This is a unique opportunity to lead one of the South Wests most iconic resorts.
St Michaels is a multi-award-winning resort set beside Blue Flag Gyllyngvase Beach in Cornwalls most vibrant town, Falmouth. With a 96-bedroom hotel, sea-facing apartments, a nationally recognised spa, and an extensive health club, were proud to deliver exceptional guest experiences year-round.
We're now looking for an outstanding Resort Director to lead our resort-wide team and drive the next stage of our growth.
Role Purpose
The Resort Director is responsible for the strategic leadership, commercial success, operational excellence, and cultural embodiment of St Michaels Resort. This role ensures the resort consistently delivers an exceptional guest experience while achieving financial goals and fostering a motivated, engaged workforce.
Your Background and Experience
Your career will have progressed rapidly in the hospitality sector and you will have stood out from your peer group
You will have progressed to a General Manager level position, and then repeated that in a more complex environment
Most of your experience will have been in the UK leisure hotel/resort environment
You will have had real responsibility across every element of your business, without relying on a head office. You will have strong commercial acumen with demonstrated P&L management
Expertise in operational leadership across multiple departments
Excellent leadership skills with the ability to inspire, engage, and develop teams
Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills
Experience driving guest satisfaction and maintaining high service standards
Skilled in financial planning, budget management, and performance analysis
Delivering budgets and outstanding financial results through boosting sales and tightly controlling costs according to quite rigid KPIs
Demonstrating real entrepreneurial flair
Additional Desirable Skills & Experience
Experience in the wellness, spa, and leisure sector.
Previous experience in independently owned or boutique luxury resorts.
The development of a real hospitality brand with a distinctive style and tone of voice
Working in a business which delivered exceptional quality
Personal attributes
Passionate about ensuring guests are delighted and achieving high standards
Strong leadership skills which command real respect
Authentic, approachable, and visible leader with emotional intelligence
Highly personable
Good sense of humour
Totally committed and dedicated
Highly motivated, pro-active and hands-on
Visionary thinker with a pragmatic approach to problem-solving
Intelligent, stimulating and articulate
Financially very literate
Can move from high level strategy through to tiny detail easily
Totally honest and transparent
A strong ambassador for St Michaels Resorts brand, culture, and values
Job Description
Reports to
Chairman / Owner
Direct Reports
Marketing Director
Head of Finance
Revenue Manager
Head of Sales
Operations Manager
Food and Beverage Manager
Spa Manager
Health Club Manager
Training Manager
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
Lead the development and delivery of the resorts long-term vision, annual business plan, and key performance indicators (KPIs)
Shape and implement strategies to drive occupancy, revenue growth, guest satisfaction, and profitability
Work closely with the Owner/Board to ensure alignment with the resorts brand and long-term goals
Operational Excellence and Customer Delight
Oversee all operational departments including Rooms Division, Apartments, Events, Food & Beverage, Spa & Wellness, and Health Club
Ensure seamless daily operations with consistent attention to detail, quality standards, and efficiency
Development and delivery of customer journey / key touchpoints to constantly evolve and improve the customer experience across all of our businesses
Ensure the guest experience is personalised as much as possible
Lead a guest-first culture that exceeds expectations
Develop and deliver an exciting experience and creative product that is revered and talked about
Ensure compliance to all legislation, health and safety, fire regs, etc
Significantly improve our customer review scores on TripAdvisor, maintaining a 4.5-star rating for the Resort and achieving the same for our restaurants. Deliver a top 3 position versus our competitor set on ReviewPro. Achieve and maintain a score of 9.0 on Booking.com
Monitor and respond to guest feedback, ensuring service recovery where needed
Implement continuous improvement processes to elevate service standards
Financial & Commercial Management
Full P&L responsibility; develop, manage, and deliver budgets
Tight financial control and the achievement/delivery of financial plan, especially EBITDA
Implement corrective measures as necessary to ensure profit delivery
Review, develop and deliver against all KPIs in the business
Drive revenue generation through effective pricing strategies, revenue management, and marketing initiatives
Ensure we procure well and get best value across all of our purchases
Monitor pricing for all of our products against competitors, the market and our cost base to recommend changes as appropriate
People Leadership
Lead, inspire, and develop the senior leadership team and broader resort staff
Foster a collaborative and high-performance culture aligned with the resorts values
Oversee recruitment, talent development, retention, and succession planning
Measure and reduce staff turnover
Undertake six-monthly staff surveys and demonstrate ongoing improvement in scores relating to job satisfaction, enjoyment of working at St Michaels, and overall staff wellbeing
Marketing, Brand and Product Development
Collaborate closely with the marketing and sales teams to ensure the brand is consistently represented and marketed effectively
Work closely with the Marketing Director to develop our brand promise and ensure it is delivered authentically and creatively across the whole property
Evolve the creative delivery of the brand personality in a creative and engaging manner across the whole resort
Ensure the delivery of cost effective marketing campaigns to build our brand reputation and deliver our revenue targets
Ensure Revenue management and digital marketing are leading edge and demonstrating best practice
Technology
Develop our use of technology and AI throughout the business to improve efficiency, sales, costs, and customer experience
Infrastructure and CapEx
Develop, plan and execute suitable development / CapEx projects with panache, style and tight cost control to improve the Resorts reputation and performance
Key Performance Indicators
EBITDA & financial performance as a whole
Customer Review scores, reputation, and profile
Strength of team staff turnover, staff surveys
Repeat purchase and retention
Salary and Benefits
£100,000 on-target earnings made up of a base salary of c£80,000 and on-target bonus for achieving budget and KPIs
Complimentary use of resort facilities including gym, pool, and wellness spaces, spa, food and beverage, etc
Professional development opportunities
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