Country Manager

At onefinestay, we open doors to the finest homes and villas in the most desirable destinations, delivering a one-of-a-kind service to both guests, homeowners and our partners around the world. The company launched in London in 2010, became part of Accor in 2016, and, more recently, part of the Exclusive Resorts group, a Denver-based members-only premium vacation club. With each memorable stay, we deliver a level of personal service and professional hospitality unmatched in the private rental industry.

Role purpose

As Country Manager - UK, you will lead the Supply Team, who are responsible for our portfolios in this region (London only currently). Your team will manage relationships with both our Direct Homeowners and Property Management Companies, ensuring we maximise commercial value from the partnerships. The team addresses homeowner and property management questions and collaborates with internal teams when issues arise throughout the entire booking journey. You will work closely with the Account Managers to proactively monitor the growing portfolio, ensuring the accounts reach their full commercial potential by achieving the desired occupancy level through effective pricing and availability. You will be responsible for ensuring that our homeowners are happy with the service they receive whilst working with onefinestay and that we have compelling and successful partnerships with our property management companies.

In addition to the above, this role will own the market budget and P&L reporting for markets within the UK, working closely with other regional functions to maximise financial performance for the company.

You will also play a significant role in Stay Management from a standards perspective and ensure that the highest standards of quality are maintained throughout the portfolio. You will maintain acute awareness of the guest surveys and specific questions about home standards. Collaborate closely with Direct Operations and Guest Experience Functions to ensure the smooth running of guest stays and uphold the five-star standard of accommodation we provide at all times. This includes day-to-day decision-making on any issues that arise.

This role reports to the Director of Supply.

Responsibilities:

• Leadership - Support your team so that they are effective in building happy relationships and inspiring trust and confidence in onefinestay by managing relationships with homeowners and property management companies, through both proactive and reactive communication, face-to-face, over the phone, and via email. You will work closely with the Senior Account Manager to ensure alignment in coordinating the team and coaching them to develop their skills. You will motivate and inspire your team to be present, accountable and open, helping them to develop themselves professionally whilst having a positive impact on the business.
• Being commercially accountable. You will be accountable for making sure we deliver on our commercial promises, proactively analysing performance, adjusting our portfolio to maximise revenue and delivering strategic changes. You will work closely with the Business Development Function on what new homes are in the pipeline, and you will be the main point of contact for Sales when they need approval on exceptional bookings. 
• In Budget & P&L Reporting, you will be responsible for the Budget and P&L performance of the markets in your region. This includes budget planning and developing P&L analytical reports, which require collaboration with other functional senior leaders & directors. 
• Delivering handmade hospitality. You and your team will ensure we remain the leader in private rentals by making sure that the service our homeowners receive is at the highest standard. You will work closely with other internal teams to ensure our homes are marketed in the most effective ways to help close bookings.
• Resolving issues. From time to time, things go wrong. When this happens, you will be responsible for coordinating across teams to ensure we deliver excellent service recovery, as well as providing support to your teams. When it comes to home standards, you will assume full responsibility, so while at times, you may be reactive to negative feedback, the key to success will be the proactive steps you and your team take to avoid home standards being an issue for guests. This role supports our Duty Managers and our Out of Hours function, including being an on-call Duty Manager. 
• Problem-solving. This is a complex business, and we have tricky problems to solve (and thus innovative solutions to find). You will balance empathy and commercial reasoning to make sound decisions.
• Brand Ambassador. Our homeowners entrust us with their most valuable asset, and they join onefinestay because our service is simple, secure, and financially rewarding. You will be accountable for making sure our homeowners have a good understanding of our offering, which supports our Account Management team in ensuring we can deliver on this and, as a result, enables us to maximise our commercial capacity.

 Qualifications and Experience:

• Extensive experience leading a team in a client-facing role, and an ability to forge personal and business relationships with a diverse and sophisticated community. Proven managerial expertise and experience in luxury travel are preferred but not essential.
• Leadership. You are a natural leader, with a demonstrated ability to iterate, adapting where necessary to meet business needs. 
• Goal-oriented. You take job satisfaction from developing your team and driving them to hit ambitious growth targets. 
• Personable and empathetic. You will have experience leading team meetings, delivering effective presentations and strong people management skills.
• You are capable and confident in handling delicate interactions, including picking up the phone to deliver bad news in a tactful and sensitive manner.
• Sharp eye for detail and a capacity to prioritise.
• Sound judgement, even under pressure, demonstrating resilience and an ability to roll with the punches.
• Decision making. Every day is different at onefinestay, and new situations arise all the time. You will be someone who can think on their feet, be creative, and ultimately make decisions which satisfy as best as possible the homeowner, guest and onefinestay.
• Commercial acumen and negotiation skills. An analytical approach to portfolio management and growing profitable supply.
• Great communication skills, ability to work cross-functionally and with team members in remote locations.