The vision of the Luxury Quality Director is to partner with properties to deliver on Marriott’s luxury brands promise through Performance Expertise and Delivering Exceptional Guest Experiences. The Director will partner with Area Director of Operations, Area VPs and Managing Director Luxury to drive improvement by delivering tailored, targeted performance excellence solutions that elevate the luxury experience and facilitate bottom line results.
As a business partner to both the regional operation leaders and hotel’s General Manager, the Director of Quality provides recommended strategic direction to drive guest engagement strategy for each property. This leadership role has overall responsibility for analyzing the voice of the customer data to identify top focus areas, facilitating development of improvement strategy with hotel’s guidance teams, providing leadership of hotel’s quality improvement projects, and providing a regular scorecard to the regional and hotels’ teams on measures of success related to guest engagement. The Director assists hotels within their area in attaining guest engagement goals, resulting in improved financial performance through the elimination of defects, improved efficiencies and/or increased guest engagement. The Director provides guidance to the Quality Directors on-property. This position reports to the Managing Director, Luxury - APEC.
The Director of Quality is ultimately accountable for improving the Core Guest Experience of the Luxury Hotels in APEC providing insight and maintaining a One Stop Shop for all data needs related to Quality for the properties. This leadership role is a central point to coordinate the improvement efforts of all other relevant APEC stakeholders.
EXPECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
Managing Quality Processes
- Collaborates with relevant APEC disciplines to close gaps in the guest experience process
- Provides input to overall Performance Balanced Scorecard Quality targets and ongoing monitoring
- Maintains a central data repository to assist property quality leaders with their quality data needs
- Actively promotes Best Practices through the APEC Best Practice library and scans for ideas that can be implemented
- Facilitates Problem Solving projects using the appropriate Lean, Six Sigma, Design Thinking methodology
- Provides resources and guidance that enable discipline leads to achieve Quality related Balanced Scorecard goals.
- Leads property deep dives, Partners with respective Area Director of Operations to align on actions and sets follow-up milestones with the property General Manager to monitor progress
Executing Quality Related Training Programs
- Educates property leadership team members on the principles of quality management, how to use quality tools and their role in continuous improvement
- Develop and deliver specific trainings on problem solving, service excellence delivery, process improvement and Strategic Planning techniques.
- Partners with APEC Luxury brand team to drive brand values and philosophy in all training and development activities
- Partners with Learning & Development team to ensure transfer of learning in the hotel/classroom takes place
- Partners with Continent Lodging Services (CLS) team to leverage the latest Guest Experience tools and trainings
- Identifies performance gaps and works with leaders to develop and implement ad hoc trainings to improve performance
- Partners with HR on hotel recognition program for associates to recognize associates for involvement in the Quality process
Managing Quality Teams
- Selects, retains and continually develops diverse, high-caliber talent that make a strong positive impact on the organization
- Anticipates future talent needs based on business plans
- Actively participates in the development and recruitment of a pipeline of Quality management talent both inside and outside the discipline
- Coaches Quality leaders to help them achieve their full potential
- Facilitates periodic Quality leadership forums, team discussions and collaboration events to enable seamless sharing of information
- Works through property Quality leaders to drive usage of process improvement Quality Tools
- Provides support and guidance to Quality leaders and acts as a role model
CANDIDATE PROFILE
Education or Certification
- Bachelor’s degree required; Graduate degree, MS/MBA (or equivalent) in Business Administration/Management, and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification preferred.
Experience:
- Five years’ experience in a senior management role leading quality improvement project and/or managing quality assurance processes (Area Director experience preferred)
- Lodging operations experience preferred (luxury market preferred)
- Preferred examiner for either a national or state quality program
- Planning and coordination of field research
- Ability to facilitate strategic discussion with senior leaders
- Ability to execute improvement strategies and managing complex projects
- Ability to communicate and train all levels of the organization
- Ability to analyze data, drive insights and prepare reports of findings
- Practical application of statistical methods and tools
Core Competences:
- Leading Through Vision and Values - Keeps the organization's vision and values at the forefront of decision making and action
- Managing Change - Initiates and/or manages the change process and energizes it on an ongoing basis, taking steps to remove barriers or accelerate its pace; serves as role model for how to handle change by maintaining composure and performance level under pressure or when experiencing challenges
- Problem Solving and Decision Making - Identifies and understands issues, problems, and opportunities; obtains and compares information from different sources to draw conclusions, develops and evaluates alternatives and solutions, solves problems, and chooses a course of action
- Driving for Results - Sets high standards of performance for self and/or others; assumes responsibility for work objectives; initiates, focuses, and monitors the efforts of self and/or others toward the accomplishment goals; proactively takes action and goes beyond what is required
- Strategic Partnerships - Develops collaborative relationships with fellow employees and business partners; influences and leverages corporate and continental shared services and/or discipline leaders to achieve objectives; performs effectively as a liaison between locations, disciplines, and corporate to ensure needed resources are received and corporate strategies are understood and executed
- Talent Management - Provides guidance and feedback to help individuals develop and strengthen skills and abilities needed to accomplish work objectives
- Communication - Conveys information and ideas to others in a convincing and engaging manner through a variety of methods
Marriott International is an equal opportunity employer. We believe in hiring a diverse workforce and sustaining an inclusive, people-first culture. We are committed to non-discrimination on any protected basis, such as disability and veteran status, or any other basis covered under applicable law.