Manager - Quality, Costa Rica

Job description

JOB SUMMARY

 The Regional Market Quality Manager – Select Brands, partners with property leaders within the portfolio of assigned hotels, to develop and deploy performance enhancing strategies focused on the customer-experience process, overlooking the GSS and BSA global programs with and on behalf of these properties, in support of Marriott’s vision “to be the World’s Favorite Travel Company”. This position is responsible of the Select Service managed hotels portfolio of properties across specific Regions in the Caribbean and Latin American Continent; it partners with the Vice President of Guest Services, Area Directors of Operations MSB, Sr. Director Quality & Continuous Improvement CALA, Brands, Product Integrity, and other disciplines, to deploy, implement, operationalize and monitor the overarching Quality strategy as well as performance enhancing programs for each hotel in their portfolio, with the goal of improving GSS metrics and overall performance. The position is also responsible of providing guidance and monitoring each hotel’s Quality Committee’s performance, as well as responsibilities towards the Quality Assurance program and related activities (BSA, GFSA, Practice Audits, etc), increase ITR and Elite appreciation based on guestVoice Key Drivers analysis and actively participate in CALA Quality Advisory Boards. Moreover, this individual partners with various stakeholders to foster and instill a mindset of Continuous Improvement Process, Operational Excellence, Innovation and Compliance. Occasionally, the Regional Market Quality Manager – Select Brands might identify high-value projects to increase revenue and profitability for a subset of properties. 

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES  

  Quality (60%) 

·  Establish and maintain processes that drive guest-centric and customer experience accountability across hotels.  
·  Deploy and implement the defined CALA Quality Strategy across the portfolio of properties. 
·  Analyze large customer feedback and related datasets to discover, find patterns and share insights that assist properties to improve products and services, leveraging company platforms including but not limited to guestVoice, GXP, etc.  
·  Create a culture of performance excellence through the implementation of CALA Quality Tools. 
·  Partner with guestVoice, and Consumer Insight teams to present key insights that will help inform hotel strategies. 
·  Establish and implement Quality/guestVoice Reporting and Insight processes for various stakeholder groups. 
·  Establish and maintain a network of in-market / on-property Quality certified Operations Leaders.  
·  Establish channels of communication by which Certified Quality Leaders share best practices for deployment across the Area.  
·  Act as a central point of contact for Quality Assurance between property and Area. 

Continuous Improvement (20%) 

·  Provide Continuous Improvement Process guidance to property leaders, deploying tools, methods and methodologies related to change management, Six Sigma, Lean or related Quality systems. 
·  Provide consultative performance support to property leadership. 
·  Occasionally facilitate the execution of on-property, GSS / Quality / Continuous Improvement Process projects with a market focus, centered on each hotel’s most salient opportunities and / or highest defect generator processes  
·  Assist in High Impact / Red Zone visits to target properties, if needed. 
·  Establish and maintain performance scorecards to measure property specific focus areas. 
·  Translate key insights into a compelling story that can be shared within groups of hotels. 

Project Management (20%) 

·  Assist Sr. Director of Quality & Continuous Improvement CALA on targeted, functional, tactical, discipline-related, actionable tasks and PMO support, on an ad-hoc basis with Region-wide approach and broad, holistic scope 
·  Occasionally coordinate or assist with implementation and monitoring of targeted projects, in support of Market Segment leadership, developing project scorecards to measure success, with a focus on market-level impact. 
·  Conduct follow-up and sustainment sessions with property leaders, project team members and project champions to ensure project success. 
·  Responsible for initiating problem-solving communication with property Leaders, when necessary, to ensure project progress and success is achieved. 
·  Facilitating effective turnover sessions to ensure sustainability of the method changes implemented, accountability and results. 
·  Responsible for identifying field high impact best practices for deployment in the hotel. 

REQUIRED SKILLS 

·  Experience establishing and managing Quality and/or Continuous Process Improvement teams in support of complex projects, and/or expertise working and leading matrix organizations with diverse teams 
·  Extensive knowledge of hotel operations at Executive Committee level, including rooms, food & beverage, event management, etc. with a background in Select Service operations. 
·  Ample understanding, ease of use and profound knowledge of spreadsheet (Excel), data visualization (PowerBI) and presentation (PowerPoint) software as key, day-to-day, BAU tools. 
·  Demonstrated ability of effectively analyzing performance data, communicate findings and developing and implementing far reaching strategies in support of goals and, in general, a keen sense and passion for data analytics and statistical pattern interpretations 
·  Experience in successfully managing and/or deploying continuous process improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen, TQM or other quality system on a dedicated or non-dedicated capacity. 
·  Practical application of statistical methods, project management and quality improvement tools 
·  Excellent communications skills (verbal, listening, writing), with ability to communicate effectively across all levels. 
·  Mature, professional demeanor, capable of expressing confident, independent judgement. 
·  High level of business English required, Spanish or Portuguese preferred. 

 MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES 

 Leadership 

·  Adaptability - Determines how change impacts self and others; displays flexibility in adjusting priorities; and communicates both the reasons for change and how it impacts the workplace.   
·  Communication - Customizes approach to conveying complex information and ideas to others in a convincing and engaging manner; appropriately interprets verbal and non-verbal behavior; and models active listening to ensure understanding. 
·  Problem Solving and Decision Making - Models and coaches others on breaking complex issues into manageable parts, identifying and evaluating alternatives and their implications before making decisions, and involving and gaining agreement from others when making key decisions. 
·  Professional Demeanor - Exhibits behavioral styles that convey confidence and command respect from others; makes a good first impression and represents the company in alignment with its values. 

Managing Execution 

·  Building and Contributing to Teams - Leads and participates as a member of a team to move the team toward the completion of common goals while fostering cohesion and collaboration among team members. 
·  Driving for Results - Sets high standards of performance for self and/or others; assumes responsibility for work objectives; initiates, focuses, and monitors the efforts of self and/or others toward the accomplishment goals; proactively takes action and goes beyond what is required. 
·  Planning and Organizing - Gathers information and resources required to set a plan of action for self and/or others; prioritizes and arranges work requirements for self and/or others to accomplish goals and ensure work is completed. 

Building Relationships 

·  Coworker Relationships - Interacts with others in a way that builds openness, trust, and confidence in the pursuit of organizational goals and lasting relationships.   
·  Customer Relationships - Develops and sustains relationships based on an understanding of customer needs and actions consistent with the company’s service standards.  
·  Global Mindset - Supports employees and business partners with diverse styles, abilities, motivations, and/or cultural perspectives; utilizes differences to drive innovation, engagement and enhance business results; and ensures employees are given the opportunity to contribute to their full potential. 

Generating Talent and Organizational Capability 

·  Organizational Capability - Evaluates and adapts the structure of team assignments and work processes to best fit the needs and/or support the goals of an organizational unit. 
·  Talent Management - Provides guidance and feedback to help individuals develop and strengthen skills and abilities needed to accomplish work objectives. 

Learning and Applying Professional Expertise 

·  Applied Learning - Seeks and makes the most of learning opportunities to improve performance of self and/or others. 
·  Business Acumen - Understands and utilizes business information to manage everyday operations and generate innovative solutions to approach team, business, and administrative challenges. 
·  Technical Acumen - Understands and utilizes professional skills and knowledge in a specific functional area to conduct and manage everyday business operations and generate innovative solutions to approach function-specific work challenges o     Detail Orientation - The ability to attend to and verify the accuracy and completeness of details in work activities.  This includes focusing on the small details of work activities and taking the necessary time to ensure that all the details of completed work are correct and of high quality. 
· 
General Hotel Operations - Knowledge of the operating principles and practices of all brand/hotel-specific functions to support successful operations of the overall property (e.g., 

Engineering/Maintenance, Event Management, Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, Legal/Contracting, Food and Beverage, Guest Services/Front Desk, Sales & Marketing, Security/Loss Prevention, Retail/Gift Shops, Spa, and Recreation/Health Club). 

·  Basic Competencies - Fundamental competencies required for accomplishing basic work activities.  o          Basic Computer Skills - Uses basic computer hardware and software (e.g., personal computers, word processing software, Internet browsers, etc.). 
·  Mathematical Reasoning - Demonstrates ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly, correctly, and in a way that allows one to solve work-related issues. 
·  Oral Comprehension - Demonstrates ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. 
·  Reading Comprehension - Demonstrates understanding of written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. 
·  Writing - Communicates effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. 

At Marriott International, we are dedicated to being an equal opportunity employer, welcoming all and providing access to opportunity. We actively foster an environment where the unique backgrounds of our associates are valued and celebrated. Our greatest strength lies in the rich blend of culture, talent, and experiences of our associates. We are committed to non-discrimination on any protected basis, including disability, veteran status, or other basis protected by applicable law.

Marriott International is the world’s largest hotel company, with more brands, more hotels and more opportunities for associates to grow and succeed. Be where you can do your best work,​ begin  your purpose,  belong  to an amazing global​ team, and  become  the best version of you.