Graduate Hotels® is seeking a Director of Sales to join Graduate Richmond and its brilliant team of hospitality enthusiasts.

Graduate Hotels creates authentic, spirited spaces that connect travelers, students and locals alike. Through thoughtfully curated design, creative F&B and community-focused events, we create hotels worthy of their communities.

We are a diverse team of experience makers and storytellers. As a Graduate Hotels team member, you are the local insider shaping guest experiences. Our goal is to make every guest feel like a local even if it's their first time in town. In order to help you deliver on that goal, we encourage our team members to embody the same mindset as our guests through Graduate experiences and encouraged community exploration.

Graduate Hotels is proud to be Great Place to Work-Certified™, proving that our associates feel our commitment to cultivate a culture of inspirational and supportive leadership.

JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Maintain and promote a teamwork environment with effective and clear communication amongst co-workers through positive leadership
• Provide pricing and guidance recommendations to sales staff, review and approve any special corporate negotiated rates
• Develop a working knowledge of the operations of the hotel, including food and beverage, guest services, reservations
• Develop a complete knowledge and ensure adherence to company sales policies and SOPs
• Drive customer loyalty to grow share of the account by delivering service excellence throughout each customer experience
• Provide guidance for RFP Season Annually to National Sales with the help from GM and/or Regional DOS & National Sales
• Ensure all pertinent aspects of solicitation, closing, and customer communications are complete and documented for the team
• Identify and pursue new and repeat business through prospecting calls, visits, site tours, lunches, and networking events
• Develop and maintain market awareness to ensure ability to predict revenue opportunities and set proactive strategies
• Analyze sales and revenue management reports to identify trends and future demand opportunities Monitor pricing, MAR and other minimums to ensure pricing is within an acceptable range based on available inventory, current sales/revenue strategies and market demand
• Participates in forecasting for revenue and expenses
• Conduct ongoing competitor price and product analysis to ensure proper rate positioning and product offering relative to competition
• Conducts weekly and monthly share analysis for measurement of hotels market performance versus competition and implements strategies accordingly in conjunction with the Regional Director of Sales, Regional Director of Revenue Management, GM
• Recommend and implement new sales programs at the hotel and accurately track ROI
• Initiates collateral and online marketing efforts to include all printed sales collateral, direct mail, discount promotions, e-mail marketing, website presence and tracks ROI on all advertising and marketing spend
• Prepares annual marketing/business and budget plans
• Set and monitor team member goals including weekly sales activities, room night and revenue goals monthly, quarterly, yearly
• Abides by Prime Time Selling hours
• Perform any other job-related duties as assigned

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of Bachelor's Degree in Hotel Administration, Business, or Marketing
• Minimum of 5 years in progressive hotel sales with leadership responsibilities

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Strong analytical skills relative to impact on hotel revenues
• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Strong understanding of revenue management principles
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Products, focus on Excel, Word and Outlook
• Ability to travel as needed
• Must have flexible work hours that may include evenings, weekends, and holidays

About Graduate Hotels®

Graduate Hotels is a hand-crafted collection of hotels that reside in dynamic university-anchored towns across the country. Each hotel pays homage to the heritage of its unique town through cultural nods to the local community. Launched in 2014, there are 35 hotels across the U.S. and U.K. Graduate Hotels is owned by Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners, a vertically integrated real estate developer, owner and operator. For more information on Graduate Hotels, please visit www.graduatehotels.com.

*Graduate Hotels is an Equal Opportunity Employer.