Director of Sales

Middle Eight

Salary: Competitive
Job Type: Permanent
Hours: Full-time
Town: London

Are you a dynamic sales leader with a passion for the luxury hospitality sector? We are seeking a Director of Sales to drive our sales strategy across two prestigious London hotels: Middle Eight and The Guardsman. This role is perfect for a sales expert with a deep understanding of the luxury market and a proven ability to build and nurture high-end client relationships.

Benefits

• Hotel discounts across all Axiom Hospitality hotels – colleague rates and up to 50% discount on F&B;
• 28 days holiday, including bank holidays, increasing yearly to 33 days;
• Discounts across retail, restaurants, events and more through our benefits & rewards portal;
• Access to our Employee Assistance Line to support your Mental Health and Wellbeing;
• Use of Wagestream Financial Wellbeing platform, allowing instant access to your pay;
• Yearly complimentary Axiom Xcape stayover after one year of service;
• A growing team with great training, progression, and promotion opportunities;
• Rewards for referring a friend: referral bonus for recommending a new team member starts at £250 per successful hire;
• Free meals while on shift;
• Length of service awards, ranging from 1 year to 3, 5, 10 and 20-year rewards and more!

As the Director of Sales, you will lead the sales efforts with a focus on acquiring and cultivating business from the luxury market, ensuring that sales strategies are seamlessly integrated into hotel operations, enhancing both revenue and guest satisfaction.

Key responsibilities: 

• Develop and execute sales strategies tailored to the luxury market, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives.
• Liaise closely with the revenue management, analytics, and reservations departments to ensure efficient use of systems like PMS, Delphi, STR, Ideas and Hotelligence360.
• Lead proactive and reactive sales efforts across high-end account sales, business travel, exclusive events, and VIP reservations, utilizing CRM systems to manage and track business development.
• Collaborate with the marketing and regional teams to implement digital marketing campaigns using tools such as Google Analytics, Adobe Marketing Cloud, and Cvent (formally) Social Tables to target luxury audiences.
• Work with revenue management to use STR reports and other analytics tools to understand market trends and competitor positioning, adapting sales strategies to optimize revenue and luxury market share.
• Manage budgets and create luxury-specific promotions and campaigns in collaboration with departments using tools like Ideas for financial planning and forecasting.
• Build strong partnerships with luxury travel consortia such as Virtuoso, Serandipians, and Leading Hotels of the World to increase property visibility and attract affluent clients.
• Lead a high-performing sales approach by setting clear goals in the form of KPIs and KPOs relating to the overall financial plan of the hotels.
• Foster a positive, inclusive team culture that encourages collaboration across the hotels departments, and larger company with key specialists like revenue management, sales, and analytics.
• To actively participate in any company wide or local sales initiatives
• To promote the image of the Company and the hotels by the provision of quality customer care standards both internally and externally

Essential skills, knowledge and experience required:

• Experienced sales professional with experience in the hotel market and account management
• Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality Management or related field preferred
• 5+ years of sales experience in luxury hospitality, with proficiency in systems like Opera, Delphi, Ideas and STR, Analytic, CRM tools
• Luxury hotel market expertise: Proven experience in developing luxury-focused sales strategies in collaboration with internal teams like revenue management and marketing, targeting high-end clients.
• Warm and personable communication style, capable of building long-term relationships with both internal teams and external partners.
• Collaboration: Strong ability to work closely across the hotel departments and with a larger company’s sales team, demonstrating teamwork.
• Systems knowledge: Proficiency in industry-standard systems such as STR, Ideas, RFP systems / portals and the GDS to effectively manage luxury market segments. Proficient in budgeting and financial management, using tools such as Ideas to forecast, plan, and track revenue. Proficient in MS Word, Excel and online tools.

Core Competencies

• Team leadership: Ability to lead and motivate across a team, setting clear goals and tracking performance to achieve results. Ability to work under pressure to deadlines.
• Expertise in: Negotiation, account management and problem-solving skills, with the ability to adapt quickly in a dynamic, luxury-focused environment.
• Communication: Warm and clear communication, with the ability to build strong relationships with luxury clients, colleagues, and partners.
• Collaboration: Works effectively with key departments such as revenue, analytics, and reservations to optimize the use of systems and achieve shared goals.
• Adaptability: Skilled at adjusting strategies to align with market trends and business goals, particularly in the luxury segment.
• Teamwork: Builds a collaborative sales environment by working closely with a wider company sales team and other internal departments.
• Results-Oriented: Leverages systems like PMS and Agency360 to drive revenue growth, increase market share, and deliver exceptional guest experiences in the luxury market.

You must have the right to work in the UK to be eligible for this role. Documented evidence of eligibility will be required from all candidates prior to commencing employment.

Opportunities for all

At Axiom Hospitality, we thrive on differences and believe it is critical to our success as a fast-growing hospitality company with global aspirations. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace that seeks to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from various backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We, therefore, encourage applications from all genders, races, religions, ages, and sexual orientations, as well as parents, veterans, people living with disabilities, and any other groups that could bring diverse perspectives to our business.

At Axiom Hospitality, we are making efforts to reduce our carbon, energy, water and waste footprint. We strive to be ethical in all we do and want to be a thriving, sustainable and responsible business for our people, our communities and our planet. Working closely with our Hotel Owners, we are committed to the journey to sustainability. In addition, we are working to reduce our hotels’ impact on the environment through internationally recognised eco-label certification.

Our hotels strive to be active members of their local communities by giving back where they can. Supporting local charities is important to our teams, from volunteering at soup kitchens to collecting donations and fundraising. Our hotels aim to leave a positive impact on their neighbourhoods. At Axiom Hospitality, we are working closely with our stakeholders to support our social impact commitment. Caring about people extends outside our business and is part of our DNA.