General Manager - Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Cape Town

Marriott International is seeking a dynamic, commercially focused, and inspirational General Manager to lead Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Cape Town, one of Cape Town's most vibrant lifestyle hospitality destinations.

The General Manager will be responsible for the overall leadership, strategic direction, operational performance, guest satisfaction, financial results, and talent development of the hotel. This role requires a highly visible leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment, has a passion for creating memorable guest experiences, and possesses the commercial acumen to drive sustainable business success.

The successful candidate will have a proven track record of leading high-performing teams, delivering strong financial performance, and fostering a culture of service excellence.

Located in the heart of Cape Town, Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Cape Town is a contemporary lifestyle hotel known for its energetic atmosphere, distinctive design, vibrant food and beverage offering, and proximity to the city's key business, leisure, and tourist attractions.

The property attracts a diverse mix of local and international travelers and has established itself as a popular destination for both social and business guests seeking a unique hospitality experience.

Please note that visa sponsorship and relocation support are not available for this position.

Candidates must have existing legal authorization to live and work in South Africa at the time of application. Only applicants with the unrestricted right to work in South Africa will be considered for this opportunity.

• Minimum 2-5 years of General Manager experience within a full-service hotel environment.
• Demonstrated success in driving strong commercial and operational results.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strong financial acumen and understanding of hotel performance metrics.
• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and develop diverse teams.
• Experience within Food & Beverage-led or lifestyle hospitality environments is highly desirable.

Stays current with industry trends and monitors strengths and weakness of competition; explores new business opportunities; develops business plans designed to maximize property customer satisfaction, profitability, and market share; ensures property business plans are aligned with the hotel’s business strategies; translates Marriott global strategic plan into one that can be executed on property.

Executes business plans designed to maximize property customer satisfaction, profitability, and market share; ensures that property business plans and employees are aligned with business strategies; holds property leadership team accountable for successful delivery of business plans; experiments with new ideas and takes calculated risks to improve guest satisfaction and profitability; evaluates the success of property business strategies to inform future business plan enhancements; continually ensures business plans and actions have a positive impact on property performance.

Works closely with Sales and Marketing team to develop revenue generating strategies for property; identifies new business leads, develops tailored sales approach, and actively pursues leads with Sales and Marketing team; validates that sales and marketing strategy is aligned with brand strategy and is effectively executed against established goals; verifies that property leaders understand and leverage Marriott demand engines to full potential; augments guest preference for property through booking ease and quality interactions with sales force.

Creates a cohesive and high-performance Executive Committee that continuously strives for positive results and improvement; coaches Executive Committee by providing specific feedback and holds them accountable for performance; creates learning and development opportunities for employees; creates and effectively executes development plans for both direct reports based on their individual strengths, development needs, and career aspirations; ensures all managers are doing the same for their direct reports; identifies resource needs to strengthen property team; creates succession plans for future job openings; actively supports the staffing process; ensures effective work processes, systems and teamwork are in place to maximize individual and overall property performance.

Reviews business related data such as market share, financial performance, inventory, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction; analyzes business information to proactively address changing market conditions, ensure property operates within budgetary guidelines, and achieves profit margin goals; uses business information to identify indicators of product and service successes and opportunities for improvement; integrates business information into business plans.

Verifies that all employees are treated fairly, and with respect; builds rapport with employees by fostering an environment of open communication and spending time with employees on the frontlines; makes self-available to employees (“open door policy”); verifies that pay and benefits are appropriate for labor market; celebrates the success of employees in a public way; works with Human Resources to maximize employee engagement and monitor local labor environment to address issues as needed.

Works with Revenue Management team to develop effective pricing strategies, balancing seasonality, economy, customer segments, property objectives and customer satisfaction; established revenue strategy that supports the hotel’s positioning in local market; ensures demand forecasting and sound revenue practices are in place to maximize yield; identifies ways to grow occupancy, RevPAR, and market share by researching and staying aware of competitor strategies; controls labor and capital expenses.

Builds strong rapport with property owners through proactive and on-going communication; keeps owner informed of brand initiatives and guest experiences; provides owners with in-depth analysis of property performance, incorporating guest, financial and employee business data; manages an effective balance between owner interests and Marriott brand interests and develops solutions that create value for both; develops and effectively promotes ideas for improving property service and profitability to ownership.

Interacts with guests and other customers on a frequent basis to obtain feedback about their experiences on property; utilizes guest/customer feedback to recognize outstanding employee service performance and improve service delivery; emphasizes and holds leadership team accountable for addressing service failures or potential service failures, and for developing innovative ways to exceed guest expectations; establishes presence in the market by actively promoting an exemplary property/brand image, involving oneself in the local community, and by developing strategic alliances with local officials, businesses, and customers; anticipates needs of large groups or high profile guests in order to deliver flawless service; verifies that products, services, and events attain the appropriate publicity (“PR buzz”).

Verifies property compliance with legal, safety, operations, labor, and Marriott brand product and service standards; conducts both routine and short-notice quality assurance audits with specific departments; holds employees accountable for performing audits on a regular basis; conducts detailed walk-throughs to ensure building, public areas, kitchen, and grounds are well-maintained, safe, and meet or exceed guest expectations; validates that employees are appropriately trained and performing to standard.

At Marriott International, we are dedicated to being an equal opportunity employer, welcoming all and providing access to opportunity. We actively foster an environment where the unique backgrounds of our associates are valued and celebrated. Our greatest strength lies in the rich blend of culture, talent, and experiences of our associates.  We are committed to non-discrimination on any protected basis, including disability, veteran status, or other basis protected by applicable law. 

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