Head of Hostel Operations

Darwinbox Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd.; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 2,800,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Masters’ Union is seeking a Head of Operations – Hostels to own end-to-end hostel and residential operations on campus, based on-site and available 24x7 to manage emergencies and maintain service quality.

The role demands leadership over housekeeping, security, maintenance, and vendor management, with a strong focus on safety, compliance, and student experience. Bachelor’s degree required; experience in hospitality/facilities preferred.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years in operations leadership in hospitality, student housing, or large residential campuses.
• Experience managing on-ground teams and vendors at scale.
• Bachelor's degree required; hospitality/facilities or business background preferred.

Responsibilities

• Owning daily operations across all hostel blocks — housekeeping, maintenance, security, laundry, mess/catering coordination, and general upkeep.
• Ensuring rooms, common areas, and facilities are always guest/student-ready; conduct regular inspections and audits.
• Setting up and enforcing SOPs for check-in/check-out, room allocation, maintenance requests, and facility upkeep.
• Coordinating with vendors, contractors, and service providers and manage vendor performance and contracts.
• Serving as the primary point of contact for all student residential concerns and escalations.
• Resolving day-to-day issues quickly and empathetically.
• Building feedback mechanisms to continuously improve the student living experience.
• Ensuring robust security protocols across hostel premises — access control, CCTV monitoring, visitor management, night patrols.
• Being the first responder and single point of accountability for any emergency, available at all hours.
• Ensuring compliance with fire safety, health, hygiene, and local regulatory requirements.
• Maintaining incident logs and ensure timely escalation to leadership when required.
• Recruiting, training, and managing on-ground staff — wardens, housekeeping supervisors, security personnel, mess staff.
• Building duty rosters ensuring 24x7 coverage across shifts.
• Driving accountability and service quality through regular reviews and spot checks.
• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating vendor contracts and SLAs; ensure terms protect service quality, cost, and compliance.
• Continuously evaluating vendor performance and drive renegotiation or replacement where needed.
• Owning the hostel operations budget end-to-end — planning, tracking, and reporting costs across housekeeping, maintenance, utilities, and vendor contracts.
• Bringing strong financial acumen to cost optimization, vendor negotiations, and contract structuring.
• Managing procurement of supplies, furniture, and equipment for hostel upkeep.
• Tracking invoices, payments, and vendor billing accuracy; reconcile spend against budget.
• Setting up systems/tools for room allocation, maintenance ticketing, inventory, and inspections.
• Building reporting dashboards for leadership on occupancy, incidents, costs, and service levels.
• Continuously benchmarking against best-in-class residential/hospitality operations.

Skills

Operations leadership

Vendor management

People management

Budget management

Crisis management

Facilities management

Communication skills

Contract negotiation

Technology tools

Education

Bachelor's degree

Hospitality/facilities certifications

Tools

Facility management software

Job description

Founded in 2020, Masters’ Union is a new-age, industry-led university focused on business, technology, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Built around learning by doing, the institution combines academics with real-world projects, startup building, and global exposure, with the ambition of becoming one of the world’s top business schools and multidisciplinary universities over the next two decades.

Today, Masters’ Union has nearly 3,500 students across undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive programs, with almost half being experienced professionals. Spread across nearly 5 lakh square feet in Gurgaon and Manesar, the institution houses the PwC Center for Generative AI, a Bloomberg Lab, Gurgaon’s premier maker space, AI and robotics infrastructure, advanced bioengineering workshops, and startup incubation spaces, while also expanding into areas such as bioengineering and genetic engineering.

The institution is chaired by Manoj Kohli, former CEO of Bharti Airtel and former Country Head of SoftBank India. Its leadership ecosystem includes Vivek Gambhir, Pankaj Bansal, Sanjiv Bikhchandani, Amitabh Kant, and 30+ other founders, CEOs, investors, and policymakers who contribute to teaching and institution building.

Masters’ Union’s flagship postgraduate program has recorded the highest average salary among MBA-equivalent programs in India, with graduates placed at firms such as Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Google, and Microsoft. The institution has also built one of the country’s strongest student startup ecosystems, with 10+ students pitching on Shark Tank India and 20+ students raising external funding for their ventures, alongside several successful creators and internet entrepreneurs.

About the Role

We are looking for a Head of Operations – Hostels to take complete end-to-end ownership of hostel/residential operations on campus. This is an on-ground, high-accountability leadership role for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, always-on environment and treats the hostel as their own house — anticipating problems before they arise and resolving issues decisively when they do.

Important note on nature of role: Given the residential, round-the-clock nature of student living, this role requires the incumbent to be based on/near campus and available 24x7, including nights, weekends, and holidays, to manage emergencies, escalations, and operational continuity. This is non-negotiable given the nature of the responsibility.

Specifically, this role will involve

• Owning daily operations across all hostel blocks — housekeeping, maintenance, security, laundry, mess/catering coordination, and general upkeep.
• Ensuring rooms, common areas, and facilities are always guest/student-ready; conduct regular inspections and audits.
• Setting up and enforcing SOPs for check-in/check-out, room allocation, maintenance requests, and facility upkeep.
• Coordinating with vendors, contractors, and service providers (housekeeping agencies, pest control, plumbing, electrical, etc.) and manage vendor performance and contracts.
• Serving as the primary point of contact for all student residential concerns and escalations.
• Resolving day-to-day issues (maintenance, roommate conflicts, service gaps) quickly and empathetically.
• Building feedback mechanisms to continuously improve the student living experience.
• Ensuring robust security protocols across hostel premises — access control, CCTV monitoring, visitor management, night patrols.
• Being the first responder and single point of accountability for any emergency (medical, safety, disciplinary, fire, etc.), available at all hours.
• Ensuring compliance with fire safety, health, hygiene, and local regulatory requirements.
• Maintaining incident logs and ensure timely escalation to leadership when required.
• Recruiting, training, and managing on-ground staff — wardens, housekeeping supervisors, security personnel, mess staff.
• Building duty rosters ensuring 24x7 coverage across shifts.
• Driving accountability and service quality through regular reviews and spot checks.
• Acting as the expert owner of all vendor relationships — sourcing, negotiating, onboarding, and managing vendors across housekeeping, security, mess/catering, maintenance, and facility services.
• Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating vendor contracts and SLAs; ensure terms protect service quality, cost, and compliance.
• Continuously evaluating vendor performance against SLAs and drive renegotiation or replacement where needed.
• Owning the hostel operations budget end-to-end — planning, tracking, and reporting costs across housekeeping, maintenance, utilities, and vendor contracts.
• Bringing strong financial acumen to cost optimization, vendor negotiations, and contract structuring, without compromising on quality or safety.
• Managing procurement of supplies, furniture, and equipment for hostel upkeep, ensuring best value and proper contracting.
• Tracking invoices, payments, and vendor billing accuracy; reconcile spend against budget on a regular basis.
• Setting up systems/tools for room allocation, maintenance ticketing, inventory, and inspections (technology-enabled where possible).
• Building reporting dashboards for leadership on occupancy, incidents, costs, and service levels.
• Continuously benchmarking against best-in-class residential/hospitality operations.

Ideal candidate will have

• 8–10 years of experience in operations leadership roles within hospitality, hostels/PGs, student housing, facility management, or large-scale residential campus operations (hotels, hospitals, corporate campuses also considered).
• Prior experience managing on-ground teams and vendors at scale is essential.
• Experience setting up operations from scratch or scaling an existing operation is a strong plus.
• High ownership mindset — treats the campus as their own; doesn't wait to be told.
• Strong crisis management and decision-making ability under pressure.
• Excellent people management skills — able to lead, train, and hold ground staff and vendors accountable.
• Strong communication skills; comfortable interfacing with students, parents, senior leadership, and external vendors.
• Expert-level experience in vendor management, contract negotiation, and financial/budget management — this is a core, non-negotiable requirement for the role.
• Process-oriented with an eye for detail, cleanliness, and service standards.
• Comfortable with technology/tools for facility and operations management.
• Willingness and ability to be available 24x7 , including living on/near campus, given the residential and emergency-response nature of the role.
• Bachelor's degree required; background in Hospitality Management, Facilities Management, or Business Administration preferred. Additional certifications in hospitality/facility operations are a plus.