Director of Sales and Marketing (Pre-Opening)

Director of Sales & Marketing (Pre-Opening) – Hotel Indigo Melbourne Little Collins and Holiday Inn Melbourne Bourke Street

One of Melbourne’s most iconic CBD arcades is fast transforming into a landmark retail and holiday destination. The redevelopment of "Melbourne Walk" Arcade will soon see IHGs first Australian dual-branded hotel project. Nestled in the heart of Melbourne's vibrant CBD, this project combines the boutique charm of Hotel Indigo with the modern comfort of Holiday Inn, offering a unique blend of hospitality experiences across 452 rooms.

Open the door into Hotel Indigo and guests can expect local character, modern design and warm, professional service with a vibrant and individual flavour, bringing the edgy laneway neighbourhood of Little Collins Street to life. Making the most of the retail haven, Holiday Inn will offer a modern, fresh and friendly stay for a wide variety of guests coming to enjoy the convenience and value they know and love from Holiday Inn, and all that Bourke Street Mall has to offer.

We are seeking a visionary and strategic Director of Sales and Marketing (Pre-Opening) to lead our efforts in positioning these flagship properties as market leaders. The ideal candidate will be a dynamic leader with a proven track record in driving sales, building brand awareness, relationships with key stakeholders and creating innovative marketing strategies to ensure the hotels are positioned competitively in the market, setting the stage for success from opening day and beyond.

A little taste of your day-to-day

Every day is different, but as part of the pre-opening team, you will play a key role in ensuring this new hotel is ready to welcome its first guests, including:

• Strategic Leadership: Develop and implement comprehensive sales and marketing strategies to achieve revenue goals for both Hotel Indigo Little Collins Street and Holiday Inn Bourke Street Mall.
• Brand Positioning: Elevate the visibility and reputation of both brands through innovative marketing campaigns and strategic partnerships.
• Team Management: Lead and mentor a high-performing sales and marketing team, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
• Defining a clear and differentiated position in the market, driving Revenue Generation Index (RGI) improvements in line with business plans. 
• Ensuring alignment with the Holiday Inn and Hotel Indigo brands, IHG One Rewards, and restaurant and bar to achieve low-cost book direct revenue, optimal mix of sales, market share growth, and brand preference.
• Collaborating with IHG Revenue Services, Marketing Shared Services, Brand team, Regional and Global Sales, Distribution, Loyalty and the broader IHG Commercial team to ensure alignment and consistency of work with brand standards, campaigns and IHG initiatives at all times. 
• Driving channel performance through the management of digital and social media best practices, consulting on optimized hotel marketing content, and ensuring integrated use of new and existing IHG tools, platforms, and systems.
• Responsible for compliance, management, and performance across websites, central reservation offices, global distribution systems, online travel agents and third-party platforms to increase revenue through direct low-cost system contribution.

What we need from you

This role is pivotal to the success of our hotel opening and operation, in a highly competitive market, so to see this through we’re looking for a talented professional with the perfect blend of strategic vision, operational expertise, people leadership, and extensive market knowledge. 

In addition, you will possess:

• Ability to work autonomously, be proactive and take accountability for workload and key deliverables within a project opening timeline.
• High level communication and relationship management skills, collaborating with a wide variety of stakeholders, both internal and external.
• Strong business acumen and commercially savvy, able to manage budgets effectively to achieve ROI for sales and marketing activities.
• Experience in setting sales targets, developing strategies and overseeing revenue management practices.
• Expertise in brand representation, willing to act as brand ambassador and flexibility and adaptability to embody and communicate the identity of a dual-branded property. 
• Capacity to build and lead a high-performing sales and marketing team and commitment to recruiting, training, developing and engaging your direct reports.
• Extensive experience within hotel operations in a senior commercial role.
• Prior experience supporting a pre-opening hotel, with demonstrated resilience and adaptability to remain focused, and solution-oriented within the dynamic environment of a pre-opening and evolving deadlines and priorities.
• Tertiary education within a Business, Marketing, Sales or Hospitality related field (preferred).

What you can expect from us

Not only will you benefit from a truly unique and career-defining opportunity as part of this exciting hotel opening, working with a talented and experienced General Manager and New Hotel Openings team, but you’ll receive a competitive salary that rewards all your hard work and a wide range of benefits designed to help you live your best work life – including, impressive room discounts and some of the best training in the business.

Most importantly, your career journey will be supported through our lifelong development programs, IHG career milestone celebrations, and transfer of leave entitlements as you move and grow with IHG.

Our mission is to welcome everyone and create inclusive teams where we celebrate differences and encourage colleagues to bring their whole selves to work. IHG Hotels & Resorts provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability. We promote a culture of trust, support, and acceptance. Always welcoming different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. 

So, join us and you’ll become part of our ever-growing global family. 

Don't quite meet every single requirement, but still believe you'd be a great fit for the job? We'll never know unless you hit the 'Apply' button. Start your journey with us today.