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Work Background
Earth HotelsDirector of Openings & Guest Experience
Sep. 2023Dubai, United Arab Emirates• Preopening Strategy & Budgets: Develop and manage preopening critical paths, manning structures, payroll frameworks, and budgets, reporting directly to founding partners.
• Procurement & OS&E: Oversee OS&E evaluations and listings, ensuring all selections align with Earth Hotels’ operational and brand philosophy.
• Brand Immersion & Training: Create and deliver executive-level brand immersion programs and training decks for hotel leadership, embedding our guest journey, tone of voice, and communication strategies.
• Quality Assurance & SOPs: Develop quality assurance systems, customized SOPs, and detailed job descriptions tailored to our operational philosophy.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with design, construction, and development teams to streamline operational handovers and execute seamless openings.
• Guest Experience & Brand Development: Collaborate with founding members to refine guest journey touchpoints and ensure brand consistency at every level, pre and post-opening.
• CSR Leadership: Working closely with founding members to support local hotels with community impact initiatives focused on philanthropy, education, and nature/earth preservation.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Partner with project teams, marketing consultants, and ground-level staff to align strategies and ensure successful openings.
AccorGuest Experience Manager | Middle East & Africa
Mar. 2020 - Jun. 2023Dubai, United Arab Emirates• Define and control the Guest Experience and Quality performance for 120 hotels in Africa & Indian Ocean Islands, across all ACCOR brands. Deliver commercial performance and value to the leadership team through research, analytics and insight • Drive cross-functional strategy and training to deliver excellence in Guest Experience– champion innovation and usage of data, insights and resources to accelerate regional growth and performance, ensure strict compliance to brand and quality standards • Successfully implemented portfolio-wide safety guidelines and audits during the global pandemic - achieved improved reputation performance ratings • Leverage technology, feedback and experience, generate analytics and trends to continuously improve guest experience • Collaborate with global counterparts to benchmark processes and share best practices – develop and chair Quality Committees within hotels to conduct deep dives and identify opportunities and areas of improvement, deploy remedial action plans and solutions
• Review, analyze and report key results in the region – contribute to quarterly business reviews for all properties
AccorProject Manager | Hotel Openings Support, Middle East & Africa
Mar. 2019 - Mar. 2020Dubai, United Arab Emirates• Integral contributor to creation of the regional Hotel Openings division
• Project-managed 15+ regional hotel construction projects simultaneously – tracked and reported on each project milestone in the pre- and post- opening cycles, including project budget and expenses • Prepared and implemented pre-opening budgets and hotel manning guides
• Reduced time spent by 50% - prepared, monitored and digitalized project critical path process • Liaison between key regional stakeholders/regional GMs and hotel project teams – ensured critical path is adhered to, initiated regular calls to consolidate data and track progress, mobilized task force teams based on resource demand to support ongoing/delayed projects in remote areas lacking expertise, prepared and presented project reports to the leadership team
AccorHotelsExecutive Assistant to Chief Operating Officer | Luxury Brands, Middle East & Egypt
Nov. 2013 - Mar. 2019Dubai, United Arab Emirates• Supported the COO and his team of 8 leadership personnel with administrative activities including reviewing correspondence, fielding queries and meeting requests for the Luxury Brands division of FRHI Hotels & Resorts – since acquired by AccorHotels
• Managed all communication as the regional liaison between the COO and key stakeholders across 60 luxury hotels
• Led Guest Experience and Quality projects for the region – implemented Quality and Training programs, evaluated and re-designed processes, organized and chaired in-house Quality committees
• Reviewed and analyzed guest experience audit findings - used insights to support initiatives to maximize revenue while securing optimal guest satisfaction ratings • Successfully planned, organized and executed large-scale Annual Regional GM Conferences and Employee Engagement/Team Building Workshops – collaborated with cross-functional internal stakeholders and external vendors and suppliers. Orchestrated end-to-end logistics including entertainment booking and AV set up, scheduling, accommodation, gifting and daily participant agenda
Graham, Wilson & Rizkallah Consulting (GWR Consulting)Senior Account Manager
Mar. 2011 - Nov. 2013Dubai, United Arab Emirates• Headed program operations for Customer Experience (CX) Mystery Shopping/ Quality Control audits for GCC and MENA region clients • Owned and nurtured key account relationships for 12 multi-sector B2B clients – including Retail (Luxury Brands, Fashion & Electronics), Automotive, Hospitality and Banking – understood client industries, CX journeys, requirements and objectives
• Recruited, trained, coached and managed a multicultural team of 13 administrative personnel – fostered a collaborative environment empowering team members to achieve goals • Oversaw end-to-end project execution and ensured strict budget management – including survey / questionnaire design & delivery, shopper profiling, recruitment, briefing, scheduling, cost control, audit report validation and quality control • Enabled insights-driven client and management decisions - analyzed data and generated actionable trend reports and statistics
• Designed and successfully introduced the company’s first training program for auditors/shoppers
Cedarcom - MobiBusiness Support Executive
Feb. 2010 - Feb. 2011Beirut, Lebanon• Reported directly to sales manager and prospected for new and potential clients
• In charge of planning, organizing & updating company database (CRM)
• Interviewed, recruited & trained Telemarketing/Telesales officers & Sales consultants
• Reviewed proposals before they are sent out and secured meetings for team of sales consultants
• Prepared and presented sales team trainings
FreelanceCommunity Impact & Humanitarian Relief Volunteer
Feb. 2006UAE, Levant and Africa• Organize, plan and mobilize fellow volunteers to execute bespoke missions to families/entities in distress – successfully aided large numbers of at-risk community members with physical and substantial financial relief through the Red Cross and other NGOs. Coverage includes UAE, the Levant region and most recently, Africa • Working towards securing representation rights for the ‘We Are Family’ NGO in the Gulf Region – social assistance activities undertaken include on-the-ground packaging of relief supplies, distribution of food boxes to registered families, weekly/monthly door-to-door home visits to deliver boxes of essential staples to families • Volunteer - Disaster Relief for Beirut | Emirates Red Crescent | Aug 2020
• University hostess/point of contact for fundraising and charity events | American University in Dubai (AUD) | 2006 – 2009
• Volunteer - Disaster Relief Beirut War | Emirates Lebanese Association | Summer 2006
FreelancePrivate Tutor
Jan. 2005 - Dec. 2009Dubai, United Arab EmiratesFreelance Undergraduate work - tutored in the following subjects: English, TOEFL, SAT, Science, History and Math
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