Hospitality General Manager, KAVANÂ

ABOUT YOU

You feel called to join a team that’s making a positive Ripple of Impact in the world. This isn’t your first time leading hospitality operations for a four-star property. 

Your Inner Work:

You’d describe yourself as someone who has “done the work.” In fact, it’s likely that ‘the work’ has been a big part of your life over the past many years. It’s probably restructured your beliefs about the world, the systems at play, and created a deep sense of responsibility to show up in support of igniting a positive Ripple of Impact, one that starts with the self, then expands to communities, organizations, and beyond. You’ve read the books, attended the programs, and have deeply committed yourself to a path of personal transformation. This means you know the lingo, are aware of the key players, retreats, and physical environments. At the same time, you’ve been deeply invested in a career centered on providing guests with a flawless, memorable, and heartfelt experience. You thrive in an environment where no two days are the same and are excited by the prospect of hosting not one, but three retreats concurrently during one week, a thought leadership summit the next, and an arts and music festival the week after. You get the point: At KAVANÂ, and in this role, the opportunity for growth is expansive. 

Your Outer Work:

It’s likely that you’ve spent the last five years, or even decade, deep in the world of hospitality. It’s possible you worked your way up through grit and perseverance, or that you sought an MBA in Hospitality to further your skillset. Either way you’re clear on what makes a space standout for its guests and are committed to doing whatever needs to be done to . You have likely pivoted from properties focused purely on entertainment and culture to those that further personal transformation, intimacy, and connection for guests and you dream of someday leading a property that’s deeply committed to both luxury and wellbeing.

ABOUT KAVANÂ

KAVANÂ is a 30-acre, four-star retreat center that envelops a purpose-driven community with intimate spaces and transformational programming amidst a wild, sprawling landscape on the South Mexican Pacific Coast, an hour south of Zihuatanejo, Mexico. As a business, KAVANÂ is a for-hire retreat center designed to serve health, wellness, and transformation facilitators and their groups. While we will host private programs and community events, the majority of the time, our space will be used to serve facilitators and the groups they are hosting on retreats at KAVANÂ.  KAVANÂ is the first development within MUSA, a hospitality and real estate project that Conde Nast Traveller refers to as “a new development grounded in community, sustainability, and art.”

Our long-term goal is to transform KAVANÂ’s four-star retreat center into a non-profit Educational Institute, committed to creating impact by cultivating a purposeful gathering place for personal and social transformation.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

At KAVANÂ, we are looking for a General Manager to join our growing family. You will find the position details below, but it is key to highlight here that in addition to running all aspects of a physical space, we are searching for someone who is inspired and aligned in our mission: to accelerate personal transformation that ignites ripples of impact to co-create a more beautiful world. We are inviting the right person to build that new beautiful world with us, and this opportunity is a unique and special one. We have a team of incredible humans, a powerful network of partners and strong roots in our own transformational signature programs.  

This role demands a hands-on approach, calling for someone with strong interpersonal skills, who can navigate complexity and is committed to solving problems. The ideal candidate must be financially savvy, emotionally intelligent, and skilled in managing personnel and controlling costs. 

The General Manager is responsible for all hotel services, such as guest relations, front desk, housekeeping, maintenance, revenue management, expense management, team building, and employee development. They will empower staff to give superior customer service to guests, facilitators, and visitors. The GM will also act as brand ambassadors, providing leadership and strategic direction to all departments of the retreat center.

This is a critical role within our organization and we offer competitive industry salaries for a property of this caliber based on the candidate’s level of expertise.

You will report into our Co-Founders (CEO & Chief Creative Officer) and work closely with our Operations Steward (COO) to maintain organizational harmony. 

KAVANÂ & MUSAx are early-stage and fast-paced, so the only guarantee is that the actual job will differ from this job description as time goes on and our organizational success will require pivoting and adjusting as needed.

CORE COMMITMENTS

  • Leading with Excellence: Provide the vision, leadership, and strategy that inspires your team to deliver exceptional guest service that drives financial success. Manage all aspects of daily hotel operations and possess a strong guest-focused mentality.

  • Financial Stewardship: Develop, administer and control the hotel revenue and expense budgets that align financial stability with our commitment to delivering exceptional transformative experiences for our guests and facilitators. This includes but is not limited to management of: P&L, general ledgers, variance reports, capital improvements, maintenance, payroll, accounts receivable and cash control.

  • Unified Vision: Collaborate closely with department leaders to set shared objectives that are compatible with KAVANÂ’s goals and develop strategies to achieve them.

  • Nurturing the Sales Process: Maintain relationships with key accounts, sustain core business, lead sales and marketing strategies to promote hotel services. Manage leads, support sales team, ensure active follow-ups. Take charge of sales when the DOS is absent and join account calls with the DOS.

  • Empowering the Team: Ensure proper hiring, training, oversight and motivation of all team members to enrich the guest experience. This role also includes administering benefits, managing disciplinary procedures and leading all management performance reviews and evaluating all hourly personnel performance reviews.

  • Honoring our Sanctuary Standards: Uphold our commitment to world-class quality by ensuring the cleanliness and sanctity of rooms, public areas, grounds and sacred spaces, fostering an environment conducive to exploration and transformation. Respond and follow up on all written guest complaints and ensure guest satisfaction with resolution of the complaint or problem.

  • Community Engagement: Maintain an active and visible position in the local community and industry and represent our organizational values through your words and actions.

  • Adaptability: Willingness to adapt and embrace necessary adjustments that will inevitably be required for an organization that is pioneering so much.

QUALIFICATIONS & EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

  • Must have 5+ years experience as a hotel or retreat center manager, assistant management or department manager, with significant responsibility.

  • High school diploma or equivalent GED; degree in hospitality or related field of study preferred.

  • Fluency in Spanish and English.

  • Demonstrate alignment with the position requirements above, preferably with glowing recommendations from past roles. We will ask for and speak to your references.

COMMITMENT & LOCATION

  • Full-Time Role.

  • This role will be remote to start – limited to applicants who are located in and working from PST, CST, EST – then will be relocated onsite to KAVANÂ in Zihuatanejo, Mexico Q4 of 2024, in advance of facility opening. From this point forward, your work will take place onsite, at KAVANÂ. 

  • Bring positive energy reflected in being present, flexible, available, and responsive. 

  • We move fast as an organization. You commit to being responsive via email, Whatsapp and the KAVANÂ tech stack channels such as Slack and Clickup.

WE’RE A GOOD FIT IF:

  • You are a self-starter and are great at anticipating what needs to get done.

  • You are outgoing, enthusiastic, optimistic and exude positive energy.

  • You have solid communications skills (both written and verbal).

  • You are passionate about the guest experience. 

  • You are comfortable working with a modern techstack: RetreatGuru, Hubspot, ClickUp, and Slack.   

  • You love communicating with people and are great at starting conversations.

  • You are a collaborative worker who is eager to help when asked.

  • You are naturally fun-loving.

PERKS & BENEFITS

  • Work for a company whose main focus is driving impact in the world.

  • Access to KAVANÂ’s signature transformational programs. 

  • Investment in employee learning and development. 

  • Invitation to KAVANÂ’s private events and community gatherings.

ORGANIZATIONAL VALUES

  • TRUST BEYOND REASON: We choose to see life as benevolent and intelligent, which allows us to embrace challenges with the inner knowing that everything serves our evolution. This unwavering trust allows us to lead from the heart, supported by the mind.

  • DARE TO BE DEVOTED: Commitment + Love = Devotion. At KAVANÂ, we wholeheartedly embrace this equation, understanding that the depth of intention and presence – what we refer to as KAVANÂ – is the driving force behind the quality of all our interactions. This force originates from the core of our courage to genuinely care, and do what needs to be done, with full commitment. 

  • SAVOR THE FULL SPECTRUM OF LIFE: At KAVANÂ, we immerse ourselves fully in the human experience, embracing life’s spectrum from birth to death and everything in between. By dissolving our resistance to What Is, we bravely give ourselves permission to feel it all and unlock the wisdom in our pleasures and our pain.

  • CO-CREATE IN THE ARENA: Together, we motivate each other to shatter limits, unearthing fresh paths of potential that radiate far beyond our community. Active arena participation prioritizes finding solutions over focusing on problems. Engaging head-on with life’s challenges reveals latent talents and deeper self-insight. This dynamic process harnesses collective wisdom. 

  • IGNITE OUR RIPPLE OF IMPACT: With great privilege comes great responsibility. We strive to comprehend the broader ripples of impact of our choices, both in the micro and the macro. We continuously gain insights from our social-ecological environment, and acknowledge the symbiotic relationship that connects us all. We believe nothing belongs to anyone, and together there is enough for everyone.

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