City Manager

Guestready; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 300,000 - 460,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

UAE visa sponsorship

Medical insurance from day one

25 days annual leave

Competitive salary

Job summary

GuestReady in Abu Dhabi is seeking a City Manager to build and lead our operations in this market. You will own the city end to end, growing our portfolio of properties, delivering strong occupancy and revenue, and ensuring owner and guest satisfaction.

Reporting to the Director of Business Operations, UAE, you will hire and lead the local team, manage day-to-day operations with in-house and local partners, ensure licensing compliance (DCT), and drive performance through KPI reporting and

Qualifications

• 5-8 years' experience in hospitality, short-term rentals, property management or real estate.
• 2-3 years leading a team.
• Experience owning results for a city, region, property or business unit.
• Strong operational background: set up and run field operations and suppliers.
• Commercially minded, comfortable with a P&L and with numbers.
• Confident building relationships with owners, developers and partners.
• Hands-on, organised and able to work independently in a growing market.
• Fluent English, written and spoken.

Responsibilities

• Own Abu Dhabi P&L and targets: portfolio growth, occupancy, revenue, owner retention, guest reviews.
• Build and grow our portfolio of properties in Abu Dhabi, working with owners, developers and local partners.
• Act as the senior point of contact for key owners, making sure they feel informed and confident.
• Set up and run day-to-day operations, including cleaning, maintenance, check-ins and quality standards, with in-house teams and local suppliers.
• Make sure every property in the portfolio has the right holiday home permits and meets Abu Dhabi regulations (DCT).
• Hire, lead and develop the local team, setting clear goals and building a strong team culture.
• Work with Guest Experience to deliver high-quality stays and act quickly on guest feedback.
• Track and report city KPIs, spot issues early and drive improvements in how we run the portfolio.

Skills

Hospitality leadership

P&L ownership

Team leadership

Stakeholder relations

Fluent English

Job description

About GuestReady

GuestReady is an award-winning hospitality management company at the intersection of hospitality and technology. Founded in 2016, we manage thousands of properties across the UK, France, Portugal, Spain and the UAE, and we build our own property management software, RentalReady. The UAE is a long-term priority market for us, and Abu Dhabi is our next step.

The role

We're looking for a City Manager to build and lead GuestReady in Abu Dhabi. You'll own the city end to end: growing our portfolio of properties, running day-to-day operations, keeping owners and guests happy and delivering the city's results. Reporting to the Director of Business Operations, UAE, you'll work closely with our Dubai team and our central Revenue Management, Guest Experience, Finance and Owner Success teams.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who wants to build something from the ground up.

Key responsibilities

• City performance: Own the Abu Dhabi P&L and key targets, including portfolio growth, occupancy, revenue, owner retention and guest reviews.
• Portfolio growth: Build and grow our portfolio of properties in Abu Dhabi, working with owners, developers and local partners to bring new homes on board.
• Owner relationships: Act as the senior point of contact for key owners, making sure they feel informed and confident in GuestReady.
• Operations: Set up and run day-to-day operations, including cleaning, maintenance, check-ins and quality standards, with in-house teams and local suppliers.
• Licensing and compliance: Make sure every property in the portfolio has the right holiday home permits and meets Abu Dhabi regulations (DCT), working with authorities and internal teams.
• Team leadership: Hire, lead and develop the local team, setting clear goals and building a strong team culture.
• Guest experience: Work with Guest Experience to deliver high-quality stays and act quickly on guest feedback.
• Reporting: Track and report city KPIs, spot issues early and drive improvements in how we run the portfolio.

What we're looking for

• 5-8 years' experience in hospitality, short-term rentals, property management or real estate, including at least 2-3 years leading a team
• Experience owning results for a city, region, property or business unit
• Strong operational background: you know how to set up and run field operations and suppliers
• Commercially minded, comfortable with a P&L and with numbers
• Confident building relationships with owners, developers and partners
• Hands-on, organised and able to work independently in a growing market
• Fluent English, written and spoken

Nice to have

• Experience in the Abu Dhabi market and with DCT holiday home licensing
• Experience launching or scaling a business in a new city
• Arabic
• Experience with property management systems or CRM tools

What we offer

• Stability: a long-term role with an established, growing company that's here to stay in the UAE
• Competitive salary
• UAE visa sponsorship, covered by GuestReady
• Medical insurance from your first day
• 25 days' annual leave

GuestReady is committed to an inclusive environment and welcomes applications from people of all backgrounds.