Vice President - Brand Management & Guest Experience - Grand Mercure (F/M/X)

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Grand Mercure Hotels & Resorts appeals to a traveller’s insatiable quest for discovery, offering an immersive experience that celebrates national culture and stimulates the senses. Present in 10+ countries, Grand Mercure’s portfolio consists of over 80 hotels, with an additional 30+ hotels in the pipeline. Each hotel is unique and authentically reflects its destination by embracing the local way of life, infusing age-old traditions with modern flair. Guests are invited to connect with the destination’s national heritage through locally inspired dishes, beverage ceremonies, wellbeing traditions, and thoughtful design. Grand Mercure Hotels focus on tailoring a sensorial immersion that moves guests through scent, touch, taste, vision and sound. Whether it's the aroma of local cuisine, the touch of textiles, the sound of traditional music, or the taste of delicacies, travellers can truly experience the heart of a destination.  With Grand Mercure, guests transcend the ordinary and embark on a journey of discovery. Our hotels are not just places to stay; they are cultural sanctuaries that celebrate the rich tapestry of a country’s heritage, offering new perspectives through immersive sensorial experiences.

The Vice President, Brand Leader is a key member of the Global Brand Leadership team and a key partner of the Brand Marketing organization. He/she functions as the strategic guest experience leader for the brand. The Vice President, Brand Leader plays the central leadership role in driving successful operational execution of the brand promise, ensuring that every Hotel in the world lives up to the expectations of our target consumers across product, service and experiential programming pillars.

This requires driving mission-critical, cross-functional initiatives that align the efforts of multiple stakeholder groups to deliver excellence in the Guest Experience, including but not limited to Regional Brand Teams, Regional Operations, DT&S, F&B, Owners relations, Development, Learning & Culture.

This position is responsible for the brand’s operational performance and leads all aspects of the Guest Experience, including identification of critical business needs, strategy development, concept design, roll out strategy and flawless execution, all in partnership with the above stakeholder groups.

This role will also partner closely with SVP Brand Management and Guest Experience to develop brand positioning, target consumer definition, design strategy and portfolio & growth strategy.

Brand Strategy & Planning

• Partners with President / SVP Brand Management and Guest Experience to develop the global long-term strategy for the brand, including positioning, evolution of target consumer, development strategy and business goals.
• Acts as the face of the Brand across the organization to guide on strategy execution of the brand from other functions, including operations, finance, HR, DT&S, Public Relations, Sales, Owner services
• Ensures that business model, positioning and core proof points are clearly articulated for the brands, understood by key stakeholders and scalable to drive system growth.
• Develops, drives and owns the strategy to improve operational performance for the brand globally
• Partners with Regions to drive PURE Hotels strategy globally, to improve product modernity  through operational engagement, owner negotiations on product investment, accelerated renovations and in some cases managing portfolio exits
• Secure commitment and investment to improve product quality, elevate staffing levels, refresh B&F concepts, drive guest experience
• Drives the brand forward via new initiatives, products, and services (including evaluation of initiative impact, ROI, and sustainability).
• Leads the development of the annual brand business plan and the 3-year brand vision plan
• Assists in the development and execution of long term goals, specifically the ones impacting brand enhancement.
• Provides strategic guidance and partners with disciplines/market to set Brand Performance Scorecard targets.
• Reviews scorecard performance across, globally and by regions.
• Provides oversight to ensure the appropriate resources are applied to surface and analyze trends, identify root causes of issues, and make improvement recommendations and/or adjust targets as appropriate.
• Translates internal and external research and trends into actionable brand strategies. Analyzes data to frame up a business issue/concept; determines feasibility and understands how to operationalize the concept; converts research data into actionable options for moving the brands forward.
• Educates/communicates on brand strategy, positioning, voice, strategic pillars and competitive environment.

Brand Performance & Development

• Develops clear applications of business and brand strategies that can be translated by other functions into tactical implementation.
• Establishes, communicates and coordinates work priorities to achieve the brand strategies.
• Serves as the primary point of contact to ensure that new brand initiatives are being designed and deployed within market effectively.
• Regularly interfaces with key regional stakeholders, SVP Audit and Compliance and other market resources to better understand environmental factors impacting current and future brand initiatives and standards and to provide regular brand updates.
• Has a direct relationship with all GM’s to drive brand culture, best practice and obtain input and feedback on strategies, initiatives and general brand priorities.
• Partners with development as needed to support them in immersing prospective new owners into the brand, its strategies and positioning.
• Works with development team to produce toolkits and resources, conducts owner brand immersions and site visits to support development in securing on-strategy projects for the brand.
• Owns end-to-end brand innovation process outcomes.
• Monitors collective impact of all innovations/products/services to ensure they achieve overall objectives outlined in the Brand Business Plan, while maintaining the integrity of the Brand Business Model.

Operations & Culture

• Leads a culture of operational excellence across the brand and engages key stakeholders across functions to drive performance
• Drives brand culture, Talent development, Talent acquisition and brand training
• Leads new hotel opening strategy, engaging GM’s, Area teams and New Openings teams to ensure each Hotel opens on strategy and successfully nurtures the brand culture in new locations.
• Leads mission-critical cross-functional brand initiatives to further enhance brand experience and build out the brand core proof points.
• Establishes communication platforms for the brand with the field / market (e.g. webinars, immersions, training tools).
• Provides direction on internal marketing efforts to include heartist rallies, communications platforms, training efforts and culture initiatives.

• Works closely with SVP Audit and Compliance and the Go-To-Market leader to develop, refine and implement brand operating standards, procedures, and brand operations-driven programs.
• Oversee the development of the brand-specific Quality Assurance program with the QA team. Advocates for brand standards in operating and capital budget guidelines.
• Works with quality assurance teams to provide guidance for success measures and tracking mechanisms.

Style And Design

• Provides consumer direction on the brand design strategy and guides the ongoing refresh in partnership with DT&S.
• Provides input to DT&S on design for new builds, conversions and renovations projects.
• Support the development of design tools and resources and guidelines in partnership with DT&S and other disciplines.
• Directs the design and selection of brand product standards (OS&E) globally in partnership with the respective discipline resources.

Marketing & PR & Digital

• Partners with Brand Marketing team to create the visual identity strategy for the brand and the creation and execution of all visual touchpoints throughout the guest experience
• Partners with Brand Marketing team to develop brand identity and brand assets, including digital, as well as the photography strategy for the brand
• Partners with the Brand Marketing organization to ensure all global marketing initiatives are appropriately mirrored in the guest experience and Heartist experience of every hotel.
• Partners with Brand Marketing and Partnerships teams to develop and execute partnerships that impact the guest experience and global consumer perception.
• Acts as spoke person on behalf of the brand with media, influencers, B2B customers and owners

• Minimum of 15 years of relevant professional experience in the hotel industry, with a proven track record in both operations and brand management, demonstrating progressive career growth and exceptional performance.
• 5-year degree from an accredited university in Business Administration, Marketing, or related; MBA.
• Demonstrated expertise in developing and implementing brand strategies, positioning, and guest experience initiatives.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex strategies to various audiences.
• Global perspective with cultural awareness and experience working in international markets.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple high-priority initiatives simultaneously.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to build and maintain relationships with internal and external partners.
• Fluency in English required; proficiency in additional languages is a plus.

Why Join Accor?

Accor dares to impact: 

- the world  

• We are committed to the world around us, with a strong employer culture focused on the development of our 300,000 talents. 
• We adopt a continuous improvement approach to reduce the impact of digital on the environment across all our projects.

- your career:  

• We enable all our employees to manage their work-life balance and offer them the means to shape their work environment according to their preferences. 
• Training and career paths are defined both individually and collectively, allowing us to grow together on a daily basis. 
• We value the richness of diverse nationalities represented, from various backgrounds, encompassing all the stories that make us who we are. We encourage diversity in personalities and professional paths. We know how to adapt to the specific needs of our employees, especially those with disabilities. 

-and also,

• ALL - Heartist® Program: Unforgettable stays and experiences at all Accor locations and partner venues worldwide. –
• Heartist® for Good Program: Commit to supporting an association of your choice from those available on our volunteering platform (1 day offered per year by the Group during your working hours). 
• An Employee Social Committee (CSE) supporting the financing of your cultural and sports activities. 
• Sustainable Mobility Package up to €700 for the use of "green" transportation, or 50% coverage of Pass Navigo (public transportation pass). 
• €10 meal vouchers. 
• A mandatory health insurance plan funded at 50% by Accor without additional costs in case of enrollment of your dependents. 
• Attractive working conditions with collaborative workspaces, restaurants, and recreational and sports areas.