Director of Sales & Marketing

THE RITZ-CARLTON MELBOURNE

Join our Ladies & Gentlemen - Director of Sales & Marketing

The Ritz-Carlton Melbourne is seeking a passionate Director of Sales & Marketing to join our guidance team on a full-time basis. This pivotal role leads the Sales Events Reservations and Marketing functions driving the hotels commercial success and positioning our property as the luxury destination in Melbourne. With full accountability for topline revenue performance the Director will inspire a high-performing team cultivate long-term client relationships and implement innovative strategies that reflect the brands legendary service and commitment to excellence.

Kindly note that sponsorship is not available for this position applicants must hold permanent full working rights in Australia to be considered.

JOB SUMMARY

Functions as the leader of the propertys sales event planning and marketing department and responsible for the topline revenue of the hotel. Manages the propertys reactive and proactive sales efforts event planning reservations department public relations marketing communications and overall strategic direction. Provides day to day leadership to associates to achieve property sales objectives with overall responsibility for achieving booking goals and property revenues. Implements the brands service strategy and applicable brand initiatives in all aspects of the sales and events process and focuses on building long-term value-based customer relationships that enable achievement of the hotels sales objectives. Evaluates the propertys participation in the various sales channels (e.g. Area Sales Group Sales within the Sales Office electronic lead channels etc.) and develops strong working relationships to proactively position and market the property. Manages the marketing budget to enable development of property specific campaigns promotions and collateral to drive revenue and meet property objectives. Interfaces with regional marketing communications for regional and national promotions pull through. Develops and implements propertywide strategies that deliver products and services to meet or exceed the needs and expectations of the brands target customer profile and property associates and provides a return on investment to the owner and Marriott International.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

• Demonstrated leadership experience in sales marketing events and reservation in a luxury hotel environment.
• Strong financial and commercial acumen with proven success in driving revenue and market share.
• Exceptional interpersonal negotiation and presentation skills.
• Track record of building high-performing teams and fostering customer relationships.
• Tertiary Education in Hospitality Business Marketing or related field.
• Hotel sales experience with progressive career growth.
• Prior experience in a Director-level sales or marketing leadership role within the luxury hotel industry.

Managing Sales Activities

• Manages the development of a strategic account plan for the demand generators in the market.
• Manages the propertys reactive and proactive sales efforts.
• Determines and develops marketing communication activities in conjunction with Regional Marketing Communications.
• Provides customer intelligence in evaluating the market and economic trends that may lead to changes in sales strategy to meet or exceed customer expectations.
• Reviews the Strategic Alignment Review (STAR) report competitive shopping reports and uses other resources to maintain an awareness of the hotels market position.
• Researches competitors sales team strategies to identify ways to grow occupancy and RevPAR and increase market share.
• Attends sales strategy meetings to provide input on weekly and overall sales strategy.
• Suggests innovative marketing ideas and develops deployment strategies to continue to grow market share.
• Evaluates and supports participation and account deployment with Area Sales and Group Sales within the Sales Office.
• Serves as the sales contact for the General Manager property leadership team Group Sales and Area Sales leaders.
• Serves as the sales contact for customers; serves as the customer advocate.
• Serves as hotel authority on sales processes and sales contracts.
• Serves as the property sales liaison with Area Sales Group Sales Revenue Management Event Management Regional Marketing Communications and other hotel departments as appropriate.
• Participates in sales calls with members of the Sales Events and Marketing team to acquire new business and/or close on business.
• Identifies public relations opportunities and coordinates activities to augment the overall marketing communication strategy.
• Supports the General Manager by coordinating crisis communications.
• Executes and supports Marriotts Customer Service Standards and hotels Brand Standards.
• Executes and supports the operational aspects of business booked (e.g. generating proposal writing contract customer correspondence).
• Participates in and practices Service Values Three Steps of Service Employee Promise and Credo to the Ritz-Carlton mystique.
• Implements a seamless turnover from sales to operations and back to sales while consistently delivering high level of service.
• Monitors the effective resolution of guest issues that arise as a result of the sales process by creating mechanisms to channel issues to property leadership and/or other appropriate stakeholders.
• Maintains successful performance by increasing revenues controlling expenses and providing a return on investment for the owner and Marriott International.
• Implements the brands service strategy and applicable brand initiatives in all aspects of the sales process and focuses on building long-term value-based customer relationships that enable achievement of the hotels sales objectives.
• Interfaces with regional marketing communications for regional and national promotions pull-through.
• Performs other duties as assigned to meet business needs.

Strategy and Planning Marketing Communications

• Develops an annual Marketing Communications plan with specific goals and budgets with a focus on maximizing value from digital and traditional media pending market dynamics.
• Prepares working plans to achieve goals and ensures the communications team is fully briefed on goals and progress.
• Coordinates strategic planning and implementation of the hotels marketing communications activities.
• Reviews and measures marketing activity effectiveness on regular basis and optimizes plans according to goals.
• Supervises operations of design agency to ensure full alignment of brand voice guideline and templates.
• Monitors marketing activities of competitor hotels and trends within the industry and shares key learnings on a regular hotel executive committee on the status of programs ensuring follow-through and property buy in on customer service needs.
• Determines appropriate budget to support communications initiatives and allocations by hotel.
• Verifies photography is regionally approved and up to date covers all room types and any new or renovated public areas and outlets; budgets and plans for re-shoot with approval of regional Marketing team where necessary and support from other property Marketing team members when available.
• Verifies that the hotels creative message and media activities are consistent with global brand direction and brand voice.
• Works closely with cluster and regional Marketing digital and eCommerce teams for approvals on key projects.

Digital Marketing and Social Media

• Partners with regional eCommerce and digital teams to strategize digital marketing plan for property; works with sales and revenue teams to set goals for campaigns and evaluate success. Planning should feed into the annual Marketing Communications Plan.
• Works closely with eCommerce leaders above property to explore digital and social marketing opportunities on owned and third-party channels such as .
• Leads marketing and ecommerce teams on property advertising agencies and other media agencies to create marketing campaigns and media plans for property digital and social media channels.
• Supervises and directs on-property marketing teams and social media agencies on social media content calendar planning content development campaigns and mini activities.
• Partners with cluster eCommerce and digital teams to set up protocol and responsibilities for social media response monitoring tracking reporting and crisis management.

Public Relations

• Implements impactful PR strategy and activities to drive quality press coverage through media engagement in alignment with communications objectives.
• Develops PR-worthy stories to build F&B reputation and hotel image.
• Acts as spokesperson for the hotel and responds to all media requests.
• Sets up protocol and responsibilities for media response and crisis management involving the General Manager and regional PR team.
• Maintains a comprehensive list of regional and local media contacts and manages them as per the media account management system.
• Takes responsibility for key regional and local media by maintaining and developing close relationships including key opinion leaders and F&B bloggers.
• Works closely with the continent and regional PR team for press material approvals on key projects.
• Participates in the press events and trips organized by the regional PR offices as required.

Additional Leadership Responsibilities

• Ensures hotel information is updated regularly on the hotel website and all other digital channels.
• Supervises Marketing Communications and design agency with collateral development.
• Enhances the organizations capabilities through effective staffing and development of others.
• Anticipates staffing requirements by comparing business needs with strengths and weaknesses of existing staff; establishes goals; provides timely coaching and feedback; rewards distinctions in performance.
• Participates in marketing public relations and social media training organized by regional and area teams.
• Supports training needs of marketing communications managers and executives by ensuring their participation.