Openings Manager - Hotels

Criterion Hospitality; City Of London; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading hospitality company in the UK is seeking a Hotel Opening Project Manager to oversee the successful opening of new hotels. The ideal candidate will have 5-10 years of hotel operations experience, with at least 3 years in pre-opening roles. They will lead client brief formation, coordinate with design and construction teams, and manage project timelines. Strong organizational and leadership skills are essential, along with familiarity with project management tools. This role is critical for ensuring projects meet operational standards.

Qualifications

• 5-10 years of hotel operations experience, at least 3 years in opening leadership roles.
• Strong knowledge of hotel operating models and design integration.
• Outstanding organizational and leadership skills across diverse stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead client brief formation for construction builds.
• Refine the brief based on operational feedback.
• Act as operational lead in meetings with design and construction teams.
• Create and manage integrated project plans.
• Implement tools to monitor progress and flag risks.
• Facilitate alignment for smooth handover and readiness.
• Lead site readiness reviews and oversee pre-opening.
• Provide progress reports and recommend optimizations.

Skills

Hotel operations experience

Project management

Leadership skills

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Education

PMP or similar certification

Tools

Smartsheet

Asana

MS Project

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Hotel Opening Project Manager with deep operational expertise and a track record of developing and delivering client briefs, to lead and coordinate the successful opening of new hotels. This role is the critical link between hotel operations, design, and construction teams to ensure the property is built and delivered in line with the client brief, and launched to brand and operational standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead the formation of the client brief that dictates construction builds, ensuring operational requirements and brand standards are embedded from the outset.
• Continuously refine and evolve the brief based on operational feedback and lessons learned from previous projects.
• 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 and integrated 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.