Hotel Opening Project Manager

ZipRecruiter; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A hospitality management company in London is seeking an experienced Hotel Opening Project Manager to lead pre-opening operations for new hotels. The role focuses on integrating operational requirements with design and construction processes. Candidates should have 5-10 years of hotel operations experience and strong leadership skills. This position offers a chance to impact the successful launch of new properties.

Qualifications

• 5–10 years of hotel operations experience, with a minimum of 3 years in pre-opening leadership roles.
• Strong knowledge of hotel operating models and design integration.
• Outstanding organizational and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Own the full pre-opening process, including staffing and training.
• Act as operational lead in design and construction meetings.
• Create and manage detailed project plans and timelines.

Skills

Hotel operations experience

Leadership

Communication

Project Management

Organizational skills

Tools

Smartsheet

Asana

MS Project

Job description

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Hotel Opening Project Manager with deep operational expertise to lead and coordinate the successful opening of new hotels. This role is anchored in pre-opening operations and serves as the critical link between hotel operations, design, and construction teams to ensure the property is built, delivered, and launched to brand and operational standards.

This is not a construction PM role. It is a hospitality operations specialist position with a strong understanding of how hotels come to life and how operational requirements must inform and align with physical design and development processes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the full pre-opening process from an operations perspective, including staffing, training, systems, licensing, vendor coordination, and SOP development.
• Act as the operational lead in meetings with design, construction, and development teams, ensuring operational needs are integrated into construction and FF&E/OS&E decisions.
• Create and manage detailed project plans, critical paths, opening timelines and checklists in coordination with construction schedules, procurement plans, and hotel leadership
• Implement systems or tools to monitor progress, flag risks and record learnings
• Facilitate alignment among ownership, brand, technical services, procurement, IT, and operations to ensure smooth handover and readiness.
• Lead site readiness reviews, oversee pre-opening task force deployment, and support the hotel through soft and full opening.
• Provide regular progress reports to senior leadership and recommend process optimizations.

Qualifications:

• 5–10 years of hotel operations experience, with a minimum of 3 years in pre-opening leadership roles (as project manager, task force lead, or opening director).
• Strong knowledge of hotel operating models and how they intersect with physical design (front/back of house, guest experience, compliance, etc.).
• Experience interfacing with construction, design, FF&E/OS&E, and technical services teams.
• Outstanding organizational, communication, and leadership skills across diverse stakeholders.
• Familiarity with project management tools (e.g., Smartsheet, Asana, MS Project).
• PMP or similar certification is a plus.
• Ability to travel to project sites as needed.