Director, Hospitality Services – EMEA Region

American Express; London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

American Express seeks a Director of Hospitality Services based in London. This leadership role involves overseeing the delivery of food and drink services along with other workplace amenities across the EMEA region. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in hospitality operations and vendor management, ensuring a seamless experience for colleagues. They will develop strategic initiatives and lead a team to enhance service quality and compliance while driving financial performance.

Benefits

Competitive base salaries

Bonus incentives

Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance

Flexible working model

Generous paid parental leave policies

Free access to wellness centres

Career development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in crafting and implementing multi-year strategic plans.
• Proven leadership across EMEA regions in a multinational company.
• Expertise in corporate hospitality operations, specifically food and drink services.

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of workplace services across EMEA, focusing on quality and compliance.
• Develop and implement strategic roadmap aligned with enterprise goals.
• Manage vendor performance and financial outcomes, ensuring satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Skills

Leadership

Negotiation

Analytical skills

Vendor Management

Hospitality Operations

Education

Undergraduate degree in Hospitality or related field

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Word

Job description

At American Express, our culture is built on a 175-year history of innovation, shared values and Leadership Behaviors, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities, and colleagues. As part of Team Amex, you'll experience this powerful backing with comprehensive support for your holistic well-being and many opportunities to learn new skills, develop as a leader, and grow your career.

Here, your voice and ideas matter, your work makes an impact, and together, you will help us define the future of American Express.

The Director, Hospitality Services based in the UK, will report directly to the VP, EMEA Operations in London. In partnership with key functional leads and vendor partners, they will lead the American Express workplace services and amenities for all office locations across the EMEA region, focusing on a colleague-first approach to frictionless experiences.

Specifically, the Director, Hospitality Services will be responsible for the complete delivery of food and drink services, and experience services, and any other workplace amenities, which contribute to the American Experience workplace proposition. Such services include onsite food and drink outlets and delivery services, pantries, meeting and event catering, community support and engagement, welcome and reception services, meeting and event coordination and planning, concierge services, and management of other onsite amenities and programs.

The Director will be required to establish a multi-year roadmap, which aligns with the priorities of the enterprise, and the GREWE Vision and Mission, to plan pivotal initiatives and operations that deliver the objectives of the region and enterprise. Aligning with a global framework, the regional roadmap will include every aspect of regional operations including third-party selection and performance/contract management, new services and locations, capital management, commercial/financial targets, digital interfaces, ESG, legislative or compliance factors. The Director will be responsible for communicating, monitoring, and measuring the success of the regional roadmap.

As an experienced Hospitality professional, the Director will proactively influence, guide and mentor to broadly cultivate a Hospitality approach within the diverse EMEA team of American Express and vendor colleagues. They will lead a group of direct and indirect reports across multiple cities in the region and will be responsible for the engagement, development, recruitment, and retention of American Express talent as well as third-party talent.

This role also focuses on the high quality and safe delivery of the services, in a compliant, open manner. The Director will work closely with Facilities Management, Health and Safety, Compliance and Relationship Management colleagues to ensure that a seamlessly robust and consistent approach to workplace services is adopted in every location, every day. Operational controls, as globally or regionally defined, will be adopted and implemented for all in-scope services, to ensure adherence to American Express and GREWE policies & procedures, and all applicable codes and regulations.

In terms of consistent service operations, which are performed at the highest level, this is a meaningful role which requires a strong understanding and experience of the management of third-party suppliers. They will be required to lead all aspects of the performance of the suppliers based on an agreed governance structure. The governance structure will cover all aspects of performance including that related to SLAs, KPIs and any other scorecard that is agreed.

Integral to this role will be the maintaining of relationships with internal and external customers, and pro-actively driving a closed feedback loop approach, for all services. Similarly, this role is responsible for representing the voice of the colleague or customer in scenarios where friction is present, to drive outcomes that promote seamlessness in the experience, in every location for every colleague.

With consistent service excellence and a strategic plan being high priorities for this role, there are also requirements for the Director to be commercially astute and to be used to detailing and administrating operational services in a highly regulated environment. Rigorous analytical and financial skills to drive creative solutions that focus on value generation and capture outstanding market opportunities are encouraged, as is the ability to demonstrate ROIs or to measure outcomes. The ability to supervise sophisticated hospitality financial models and to drive the best financial outcome for American Express is required.

How you will make an impact in this role?

• Show up as a visible Hospitality leader every day. Demonstrate the Blue Box values and Leadership Behaviors as a figure head
• Independently lead the delivery of food & drink services and other workplace services and amenities across the region
• Set the agenda, lead all aspects of the strategies, outcomes and vendor performance for service lines including:
• Food outlets & delivery services
• Catering
• Reception & welcome services
• Meeting & event planning
• Concierge services
• Pantries, community engagement, onsite amenities
• Be the voice of the colleague in scenarios where friction in the workplace experience is present, to facilitate its removal.

Strategic & Operational Planning

• Develop and implement a multi-year strategic roadmap aligned to enterprise and regional goals.
• Lead third-party vendors, performance/contract management, site launches, and capital planning.
• Align with digital, ESG, legal/compliance, and financial targets.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Approach colleague, vendor, and stakeholder relationships as a mutual partnership.
• Collaborate with internal teams and senior leaders across EMEA.
• Lead direct and indirect reports across multiple countries, in line with American Express standards.
• Focus on the attraction and retention, and engagement of hospitality talent throughout the region.
• Guide and influence colleagues and partners toward consistent delivery and continuous improvement.
• Partner with such American Express partners as CEG, Healthy Living, Digital Workplace, Public Relations and Communications, Security, Brand to build a seamless One CX approach to the colleague workplace experience.

Service Quality & Compliance

• Ensure high-quality, compliant, and safe service delivery across in-scope services including food safety.
• Work closely with Facilities, Health & Safety, Compliance, and Relationship Management teams.
• Implement standard operating controls and governance frameworks.
• Lead closed-loop style feedback mechanisms.

Vendor & Performance Management

• Negotiate agreements for new and existing services, from procurement to agreement execution.
• Lead all aspects of and ensure, third-party compliance in line with American Express standard operating procedures and standards.
• Be responsible for third-party supplier performance via SLAs, KPIs, and governance metrics.
• Build meaningful partnerships that drive results for American Express.
• Drive continuous improvement and represent the customer/colleague voice in services.

Data, Finance & Innovation

• Use data to deliver insights, measure outcomes, and drive improvements.
• Be financially astute, able to supervise hospitality models and demonstrate ROI.
• Develop innovative solutions that capture market opportunities and generate value.
• In line with American Express standards, ensure that all financial planning (including capital plans, asset registers, in year or long-range financial plans) are established for all in-scope services.
• Analyse financial performance, ensuring key risks and opportunities are highlighted and reported on a minimum monthly basis; provide forecast updates, variance explanations and bottom-up operating budget calculations as required.
• Drive GREWE’s financial position by way of commercial negotiations with third-party suppliers.
• Maintain financial records for all contracts in line with American Express standards.
• Consult with GREWE Finance Operations, regarding financial information relating to budgets, business unit costs, and financial systems compliance.
• Ensure a compliant approach to any tendering of local market service contracts, engaging Global Procurement once GREWE regional direction has been established. Work with local Procurement office to renew, change and/or cancel contracts.
• Provide invoice approval and payment product validation (and/or other payment methods) in accordance with American Express standards.

Minimum qualifications:

Strategic Leadership

• Experience in crafting and implementing a multi-year, enterprise-aligned roadmap.
• Strong planning and execution skills across regional operations, with multi-site, multi-country experience required.
• Initiative-taking self-starter, analytical, numerate, tenacious with the ability to work under own initiative as the position has an elevated level of autonomy.
• Proven leadership across EMEA regions, ideally in a multinational or matrixed organization required.
• Experience in people leadership, specifically leading outsourced third-party teams working within a matrix environment required.

Hospitality & Workplace Experience Expertise

• Deep knowledge of hospitality operations in corporate environments.
• Expertise in food and drink services, workplace amenities, and experience services.
• Demonstrated success in managing large-scale service operations with high visibility and impact.

Supplier & Vendor Management

• Proven experience in third-party vendor oversight.
• Skilled in contract negotiation, SLAs, KPIs, and governance structures.

Operational Excellence & Compliance

• Strong understanding of global/regional service controls.
• Expert knowledge of regulatory standards, health & safety, food safety, ESG, and compliance within regulated environments required.
• Experience with digital tools and interfaces relevant to workplace services.
• Solid understanding of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint with the ability to break down sophisticated ideas into understandable and actionable message.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Excellent relationship-building skills with internal teams and external vendors.
• Ability to influence and engage diverse stakeholders across regions and levels.

Hospitality & Customer-Centric Mindset

• Skilled in capturing and responding to feedback and closing the loop effectively.
• Senior-level experience in hospitality, workplace services within a global enterprise.

Financial & Commercial Acumen

• Ability to analyse and manage budgets, models, and ROI.
• Commercially astute with strong analytical and data-driven decision-making.
• Successful track record of managing within a capital and operating budget accounting framework. Knowledge and experience of budget and finance management, including capital planning, accrual and forecasting processes, analysis of risks and opportunities is required.

Change Management & Innovation

• Comfort with navigating transformation and leading in sophisticated, matrixed environments.
• Creative analytical person who can drive continuous improvement and innovation.

Qualifications

• Qualified within a hospitality field (hotel general management, food and beverage management, event management) including an undergraduate degree in hospitality related field is desired.
• Extensive knowledge with qualifications desired, of relevant local regulations, laws and familiarity with food services, environmental and safety codes, and systems.

We back you with benefits that support your holistic well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• Support for financial-well-being and retirement
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits (depending on location)
• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
• Generous paid parental leave policies (depending on your location)
• Free access to global on-site wellness centres staffed with nurses and doctors (depending on location)
• Free and confidential counselling support through our Healthy Minds program
• Career development and training opportunities

Offer of employment with American Express is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background verification check, subject to applicable laws and regulations.