Director, Sales - Rixos Baghdad

Established in 2000 in Turkey, Rixos pioneers the ‘ALL Inclusive, ALL Exclusive’ concept, inviting guests to discover a world of possibilities, with luxurious stays, inclusive of culinary delights from around the globe, live entertainment, daily sports, and fitness activities, sensorial spa and wellness journeys and fun-filled kids and teens activities. Each Rixos property presents a unique experience inspired by local culture, global influences, and our Turkish heritage, all within a setting of unparalleled luxury.

Summary

Reporting to the General Manager, the role holder will contribute to the performance of their departments by facilitating the hiring and retention of exceptional talent as well as driving employee engagement, learning and development, performance and talent within their departments by strategically leading through their Department Heads.  They will have a desire to be the best at what they do and achieve operational excellence in their departments through all the metrics that are measured.

The Role

To ensure implementation of all Sales related Policies & Procedures and adhere to company and hotel policies & procedures.

To develop, implement, maximize, monitor and evaluate objectives, strategies and activities of the Sales Department so as to achieve and exceed forecasted revenue figures in Rooms and Food & Beverage and all hotels related revenue streams (e.g. Apartments).

To ensure that an effective and efficient day-to-day acquisition program, including, administration, reporting system is effective organized and deployed.

To promote marketing awareness and leadership to all employees. To develop an organized, motivated and cohesive Sales team.

Planning & Organizing:

Develop, implement and manage the sales business plan and strategic sales strategy to ensure the hotel is well positioned across existing and emerging markets and market segments, therefore achieving and exceeding forecast and budget.

Preparation of the annual Sales budget and business plan taking into consideration Market Mix, occupancy levels, Average Room Rate & Rev. Par, yield management and revenue streams throughout both rooms and food & beverage, including the marketing plan of how the same will be achieved.

Conduct regular thorough analysis of the market and more specifically the hotel competitor set ensuring the hotel is well positioned rate and yield management structure wise to achieve and maintain the budgeted Revenue Generated Index rating.

Develop, implement and manage rates structures and strategies through market data review and demand analysis.

Develop, implement and manage the process of developing sales leads and qualifying the same across all business units within the hotel, ensuring all key employees are familiar with and understand this process. 

Manage the RFP Process timely and evaluate success rate.

Establish materialization goals for key accounts and market segments for each team member and monitor and manage the same.

Monitor and manage the departmental operating expenses in line with budget and forecast.

Manage the co-ordination of all strategic  Sales activities in line with the Regional Sales & Marketing Office.

In conjunction with Human Resources department conduct interviews with candidates for roles in the Sales & Marketing department and prepare job descriptions for the same. 

Ensure all Standard Operating Procedures and Contracts for the Sales & Marketing department are written, reviewed and approved as and when necessary.

Develop, review and manage departmental work schedules, ensuring adequate Sales coverage and representation both in the hotel and the market, including scheduling sales calls, trips, site inspections and familiarization.

In partnership with the Rixos Regional office and other sister properties sales teams, plan and manage all related sales exhibitions, trade and road shows ensuring the hotel leverages an effective commercial return from attending and participating in such events, whilst at the same time conducting an after event analysis on these returns to gauge the suitability of participating in future events.

Operations:

Train and develop the Sales team in the departmental Standard Operating Procedures and ensure all employees are certified to these standards.

Maintain  a  keen  interest and sense  of market  intelligence  and trends  in  order  to  provide  leadership and management on market perspectives, patterns & emerging trends, tools and techniques to further develop, position and promote the property.

Initiate, develop and manage  long  term  positive relationships  with  leading  tour  operators,  OTA’s  market  managers, corporate key accounts ensuring longevity support, a healthy market share and penetration for the property.

Conduct and participate in revenue meeting, daily/weekly/monthly strategic sales and management meeting.

Schedule and conduct in conjunction with the Sales team a minimum of 5-7 personal sales calls and 10 telephone sales calls per day, ensuring the outcome of all sales calls are monitored measuring the success of each call and ensuring the appropriate management and follow up is carried out through daily morning and afternoon departmental briefings.

Identify, source & develop business opportunities and negotiate contracts with potential partners from across all market segments and business feeders.

Drive and manage the performance targets of the sales team members, including completion of performance appraisals, KPI measurement, business materialization of managed market segments & accounts, coaching, counseling and performance management in conjunction with Human Resources.

Maintain a consistent focus on improving the overall flow of sales operations, seeking ways to maximize and improve the operation through productivity management and energy savings programs.

Lead and support employees towards the achievement of financial, operational and service delivery targets via effective organizational policy and procedural development and appropriate employee training activities.

Foster a winning, solution-oriented work environment, motivating and engaging employees to continuously deliver the best possible service and to provide feedback and suggestions.

Ensure departments employees, including yourself possess a complete understanding of and to adhere to Rixos' policy relating to Fire, Hygiene, Health and Safety.

Ensure a consistently high standard of grooming aligned to the hotels grooming policy is followed and by yourself and the team.

Actively review guest and business partner’s comments and feedback, communicate this with the team members and implement procedures to enhance satisfaction.

Possess a detailed knowledge of all products and services provided by the property and others within the local area.

Actively participate in business partner and guest events when requested.

Adhere to company credit policies to ensure all expected revenues are secured.

Attend major travel, trade and corporate functions to network and promote the hotel.

Entertain and ensure that Sales team entertains potential and current customers based on business opportunities and priorities.

Obtain and maintain an awareness of community, business, political and social market driven factors which may affect the hotel’s financial performance and operating objectives.

Ensure that the room and conference inventories are reviewed weekly, monthly and bi-monthly where strategies are formulated to address low occupancy need periods at least 2 months ahead.

Ensure a high level of exposure for the hotel through direct sales solicitation, marketing and PR initiatives telephone contact and written communication.

Ensure all sales contracts follow the established hotel policies and procedures and are based and sound commercial judgment.  Ensure that an accurate database is maintained for all term contracts and that this database is communicated to the Finance Department.

On a monthly basis, confirm that travel agents’ commissions are paid promptly.

Possess good understanding of contribution margins for each business units results and work collaboratively with respective fellow heads of departments to maximize operating results.

Administration:

Ensures that all incoming correspondence (leads, inquiries, requests, offers, confirmations, etc.) are replied to within 24 hours.

Prepare weekly sales call reports and provide details to the Director, Sales & Marketing.

Establish and maintain a monthly report to include the summary of the past activities, prospects and trends, and analysis of competitor’s sales and promotion efforts, forecast for all sales activities & production/conversion figures.

Manage and maintain complete and supported records of all sales agreements, contracts and quotes for the hotel.

Ensure the Sales team and you are familiar with and all sales related company documentation, particularly the relevant policies

Take lead involvement in establishing and driving the price policy together with the hotel’s management.

Ensure that the GDS’s and other Electronic Distribution Systems are up-dated on regular basis.

Ensure that an efficient and accurate filing system, both manual as well as electronically is maintained at all times.

Review the employee schedule and annual leave plan to ensure the correct allocation of resources to foster employee productivity, satisfaction and adequate manning.

Alongside these key competencies, the incumbent of the role will be required to demonstrate the fundamentals of the company’s Employee service culture to be responsive, respectful and deliver a great experience.

Leading Myself

•             Positive Orientation

•             Operational Decision Making

•             Self-Development & Management

Leading Others

•             Developing an Empowered Team

•             Leading an Engaged and Diverse Team

•             Communication

Leading the Business

•             Advocating Guest Passion

•             Business Planning and Analysis

•             Business Improvement and Change 

You should come with the following…

• Diploma/Degree in Hospitality Management and/or Accounting
• Familiarity with financial systems: OPERA, MICROS, ACCPAC, HYPERION.
• Minimum of 5-10 years’ experience in a senior finance position

Your strengths will include…

• Feeling safe under pressure and like to solve problems in a dynamic environment.
• Being comfortable in a challenging environment where you can just be yourself
• You thrive on motivation others and providing unconditional support to others
• Having fun at work is you kind of thing.  You work hard but also have fun along the way and enjoy being around your teams