General Manager

Discover an enchanted sanctuary suspended in time and space.

Banyan Tree AlUla is a tranquil desert retreat that sets the gold standard for luxury hotels in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. Located in one of the world's most exciting travel destinations, our 5-star hotel is deeply inspired by the magical surroundings of the Ashar Valley. Here, guests are enveloped in breathtaking vistas, from sweeping desert sands to towering sandstone cliffs and rugged rock formations.

Set in an area known as the world's largest living museum, our luxurious desert resort in Saudi Arabia is just a short flight from either Riyadh or Jeddah, connected by direct flights from Dubai. This convenient location further adds to Banyan Tree AlUla's allure, making it an irresistible draw for international travellers.

The role of General Manager is responsible for overseeing, directing, and managing all the areas of hotel operations. He/she will contribute to the overall performance of their property by formulating and executing the strategic vision for the property along with the Executive Committee. The General manager is also a key partner in 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.

Key Deliverables and Responsibilities

Commercial:

• Responsible for the preparation and compilation of the yearly budget, business plan and the forecast in coordination with the relevant Department Heads and Regional Sales and Marketing and Revenue leaders
• Responsible for the achievement of the commercial results of his/her property and positioning in the competitive set, on short-term and long-term basis
• Maintains a constant awareness of the general market trends (local, domestic, and international) and of the activities of the competitors
• Proactively seeks new business opportunities by building new relationships and actively getting involved in the sales activities of the hotel
• Ensures correct use of Company’s corporate identity at all levels in the hotel
• Ensures the online content, websites and information on OTAs are always kept up to date
• Implements adequate control tools to monitor the commercial activities of the hotel daily, weekly, monthly and year to date. Act proactively to rectify/adjust the commercial strategy where necessary
• Ensures financial expenditures, contracts and agreements are done in accordance to company’s policies and guidelines.

General:

• Ensures consistent focus on guest satisfaction and high quality of service and handles all guest interactions professionally and appropriately
• Responsible for the offline and online reputation of the hotel, he/she keeps informed of guests’ complaints, ensuring complaint handling, guest reviews and guest recovery
• Ensures a proper cost control is implemented at all levels (Payroll, Purchasing, F&B etc.)
• Encourages and implements CSR initiatives to support the local community
• Ensures hotel complies to the local and international legal requirements; follows through relevant certifications such as HACCP, legionella, Safety etc.
• Is familiar with all relevant company documentation and relevant OSMs for his/her field of responsibility.
• Follows through that the maintenance of the hotel is managed in accordance to the standards and requirements; material values, renewal and care of premises, furnishing and fitting, machines, assets and FF&E
• Effectively communicate with other hotel departments, regional, and corporate teams
• Manage the operations of the hotel to maximize profitability and to ensure superior guest service and product quality
• Ensure that all operations departments are maximizing revenue and profit potentials while minimizing costs
• Manage operational expenses to stay within budget guidelines, as well as gather and report financial information to the Hotel Manager/General Manager
• Manages performance issues that arise within the operational departments, as well as train, develop, coach and counsel, conduct performance evaluations and resolve problems of departmental team members and managers
• Ensures optimal compliance with corporate focus audit
• Is an integral part of the business team, attends all scheduled meetings and contributes actively with proper preparation
• Conducts a daily briefing with management on current key activities
• Evaluates changes in guest needs, the guest mix and competitive set, to recommend appropriate product/service and operational changes as necessary
• Ensures guest and employee satisfaction, while maintaining market competitiveness and exceptional financial performance
• Anticipate and address guest issues and establish proactive processes to promote guest satisfaction
• Interacts in a positive way with all team members to ensure a luxury guest experience
• Ensures compliance with local health and safety regulations

Finance

• The activities and contribution of the role will impact the performance of the hotel. 
• Act on behalf of the business to work through complex situations and reduce risk, interpreting and implementing company policies and employment legislation as appropriate.
• Exercise sound judgment and integrity always to ensure confidentiality of protected information.
• Be fiscally competent in rostering and labor costs, budgeting, forecasting including the commentary that goes with the documents/meetings.
• Ensure that Department Heads demonstrate full awareness of departmental budget/P&L and work towards achieving it by minimizing expenses and maximizing F&B revenue
• Review all CAPEX

People & Culture

Employee Relations

• Foster a positive and structured work environment which encourages the successful operation of the business, calling upon the necessary processes to deal with disciplinary, grievance and workforce change situations. 
• Work alongside with the People & Culture leader to investigate, document and administer corrective action immediately and effectively to reach the mutual goals of the business and the employees.

Recruitment

• Supervise the hiring new employees in conjunction with the Department Heads and People & Culture Leader through INES

• Ensure that the team uses the interview guides provided and Talent Meter to gain further information on any potential candidate

Employee Engagement and Communications

• Strive to increase employee engagement by promoting a positive work environment where each employee is informed and proactive about the overall business goals.  Ensure the consistent delivery of business and associate information with transparency so that each emplyee understands how they contribute to the company’s success.  This will include working on the Employee Engagement Survey (EES) and People & Culture Audit.  Ensure the EES Champions for the hotel/departmental action plans to increase employee engagement and improve EES scores year on year.
• Represent the organization as an exemplary ambassador the Banyan Tree Service Culture
• Labour Turnover to be closely monitored and to ensure that the Department Heads proactive actions taken with regards to trends and suggestions to People & Culture leader as well as General Manager.

Learning & Talent Development & Performance Management

• Ensure bi-annual Talent Review process in conjunction with the Department Heads are conducted and associated documentation maintained to the required standard.
• Facilitate the performance management cycle from probation reviews, annual performance reviews, development plans and goal setting as well as on the job training for Department Heads and in turn their teams
• Ensure Departments have adequate Departmental trainers, and these are well utilized
• For all supervisory positions have a transparent development program in place in conjunction with the People & Culture leader as well as Learning & Development.
• Development of direct reports to give them ongoing feedback and development.

Abilities/Key Competencies/Skills

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

Experience/Certificates/Education

• Bachelor’s Degree/Master’s Degree from a reputable hospitality/business school preferred
• Minimum 15 years of total experience with strong operations background
• At least 2 years of experience in a similar capacity
• High degree of professionalism with strong understanding of hotel operations and business acumen
• Excellent reading, writing and oral proficiency in English language, knowledge of Arabic language can be added advantage
• Strong working knowledge of Digital tools
• Strong leadership, interpersonal and training skills
• Excellent communication and customer contact skills
• Results and service oriented with an eye for details
• Ability to multi-task, work well in stressful & high-pressure situations
• A motivator & self-starter
• Well-presented and professionally groomed