Director of Operations

Our client is a luxury 5-star international hotel in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. They are seeking a hands-on and dynamic Director of Operations to champion 5-star brand standards across Front Office, Housekeeping, premium dining outlets, vibrant bars, and high-volume banqueting and conference facilities. 

This role requires an agile leader who balances strategic commercial oversight, managing labour, flow-through, and departmental profitability with a high-visibility, hands-on presence on the floor alongside teams and guests, with strong expertise in banquet and events to oversee multi-outlet operations, lead high-volume dining and large-scale functions, and drive service excellence while training and developing local teams during the pre-opening and transition phase.

Requirements

• Strong Director of Operations, Director of F&B, Director of Rooms or Hotel Manager-level experience within a large, complex full-service 5* hotel.
• Strong operational knowledge across both F&B and Rooms, with the ability to lead both areas confidently.
• Previous background in managing multicultural teams in challenging destinations.
• Excellent F&B background covering restaurants, bars, banqueting, events, service standards, profitability and cost control.
• Solid Rooms understanding across Front Office, Housekeeping, Guest Experience and room standards.
• Hands-on and highly visible leader who is comfortable spending significant time in the operation with the teams.
• Strong commercial and financial understanding, including revenue, payroll, productivity, departmental profitability, cost control and flow-through.
• Proven ability to drive guest satisfaction, operational standards and service consistency.
• Disciplined around follow-up, accountability and execution, ensuring agreed standards are consistently maintained.
• Warm and approachable leadership style while remaining firm on standards, accountability and performance.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Leadership & Commercial Performance

• Lead overall property operations to achieve budgeted GOP, top-line revenue, and departmental profitability across both Rooms and Food & Beverage.
• Monitor financial and operational performance against forecasts, optimizing flow-through, productivity, and labor efficiency.
• Manage operational expenses, payroll, and cost of sales (COGS) through rigorous cost control, inventory management, and waste reduction.
• Partner with commercial, sales, and revenue teams to capture revenue opportunities in rooms, restaurants, bars, and banquet/event spaces.
• Oversee capital expenditure (CapEx) initiatives, maintenance budgets, and operational investments to support long-term property asset value.

Operational Excellence across Rooms & Food & Beverage

• Drive day-to-day operational execution across Front Office, Housekeeping, Guest Experience, Restaurants, Bars, and Banqueting/Events.
• Maintain rigorous brand quality assurance (QA) and service standards, ensuring full compliance with brand operating procedures and safety regulations.
• Act as an active, hands-on, and highly visible leader on the floor, engaging daily with guests and line-level associates during peak service periods.
• Maintain strict standards of cleanliness, safety, and physical asset upkeep across all guest rooms, public areas, and back-of-house facilities.
• Implement disciplined follow-up, auditing, and inspection routines to guarantee service consistency and flawless execution.

Guest Satisfaction & Quality Assurance

• Lead initiatives that elevate guest satisfaction scores (GSS), tracking feedback and resolving operational bottlenecks swiftly.
• Ensure premium banquet, conference, and social event execution to position the hotel as a market leader in Port Moresby.
• Champion a high-touch service culture that consistently exceeds 5-star brand expectations.

Team Leadership, Accountability & Culture

• Foster a warm, approachable leadership presence while remaining firm and disciplined on performance expectations and service delivery.
• Promote cross-departmental collaboration, mutual accountability, and operational alignment among F&B, Rooms, Engineering, and operational support leads.
• Cultivate an inclusive, resilient, and high-performance team environment adapted to a large-scale, complex hotel setting.

Talent Development & Human Resources

• Coach, mentor, and build capacity among department heads, assistant managers, and supervisory teams with patience and resilience.
• Champion the training, localization, and career succession of Papua New Guinean talent into leadership positions.
• Drive associate engagement, conduct structured performance evaluations, and act on employee feedback to boost retention and workplace morale.
• Partner with Human Resources on strategic recruitment, onboarding, and consistent implementation of brand training programs.