Who are we looking for?
Choice Hotels, one of the world’s largest lodging franchisors, has an exciting new opportunity as our Director of Brand Management in the Upscale Management Organization. The Upscale Management team is responsible for Choice Hotels’ success in the Upscale and Upper Upscale tiers across the company’s 8 brands: Radisson Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Radisson Collection, Park Plaza, Cambria, and Ascend Hotels. As a key member of our Upscale Management team, you will develop a holistic long-term vision and strategy for our Select Service upscale brands (Radisson RED & Cambria) and be responsible for the brands performance across all key brands, marketing, and consumer metrics. The areas of responsibility include brand strategy and development at the brand level. This leader will be responsible for defining and positioning the brands within the upscale segment and developing strategies for activation of the brands across consumer touchpoints.
Are you passionate about delivering differentiated and elevated customer experiences? Are you both strategic and creative? We invite you to apply today for our Director, Upscale Brand Management role today and #MakeItYourChoice.
Your Responsibilities
- Responsible for near term annual brand plans and long-term brand portfolio strategy aligned to corporate objectives and five-year growth targets.
- Defines and owns brand positioning and pull through across all key consumer touchpoints.
- Ensures franchisee, consumer, and developer value propositions for assigned upscale brands are competitive, with the goal of optimizing brand segmentation, guest satisfaction, unit growth, proprietary channel contribution, and revenue performance relative to the competitive set.
- Develops and effectively communicates business cases for key brand programs and gains internal and external support for implementation and consistent delivery across the brand(s).
- Drives the execution of multi-year comprehensive strategic brand plans and collaborates cross-functionally to ensure buy-in across the organization, including, but not limited to Franchise Development, Marketing and Distribution, Loyalty, Technology, Brand Compliance, Owner, Portfolio Management, and Legal.
- Works cross functionally to deliver brand programs for implementation and consistent delivery for success.
- Represents upscale brands at a variety of industry events and media outlets to raise the brands’ visibility, and awareness.
- Acts as the strategic “Brand Champion” to our existing and prospective franchisees including during Convention, franchise development discussions, and other events.
- Evolves value proposition creating consumer and owner preference to deliver unit growth and RevPAR in partnership with development sales, Operations, and Commercial.
- Works closely with Advanced Analytics to monitor and analyze performance metrics to assess the success of brand initiatives, directing strategic changes based on results, brand compliance.
Your Experience, Skills & Competencies
- Bachelor’s Degree from a four-year college or university in Hotel Management, Business Management, Marketing, or a relevant field of study required, MBA preferred.
- Minimum of 10 years’ progressive experience in brand management, strategy, or consumer packaged goods as category manager (or combination). Prior experience in hotels or the travel industry is preferred.
- Minimum of 5 years’ leadership experience, including setting strategic direction and influencing management/professional levels of matrixed organization for engagement and brand(s) growth.
- Strong track record of success in driving execution and delivering business results.
- Motivated self-starter that is highly results oriented.
- Excellent leadership skills with a proven ability to develop relationships with associates at all levels of the organization and drives results in a team-oriented environment.
- Excellent business-savvy with a consultative approach and holistic business view; ability to influence and collaborate with leaders across organizational lines.
- Excellent ability to manage ambiguity combined with an ability to leverage data and create a foundation of data-supported decision making.
- Excellent analytical and forecasting skills; previous experience with successful budget management.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate across all stakeholder groups including small and large group settings, both internal and external. Can build rapport with franchisees and stay “on message” with media.
- Flexibility in creating and making changes or re-directing initiatives to continuously improve the strategy and organization, showing comfort with change management, and working in a matrix-based organization.
- Advanced use of Microsoft suite including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Your Team
This is a leadership role that will report to the Vice President, Upscale Brand Management. You will have 1 direct report and collaborate with cross functional departments on a regular basis.
Your Work Location
As our Director, Upscale Brand Management, you will be based in our beautiful, state-of-the-art worldwide corporate headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. Less than 15 miles from Washington, DC, we’re located directly across from the Rockville Metro station, with service on the Red Line and the MARC Brunswick line, easy access to I-270, and plenty of free parking provided by Choice Hotels.
Right now, our associates in Rockville, MD are working in a hybrid environment, with four days in the office per week and one day remote. We provide flexibility and encourage ongoing communication with your leadership to establish expectations about your unique needs.
We are focused on safety and wellness in our offices, and as such, as a Choice associate you will be required to disclose your COVID-19 vaccination status and provide a copy of your vaccination card.
About Choice
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. With more than 7,100 hotels, representing over 600,000 rooms, in nearly 40 countries and territories as of December 31, 2021, the Choice® family of hotel brands provide business and leisure travelers with a range of high-quality lodging options from limited service to full-service hotels in the upscale, midscale, extended-stay and economy segments. The award-winning Choice Privileges® loyalty program offers members benefits ranging from everyday rewards to exceptional experiences.
At our worldwide corporate headquarters in Rockville, Maryland, and technology center in Scottsdale, Arizona, and through our associates around the globe, we keep Choice hotels thriving by serving as a champion for our franchisees and providing cutting-edge technology.
About Choice Hotels Financial Performance
Total revenues reached $427.4 million for second quarter 2023, a quarterly record and a 16% increase compared to the same period of 2022. Please click here to review highlights of our results.
*** This role is not eligible for sponsorship ***
Ability to model Choice’s Cultural Values: Welcome and Respect Everyone, Be Bold, Be Quick, Listen, Be Curious and Show Integrity.
