Deputy Director

AECO has taken on a significant responsibility: ensuring sustainable and responsible expedition cruise tourism in the Arctic. Our role is to ensure that our approximately 80 members create value for the regions they visit, while protecting the natural environment, preserving cultural heritage, supporting local communities, and maintaining the highest standards of safety in member operations.

As Deputy Director, you will play a key role in ensuring coherent governance, stable and efficient operations, and the continued development of the organization. You will have overall responsibility for the staff functions, consisting of highly competent colleagues within finance, administration, HR, and member activities.

You will also serve as the Executive Director’s deputy and thereby contribute to ensuring delivery across strategic, operational, and analytical responsibilities. We operate at the intersection of on-the-ground realities in the Arctic, international cooperation, policy, knowledge development, and organizational operations.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

Your main responsibilities will include:

• Contributing to the overall development of the organization
• Representing the management internally and externally as needed
• Overall responsibility for finance, and contributing to sound financial management, budgeting, follow-up, and reporting
• Overall responsibility for HR policies, management support, training and staff development
• Overall responsibility for ensuring a good working environment and a healthy organizational culture

Qualifications and Background

The ideal candidate meets several of the following requirements:

• Relevant higher education in management, administration, economics, or a related field
• Solid and relevant experience from leadership positions, preferably with responsibility for staff and/or support functions
• Documented experience in organizational governance, organizational development, and collaboration within management teams
• A strong understanding of the interaction between strategy, operations, and professional/technical activities
• English and Scandinavian are our working languages, and you must there have strong written and spoken skills

Personal Qualities

To succeed and thrive in this role, you should identify with several of the following characteristics:

• A confident and steady leader
• Strong execution capability and a solution-oriented mindset
• High integrity and a sense of responsibility for both individual tasks and shared goals
• Enjoy collaboration and have the ability to build trust with a wide range of stakeholders
• Flexible and proactive; in a small organization, everyone is expected to step in and handle tasks as they arise

We offer

• In addition to an important and varied role, we offer:
• An interdisciplinary working environment with highly competent colleagues
• An international organization with offices in Tromsø, Longyearbyen, Nuuk, Odense, and Copenhagen
• A flexible workplace
• Competitive terms and conditions, including a good pension scheme and insurance coverage
• Modern offices located in the center of Tromsø
• For questions about the position, please contact the recruitment advisor Tore Johnsen, pho: +43 91 85 89 39, or executive director, Frigg Jørgensen pho: +47 91 39 05 54.

Application deadline

21. April 2026

Questions

For questions about the position, please contact the recruitment advisor Tore Johnsen, pho: +43 91 85 89 39, or executive director, Frigg Jørgensen pho: +47 91 39 05 54.

About AECO

The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) is an international membership organization working to ensure that expedition cruise tourism in the Arctic creates positive value for the regions it visits, while protecting nature and cultural heritage, supporting local communities, and safeguarding safety in cruise operations.

AECO is recognized as a responsible and reliable voice in the industry. We work closely with authorities and other stakeholders to develop guidelines, set standards, and promote best practices for sustainable tourism in the Arctic.

Together with around 80 international members, we develop standards and tools that ensure responsible operations in Svalbard, Greenland, Iceland, and Arctic Canada. Our secretariat consists of dedicated professionals, most of whom are based at our head office in Tromsø, Norway.

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Last update: 30. March 2026