiatives and product launches.
- Talent Agency Management: Hire and manage Talent/Influencer agencies when required, overseeing contracts and deliverables.
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Event Management:
- Event Ideation & Execution: Ideate and execute global events in support of brand campaigns, generating PR and building brand advocacy and community.
- Launch Events: Work closely with Divisional/Property teams to plan and execute events for new property launches or property reopenings.
- B2B/B2C Support: Support Global and Divisional teams for B2B and B2C events, consulting on event plans and suggested programming.
- Logistics & Oversight: Manage all aspects of events including supplier relations, guest lists, logistics, videography, and on-site execution.
- Travel: Travel for event management and new product launches when required.
Strategic Planning & Collaboration:
- Communications Calendar: Support the Global Brand & Content Director with the drafting and implementation of the global annual communications calendar, including key KOL activations, events, and cultural initiatives, ensuring alignment with global and divisional Brand plans.
- Cross-functional Collaboration: Act as a key team player, working closely with:
- The Global Social Media team to align KOL and influencer plans with content creation and social media strategy.
- Divisional & Property teams to build strategic & tactical plans for product launches, news, KOL initiatives, and events supporting business goals.
- The Legal team to advise on best practices and negotiate/manage/extend all contracts and agreements with KOLs, influencers, and partners.
Reporting & Budget Management:
- Performance Analysis: Provide monthly and quarterly reports on KOL activity, influencer engagement, and event performance.
- Strategic Recommendations: Make recommendations to adapt strategies and global/local advocacy plans based on performance data and cultural insights.
- Budget Management: Manage the annual KOL, influencer, and event budget effectively.
- Team Management: Direct report of VIP & Culture Executive.
Requirements
- Proven experience (8+ years) in a similar role within luxury travel, hospitality, fashion, lifestyle, or a creative agency, with a strong focus on KOL/influencer management and cultural communications.
- Demonstrable expertise in understanding and leveraging cultural trends, with a keen eye for relevant stories and personalities.
- Exceptional relationship management skills, with a track record of successfully engaging and collaborating with high-profile individuals, agents, and managers.
- Experience in overseeing and delivering creative content projects, particularly involving film production and editorial storytelling.
- Strong strategic planning abilities with experience contributing to and executing global communication calendars.
- Excellent event management skills, from concept to execution.
- A natural communicator with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and persuasively, fostering collaboration across diverse teams.
- Highly organized, proactive, and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment.
- Knowledge of legal best practices concerning contracts and agreements for KOLs and influencers.
- A deep appreciation for luxury, travel, and the Belmond brand ethos.
- Proficiency in budget management and reporting.
- Ability to travel internationally as required.
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Benefits
What We Offer
At Belmond, we pride ourselves on fostering a culture built on kindness, active listening, and genuine connections with our colleagues and guests.
We strive to create an environment where our employees can thrive both personally and professionally. With a commitment to your ongoing development, you'll have the opportunity to learn and grow alongside some of the most talented individuals in the industry. Join us and be part of creating unforgettable moments for our guests, communities, and each other.
This is your moment. Apply today!
About Us
Belmond was born from a passion for connecting discerning travellers with the world's most remarkable properties, locations, and journeys. From hotels and trains to river cruises and safari lodges, Belmond's Slow Luxury invites guests to discover a new pace of travel as they savour time, engage with local culture, and connect with nature and people around them through incomparable experiences and unforgettable stories. With a legacy spanning over 45 years, since the acquisition of Hotel Cipriani in Venice in 1976, Belmond has grown into a global collection of 43 properties spread across 24 countries and territories. Exceptional destinations connected by legendary journeys are the very soul of Belmond, where the path that brings you to a place is as important as the destination itself. A pioneer of slow travel, Belmond has been operating the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express since 1982. Belmond later expanded to include pristine beach resorts, such as Maroma on the Riviera Maya, historic hideaways such as Villa San Michele in the Florentine foothills, urbane icons, such as Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro, and gateways to UNESCO world heritage sites, such as Hotel das Cataratas in Brazil's Iguassu National Park. As proud custodians of storied properties, Belmond is committed to building on the past to create a new legacy: the heritage of the future. Working with communities and local talents, together with the world's most respected chefs, designers, and artists, Belmond continues its purpose of perpetuating the legendary art of travel. Since 2019, Belmond has been part of the world's leading luxury group, LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton).
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