Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing at Marriott International

Marriott International is a leading global Lodging company based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, with more than 4,100 properties in 79 countries and reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in fiscal year 2014. Its heritage can be traced to a root beer stand opened in Washington, D.C., in 1927 by J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott.

Marriott has more than 361,000 people working worldwide at managed or franchised properties and corporate offices. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® program, which together surpass 49M members.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing

Job Number: 20062970
Location: Lagos
Schedule: Full-time
Position Type: Management
Job Category: Sales and Marketing

Job Summary

• Functions as the leader of the property’s sales department for properties with bookings over 300 peak rooms and significant local catering revenue.
• Manages the property’s reactive and proactive sales efforts.
• Provides day to day leadership to sales associates to achieve property sales objectives with overall responsibility for achieving booking goals and property revenues.
• Implements the brand’s service strategy and applicable brand initiatives in all aspects of the sales process and focuses on building long-term, value-based customer relationships that enable achievement of the hotel’s’ sales objectives.
• Evaluates the property’s participation in the various sales channels (e.g., Area Sales, Group Sales within the Sales Office, electronic lead channels, etc.) and develops strong working relationships to proactively position and market the property.
• Manages the marketing budget to enable development of property specific campaigns, promotions and collateral to drive revenue and meet property objectives.
• Interfaces with regional marketing communications for regional and national promotions pull through.
• Develops and implements property–wide strategies that deliver products and services to meet or exceed the needs and expectations of the brand’s target customer profile and property associates and provides a return on investment to the owner and Marriott International.

Core Work Activities
Managing Sales Activities:

• Manages the development of a strategic account plan for the demand generators in the market.
• Manages the property’s reactive and proactive sales efforts.
• Determines and develops marketing communication activities, in conjunction with Regional Marketing Communications.
• Provides customer intelligence in evaluating the market and economic trends that may lead to changes in sales strategy to meet or exceed customer expectations.
• Reviews the Strategic Alignment Review (STAR) report, competitive shopping reports and uses other resources to maintain an awareness of the hotel’s market position.
• Researches competitor’s sales team strategies to identify ways to grow occupancy and RevPAR and increase market share.
• Attends sales strategy meetings to provide input on weekly and overall sales strategy.
• Suggests innovative marketing ideas and develops deployment strategies to continue to grow market share.
• Evaluates and supports participation and account deployment with Area Sales and Group Sales within the Sales Office.
• Serves as the sales contact for the General Manager, property leadership team, Group Sales and Area Sales leaders.
• Serves as the sales contact for customers; serves as the customer advocate.
• Serves as hotel authority on sales processes and sales contracts.
• Serves as the property sales liaison with Area Sales, Group Sales, Revenue Management, Event Management, Regional Marketing Communications and other hotel departments as appropriate.
• Participates in sales calls with members of the Sales and Marketing team to acquire new business and / or close on business.
• Identifies public relations opportunities and coordinates activities to augment the overall marketing communication strategy.
• Supports the General Manager by coordinating crisis communications.
• Executes and supports Marriott’s Customer Service Standards and hotel’s Brand Standards.
• Executes and supports the operational aspects of business booked (e.g., generating proposal, writing contract, customer correspondence).
• Participates in and practices daily service basics of the brand (e.g., , Marriott Hotels and Resorts (MHR) Spirit to Serve Daily Basics, Renaissance Hotels and Resorts (RHR) Savvy Service Basics, Courtyard, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn Basics of the Day, Residence Inn Daily Huddle, or TownePlace Suites Morning Meeting).
• Implements a seamless turnover from sales to operations and back to sales while consistently delivering high level of service.
• Monitors the effective resolution of guest issues that arise as a result of the sales process by creating mechanisms to channel issues to property leadership and/or other appropriate stakeholders.
• Maintains successful performance by increasing revenues, controlling expenses and providing a return on investment for the owner and Marriott International.
• Implements the brand’s service strategy and applicable brand initiatives in all aspects of the sales process and focuses on building long-term, value-based customer relationships that enable achievement of the hotel’s’ sales objectives.
• Interfaces with regional marketing communications for regional and national promotions pull through.
• Performs other duties, as assigned, to meet business needs.

Building Successful Relationships:

• Develops strong partnerships with local organizations to further increase brand / product awareness.
• Develops and manages internal key stakeholder relationships.
• Develops strong community and public relations by maintaining property participation in local, regional and national tradeshows and client events.
• Executes exemplary customer service to drive customer satisfaction and loyalty by assisting the customer and monitoring their satisfaction before and during their program / event.
• Serves the customer by understanding their needs and recommending the appropriate features and services that best meet their needs and exceed their expectations, while building a relationship and loyalty to Marriott.
• Gains understanding of the hotel’s primary target customer and service expectations; serves the customer by understanding their business, business issues and concerns, to offer better business solution both prior to, and during the program / event.

Leadership:

• Functions as the leader of the property’s sales department for properties with bookings over 300 peak rooms and significant local catering revenue.
• Develops sales goals and strategies and verifies alignment with the brand business strategy.
• Executes the sales strategy in order to meet individual booking goals for both self and staff.
• Coaches leaders of revenue generating departments in developing effective revenue strategies and setting aggressive goals that will drive the property’s financial performance.
• Verifies Sales team understands and is leveraging Marriott International (MI) demand engines to full potential.
• Works with Human Resources, Engineering and Loss Prevention to monitor compliance with local, state and federal regulations and / or union requirements.
• Partners with Human Resources to attract, develop and retain the right people in order to support the strategic priorities of the market.
• Creates effective structures, processes, jobs and performance management systems are in place.
• Sets goals and expectations for direct reports using the Leadership Performance Process (LPP), aligns performance and rewards, addresses performance issues and holds staff accountable for successful results.
• Forecasts talent needs and manages talent acquisition strategy with Human Resources (HR) to minimize lost time due to turnover.
• Maintains an active list of the competition’s best sales people and executes a recruitment and acquisition plan with HR.
• Supports tools and training resources to educate sales associates on winning catering solutions.
• Champions leadership development and workforce planning priorities by assessing, selecting, retaining and developing diverse, high-caliber talent that can lead the organization today and strengthen the leadership bench for the future; continues to upgrade the sales & marketing talent; works with HR to anticipate future talent needs based on business growth plans.
• Identifies, trains and mentors group sales associates; utilizes all available on the job training tools for associates.
• Transfers functional knowledge and develops group sales skills of other discipline managers.
• Provides day to day leadership to sales associates to achieve property sales objectives with overall responsibility for achieving booking goals and property revenues.
• Evaluates the property’s participation in the various sales channels (e.g., Area Sales, Group Sales within the Sales Office, electronic lead channels, etc.) and develops strong working relationships to proactively position and market the property.
• Manages the marketing budget to enable development of property specific campaigns, promotions and collateral to drive revenue and meet property objectives.

Candidate Profile

Education and Experience
Required:

• 2-year degree from an accredited university in Business Administration, Marketing, Hotel and Restaurant Management, or related major; 4 years’ experience in the sales and marketing or related professional area; OR
• 4-year bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Hotel and Restaurant Management, or related major; 2 years’ experience in the sales and marketing or related professional area.

Preferred:

• 4-year college degree.
• Demonstrated skills in supervising a team.
• Lodging sales experience.
• Hotel industry work experience, demonstrating progressive career growth and a pattern of exceptional performance.

Management Competencies
Leadership:

• Adaptability – Develops strategies and identifies resources to implement and manage change; models flexibility in adjusting priorities; and communicates the need for change in a positive way that encourages commitment.
• Communication – Actively listens and uses appropriate communication styles to deliver complex information in a clear concise way and influences others to accept a point of view, gain consensus, or take action.
• Problem Solving and Decision Making – Models and sets expectations for solving complex problems, collecting and comparing information to evaluate alternatives, considering their potential impact before making decisions, involving others to gain agreement and support, and guiding others to implement solutions.
• Professional Demeanor – Exhibits behavioral styles that convey confidence and command respect from others; makes a good first impression and represents the company in alignment with its values.

Managing Execution:

• Building and Contributing to Teams – Leads and participates as a member of a team to move the team toward the completion of common goals while fostering cohesion and collaboration among team members.
• Driving for Results – Focuses and guides others in accomplishing work objectives.
• Planning and Organizing – Gathers information and resources required to set a plan of action for self and / or others; prioritizes and arranges work requirements self and / or others to accomplish goals and ensure work is completed.

Building Relationships:

• Coworker Relationships – Develops and uses collaborative relationships to facilitate the accomplishment of work goals.
• Customer Relationships – Develops and sustains relationships based on an understanding of customer needs and actions consistent with the company’s service standards.
• Global Mindset – Supports employees and business partners with diverse styles, abilities, motivations, and / or cultural perspectives; utilizes differences to drive innovation, engagement and enhance business results; and ensures employees are given the opportunity to contribute to their full potential.

Generating Talent and Organizational Capability:

• Organizational Capability – Evaluates and adapts the structure of organizational units, jobs, and work processes to best fit the needs and/or support the goals of an organizational unit.
• Talent Management – Provides guidance and feedback to help individuals develop and strengthen skills and abilities needed to accomplish work objectives.

Learning and Applying Professional Expertise:

• Applied Learning – Seeks and makes the most of learning opportunities to improve performance of self and / or others.
• Business Acumen – Understands and utilizes business information (e.g., data related to employee engagement, guest satisfaction, and property financial performance) to manage everyday operations and generate innovative solutions to approach business and administrative challenges.
• Technical Acumen – Understands and utilizes professional skills and knowledge in a specific functional area to conduct and manage everyday business operations and generate innovative solutions to approach function-specific work challenges.
• Devising Sales Strategies and Solutions – Trying different and novel ways to deal with sales challenges and opportunities; taking courses of action or developing sales strategies that appropriately consider available facts, constraints, competitive circumstances, and probable consequences.
• Sales Disposition – Energetic, proactive, takes calculated risks, and perseveres to attain goals.
• Sales Opportunity Analysis – Ability to understand and utilize economic, financial, industry, and organizational data; accurately diagnosing customer needs and issues that can inform sales strategies.
• Revenue Management – Knowledge of total hotel revenue management concepts, processes and strategies (including sales cycles and trends, account management, pricing, and inventory management).
• Management of Financial Resources-Ability to analyze Profit and Loss (P&L) statements, develop operating budgets and revenue goals, forecasting, and capital expenditure planning; determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
• Basic Competencies – Fundamental competencies required for accomplishing basic work activities.
• Basic Computer Skills – Uses basic computer hardware and software (e.g., personal computers, word processing software, Internet browsers, etc.).
• Mathematical Reasoning – Demonstrates ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly, correctly, and in a way that allows one to solve work-related issues.
• Oral Comprehension – Demonstrates ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Reading Comprehension – Demonstrates understanding of written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
• Writing – Communicates effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online