Steve, Senior Sustainability Manager

After four years working as a Stealth Materials Scientist in the Defense industry, Steve joined Carnival UK in December 2017 as Revenue Analyst for Cunard (quite a career change!) Since then, Steve has taken the leap over to P&O Cruises as both Senior Analyst and then Revenue Manager. During the pandemic Steve successfully secured a role as Deployment Manager back with Cunard. Since April 2024 Steve has taken on the role of Senior Sustainability Manager for Carnival UK.

“Over the last seven years I have taken on five roles – three of them quite different to one another – and they have all played a part in broadening my experience, putting me in good stead for the role I am in today. During my first few years with Carnival UK, you could say my development journey was fairly linear, starting off as a Revenue Analyst before becoming Senior Analyst and Revenue Manager.

Then, in 2020, as the pandemic hit and our ships went into lay-up. I was able to successfully secure one of the best jobs in the business (no bias here!), Deployment Manager. Over the next few years, I established myself as the expert for destination and deployment planning, delivering 18 new cruise programmes and redeployments, and countless contingency plans and itinerary changes.

With decarbonisation being a fundamental part of that role and sustainability became a bigger and bigger passion of mine, in April 2024 I was extremely fortunate to move into a new role as Senior Manager for Sustainability.

My career highlight so far has been working in the deployment team – I loved every minute (even all the contingency strategies, itinerary changes, and redeployments). Developing new and innovative itineraries that deliver a fantastic guest experience, all whilst reducing our carbon emissions has been a challenge, but a fantastic experience. The best example of this being the development of Queen Mary 2’s winter 2025/26 World Voyage where she will transit the Panama Canal for the first time ever!

If I could give any advice to colleagues looking to develop it would be to ‘act for the job, you want’.

To me acting for the job you want means actively adopting the mindset and behaviours that your manager and senior leaders display; projecting confidence and competence in your current role; and taking ownership of your own development journey. In doing so, you’re not only preparing yourself, but also signaling to others that you’re capable and ready for that next step in your career.

My second piece of advice would be step out of your comfort zone and say yes to new opportunities. By trying your hand at new things, whether that be an entirely new role or taking on additional responsibility within your existing role, you’re not only developing your skill set but gaining a better understanding of the business too.  In my experience you never know where a side ways move may lead! 

In terms of taking ownership of your own development journey, I encourage everyone to have a plan which includes both internal opportunities and resources but also any external opportunities you’d like to explore.

In 2021 Carnival UK began supporting me with my ambition to complete an MBA apprenticeship and for the last two years I have been condensing my role into four days to be able to dedicate one day to studying every week. Being able to have this opportunity has been immensely rewarding, not only through the formal knowledge gained but also through the informal conversations with senior leaders in other businesses and sectors.

External courses aside, taking part in internal opportunities and soft skills workshops have also hugely benefited me. The ability to prioritise the most important tasks; time management to ensure they can be completed effectively; and the ability to reflect on my experiences and how I would improve my performance, have all put me in good stead today.