Director, Global Guest Experience - Holiday Inn
IHG, New York, NY, United States
The Director, Guest Experience – Holiday Inn will be a best-in-class brand management leader with responsibility for developing, deploying and measuring effective guest experience programs to drive guest love and overall perception for the brand. Acting as a general management–oriented brand leader, this role owns the development and execution of insight‑led, multi‑year guest experience strategies, including pilots, programs, and brand standards that enhance how guests experience the brand at every touchpoint—from arrival through departure. The Director partners closely with regional brand, operations, food & beverage, technology, and development teams to ensure guest experience initiatives are both desirable for guests and viable for hotel owners
Success in this role is measured through guest and business outcomes, including guest satisfaction and loyalty metrics, revenue performance (such as ADR and RevPAR index), and owner return on investment. As a highly owner‑facing leader, the Director builds strong relationships with franchise owners and the IHG Owners Association, balancing brand ambition with operational practicality. This role requires a collaborative, influential leadership style to align diverse stakeholders behind shared priorities and deliver differentiated, scalable guest experiences at system scale.
Your day to day
Provide critical thought leadership to localize the brand’s globally defined core value proposition and strategic pillars, including its guiding principles and the ambition for what the brand must represent in the mind and hearts of its target guest in the Americas through the creation of powerful guest experiences
Collaborate with key stakeholders, including Global Brand team, Operations (Hotel Performance) and Development (Growth Strategy) to define and manage the 3-to-5 year brand roadmaps that will exceed guest and owner needs, effectively developing winning business models and strong go-to-market strategies
Lead discovery process to uncover and identify consumer and owner trends and opportunities. The leader in this role will create a robust innovation plan that yields incremental growth for both owners and IHG.
Develop a system of continuous improvement to ensure competitiveness, consistency and quality of the guest experience, utilizing consumer insight, competitive analysis and system appetite to drive decisions
Deliver enterprise-leading expertise as they lead the research, development, guide implementation, and measurement of brand standards to effectively improve the performance of each brand
Work with operational stakeholders to provide assistance and guidance where required and monitor operational compliance with these standards in guest experience initiatives
Provide leadership, guidance and support to both Brand Managers and Associate Brand Managers towards the development of guest experience programs throughout the region. Coach and develop team members; hire, fire, assess, discipline, document performance, recommend salary and classification changes. Act as an advisor to subordinate managers or staff to help meet established schedules and/or resolve technical or operational problems.
Provide overall leadership and oversight to all phases of program (Discovery through Embedding), including budgetary responsibility to support multi-year strategies.
Lead the scoping, costing, acquisition, and implementation of current and future enhancements to the brand offering to improve performance and provide strong differentiation of each brand
Manage the development and delivery of any operational training modules or internal communications programs required to support significant changes to the guest experience
Lead research, in partnership with consumer insights team, to ascertain necessary consumer insight to drive changes or enhancements to the brand experience
What we need from you
Thorough and in-depth knowledge and experience of hotel operations (preferred)
Solid understanding of the key metrics within the hotel industry (preferred)
Extensive and credible appreciation of brand management and brand marketing
Experience of working internationally and cross-culturally
Experience in dealing with key stakeholders from board level to line colleagues
Experience in managing logistically complex programs
Passionate advocate of branding the guest experience
Strong communication skills, both written and verbal; articulate, persuasive & influential; systematic and timely
Travel - 25% required
Location - Our hybrid work structure is an expectation of three (3) days a week in the ATLANTA office. This expectation may be adjusted to evolve with the changing needs of the business.
The salary range for this role is $130,000 to $150,000. This role is also eligible for bonus pay. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, 401K and other benefits to employees.
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Success in this role is measured through guest and business outcomes, including guest satisfaction and loyalty metrics, revenue performance (such as ADR and RevPAR index), and owner return on investment. As a highly owner‑facing leader, the Director builds strong relationships with franchise owners and the IHG Owners Association, balancing brand ambition with operational practicality. This role requires a collaborative, influential leadership style to align diverse stakeholders behind shared priorities and deliver differentiated, scalable guest experiences at system scale.
Your day to day
Provide critical thought leadership to localize the brand’s globally defined core value proposition and strategic pillars, including its guiding principles and the ambition for what the brand must represent in the mind and hearts of its target guest in the Americas through the creation of powerful guest experiences
Collaborate with key stakeholders, including Global Brand team, Operations (Hotel Performance) and Development (Growth Strategy) to define and manage the 3-to-5 year brand roadmaps that will exceed guest and owner needs, effectively developing winning business models and strong go-to-market strategies
Lead discovery process to uncover and identify consumer and owner trends and opportunities. The leader in this role will create a robust innovation plan that yields incremental growth for both owners and IHG.
Develop a system of continuous improvement to ensure competitiveness, consistency and quality of the guest experience, utilizing consumer insight, competitive analysis and system appetite to drive decisions
Deliver enterprise-leading expertise as they lead the research, development, guide implementation, and measurement of brand standards to effectively improve the performance of each brand
Work with operational stakeholders to provide assistance and guidance where required and monitor operational compliance with these standards in guest experience initiatives
Provide leadership, guidance and support to both Brand Managers and Associate Brand Managers towards the development of guest experience programs throughout the region. Coach and develop team members; hire, fire, assess, discipline, document performance, recommend salary and classification changes. Act as an advisor to subordinate managers or staff to help meet established schedules and/or resolve technical or operational problems.
Provide overall leadership and oversight to all phases of program (Discovery through Embedding), including budgetary responsibility to support multi-year strategies.
Lead the scoping, costing, acquisition, and implementation of current and future enhancements to the brand offering to improve performance and provide strong differentiation of each brand
Manage the development and delivery of any operational training modules or internal communications programs required to support significant changes to the guest experience
Lead research, in partnership with consumer insights team, to ascertain necessary consumer insight to drive changes or enhancements to the brand experience
What we need from you
Thorough and in-depth knowledge and experience of hotel operations (preferred)
Solid understanding of the key metrics within the hotel industry (preferred)
Extensive and credible appreciation of brand management and brand marketing
Experience of working internationally and cross-culturally
Experience in dealing with key stakeholders from board level to line colleagues
Experience in managing logistically complex programs
Passionate advocate of branding the guest experience
Strong communication skills, both written and verbal; articulate, persuasive & influential; systematic and timely
Travel - 25% required
Location - Our hybrid work structure is an expectation of three (3) days a week in the ATLANTA office. This expectation may be adjusted to evolve with the changing needs of the business.
The salary range for this role is $130,000 to $150,000. This role is also eligible for bonus pay. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, 401K and other benefits to employees.
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