Windstar hires HR chief, beefs up management staff

In addition, Windstar recently expanded its corporate headquarters in downtown Seattle and now employs approximately 130 people primarily from the region, with some working remotely. The company staffs its fleet with approximately 1,200 officers and crew.

VP human resources Valentina Zackrone joined from transportation company Sound Transit, where she was chief HR officer for the past five years. Zackrone also held senior human resources positions in other industries, and worked for Holland America Line in HR for nearly a decade starting in 1998. At that time, the Windstar brand was under the HAL umbrella and her responsibilities included planning and union negotiations for Windstar officers and crew, as well as spearheading key initiatives and incentive plans resulting in cost savings and revenue growth.

Technical operations superintendent Timothy McGriff moves into a newly created position at Windstar with a wealth of experience in seagoing and logistics. With 20 years in the industry, his extensive vessel management background will assist Windstar with shipyard projects such as retrofits and newbuilds, and other technical operations managed from his shore-based position.

Technical manager Roar Johannessen joins after a 22-year career as a consultant for SpecTec in Florida, where he worked with a variety of major cruise lines as a senior consultant overseeing an average of 35 vessels. At Windstar, Johannessen is tasked with organizing a centralized database for asset management across the fleet and oversees the fleet preventive maintenance system AMOS. He is based in Florida.

Manager of deployment and revenue planning and enhancement Jess Peterson signed on in a newly created position. He will support the company’s cross-departmental deployment and itinerary planning efforts to enhance profitability, guest satisfaction and Windstar brand positioning, as well as driving efforts to increase overall revenue performance. Peterson joins from HAL and Seabourn, where he was part of the deployment and itinerary planning team.

Mary Chaussée was recently promoted to director of HR from within the department, responsible for planning and directing HR policies and initiatives, ensuring company compliance with labor laws and overseeing employment, training and benefits for all employees. Before joining Windstar, she was the manager of shipboard HR for Celebrity Cruises for more than a decade.

Laurie Clothier has been promoted to manager of port operations, where she builds, maintains and distributes cruise itineraries, and deals with communications, budgets and invoices. Clothier has been with Windstar since 2009, serving in a variety of port, marine and hotel operations positions.

Fernando Guardiola was promoted to logistics manager after working with Windstar for two years in logistics. He has worked in logistics for more than 10 years with railway, airline and cruise experience, including five years with Royal Caribbean International. At Windstar he has worked on large projects, including the launching of Star Breeze and Star Legend. He lives in Florida.

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