Area Operations Manager

The Hosteller; Mumbai; On-site; INR 1,500,000 - 2,100,000; Full time

Job summary

The Hosteller is seeking an Area Operations Manager to oversee day-to-day operations across multiple properties in the assigned area, focusing on guest experience, staffing, and compliance. You will drive operational efficiency, cost controls, and brand standards while coordinating with central leadership.

You’ll mentor on-ground teams, manage P&L, and partner with local authorities to ensure audits and safety norms. Willingness to travel across locations is essential.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in multi-unit hospitality or service operations

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations across multiple properties and units in the assigned area
• Manage staffing, guest experience, and vendor relations
• Ensure brand standards, SOPs, safety norms and guest experience benchmarks
• Identify operational gaps and implement corrective actions
• Lead, mentor and manage a high performing hotel/hostel team
• Support hiring, onboarding and retention of on-ground teams
• Monitor property-level P&Ls, costs, and budgets; control wastage
• Ensure compliance with licenses, audits, and safety standards and liaise with local authorities
• Oversee preventive maintenance and asset upkeep
• Act as primary interface between central teams and on-ground staff
• Coordinate with vendors and partners for launches and stabilisation
• Monitor guest feedback, reviews, and NPS across properties
• Lead resolution of escalated guest issues and service failures
• Drive continuous improvement in guest experience and community engagement

Skills

Leadership

Operations management

Guest experience

Cost control

Staff mentoring

Vendor management

P&L budgeting

Multi-unit supervision

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s in Hotel Management

MBA/PGDM in Operations preferred

Tools

PMS: eZee Absolute

Opera

IDS

RMS

Stayflexi

Job description

Job role: Area operations manager (Hospitality)

Department: Operation

Job experience: 7+ years

About The Hosteller

The Hosteller is a people-first backpacker hostel brand built around travel, community, and shared experiences. We create spaces where travellers from across the world connect, stories are exchanged, and memories are made. Powered by passionate teams on-ground and at the corporate level, The Hosteller values ownership, empathy, collaboration and a deep respect for both people and places.

At The Hosteller, you’ll be part of a fast-growing, entrepreneurial environment where ideas matter, ownership is encouraged and growth is real. We offer hands-on exposure, opportunities to learn across functions and the chance to build meaningful experiences for both travellers and teammates-every single day.

Role overview

The Area operations manager shall be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations, performance, and compliance of multiple properties/units within an assigned geographic area (1000-1500 beds in an area). This role ensures consistent service quality, operational efficiency, cost control, and team performance, while acting as the key link between on-ground teams and central leadership. His/her role shall involve overseeing multiple facets of hotel operations such as staffing, hiring, guest experience, day-to-day operations, repairs/maintenance, P&L, etc., centrally and as per the company's standard operating procedures

Responsibilities

• Understanding of the hospitality/hotel industry, various functions in the sector including front office, housekeeping, F&B, concierge along with departmental knowledge across human resource (both white & blue collar) requirements, vendor management, guest relations, housekeeping, R&M, etc.
• Oversee end-to-end operations across multiple properties / units in the assigned area including work areas as: licensing & compliances, owner-tenant relationship management, P&L management & optimisation, maintenance & upkeep, crisis management, etc.
• Ensure brand standards, SOPs, safety norms and guest experience benchmarks are consistently met
• Identify operational gaps and implement corrective actions proactively
• Lead, mentor and manage a high performing, disciplined, trained and effective hotel/hostel level team with adherence to the company culture
• Support hiring, onboarding, and retention of on-ground teams
• Monitor property-level P&Ls, costs, and operational budgets along with controlling wastage, shrinkage and inefficiencies across properties
• Ensure compliance with statutory norms, licenses, audits, and safety standards and liaise with various departments such as local police, health/fire/safety departments, local vendors, etc. and ensuring a cordial relationship
• Oversee preventive maintenance, asset upkeep, and vendor performance
• Ensure properties are audit-ready at all times
• Act as the primary interface between central teams (operations, HR, finance, supply chain, marketing) and on-ground teams
• Coordinate with vendors, local authorities, and partners when required
• Support new property launches (pre-ops), stabilisation and scale-up efforts
• Monitor guest feedback, reviews, and NPS across properties
• Lead resolution of escalated guest issues and service failures
• Drive continuous improvement in guest experience and community engagement

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Hotel management, Hospitality administration, Operations management, or Business administration
• Postgraduate qualification (MBA/PGDM in Operations, Hospitality, or Tourism) preferred
• 7+ years of experience in multi-unit hospitality or service operations (hotels, hostels, resorts)
• Minimum 2–3 years in a supervisory/area/cluster operations role managing multiple properties
• Experience in new property launches, stabilisation, or turnaround will be an added advantage
• Hands-on experience with Property Management Systems (PMS) such as eZee Absolute, Opera, IDS, RMS, Stayflexi, or similar platforms
• Practical working knowledge of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) including Booking.com, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Agoda, Expedia, Airbnb, etc.
• Exposure to revenue management tools, dashboards, and MIS reporting systems
• Solid understanding of hotel P&L structures, cost controls, budgeting, and variance analysis
• Experience managing operational KPIs such as occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, GOP, guest satisfaction scores, and audit ratings
• Knowledge of statutory compliance, safety standards, and operational audits
• Strong analytical mindset with ability to interpret operational and revenue data
• Proven people leadership and performance management capabilities
• Willingness to travel extensively across assigned locations
• Language knowledge - Hindi, English, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam, etc.