Director of Experiences

Auberge Collection•Santa Fe, NM

3h•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Experiences is responsible for leading the experiential vision and strategy at Bishop’s Lodge, Auberge Collection. This role is central to creating transformative guest experiences that not only elevate the property to drive demand for the hotel and support its rate positioning but also deepen brand loyalty, drive ancillary revenue, and reflect the soul of each destination. With a mix of creative ideation, operational execution, and commercial insight, the Director serves as both strategic leader and hands-on project driver: guiding annual planning, signature events, partnership activations, and the guest journey. This individual will also provide direct coaching and leadership to property-level experience teams. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of everything that needs to be done. Within the Auberge family, our people always find new ways to look after the business, their guests, and their team members. The key responsibilities for this position are: Experience Strategy: Lead, develop, and manage the annual strategy and execution of experiential programming across designated properties to drive the following goals: An annual increase in experience revenue, guest participation in experiences, NPS, and increase in positioning of hotel (as measured by owner satisfaction & media/social impressions) Project lead 2-3 key cross-functional initiatives (e.g., culinary activations, adventure concepts, etc) that differentiate the property further from its comp set Identify opportunities to improve, personalize, and innovate the guest journey using guest feedback and strategic insights. Elevate experience concepts and guide implementation to ensure brand alignment and operational feasibility. Budget & Reporting: Create and manage the annual experience budget providing strategic recommendations to maximize revenue and profitability Secure alignment from Marketing/Operations, assign budget and calculate return on investment for each project. Track, record, and analyze experience metrics to evaluate their success from a booking and revenue perspective Provide Quarterly/Seasonal Reports to reevaluate experience strategy and make strategic recommendations to the Executive Committee Networking and Brand-Defining Partnerships: Secure new brand-defining partnerships that strategically position the property from its competitors and drive national/global attention in collaboration with Marketing Establish relationships with new local partners and vendors to initiate and enhance our unique brand story Improvement: Identify opportunities to further improve, customize, or personalize a guest's experience based on guest feedback and strategic opportunities. Identify processes, templates, and best practices to further deepen being experience led at the property level and at the Auberge Collection brand Program Management and Experience Production: Lead and execute seasonal experience strategy focused on driving demand and selling the top experiences Project manage the strategic seasonal programs, brand campaigns and partnership execution This includes serving as the project lead for all experience projects, creating a project plan and timelines with key operational leaders on property, outlining next steps and tasks needed to execute the experience, managing cross functional and inter-departmental communication, setting the right cadence for meetings, finalizing details, and ensuring we meet our deadlines. Create comprehensive Banquet Event Orders (BEOs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Profit and Loss statements (P&L), and Run of Show (ROS) documents to ensure experiences and events are executed at the highest quality. Provide support for partners and vendors, ensuring they deliver to brand and operational standards. Owning vendor communications, onboarding, invoicing and ongoing needs. Maintain cooperative relationships and open lines of communication with leaders of operational departments to ensure concept execution of programming and product offerings. Coaching and Internal Communication Manage the Adventure Coordinator team. Including but not limited to day to day operations and needs, scheduling, and development.. Strategically develop training to turn team members into the best experience storytellers, inspiring them to actively promote experiences. Share information, collateral, and programming details with internal teams via rallies, meetings, and updates. Promote new experiences and events with enthusiasm, ensuring teams understand both the “why” and the unique character of the place. Act as a point of contact for other department heads when experiences intersect with their operations, proactively resolving conflicts and communicating changes in a timely manner. Ensure venues are well-maintained and storage areas are organized with support from the property team. Manage purchasing, organization, and storage of experience-related inventory. Design: Update property collateral, signage, WAY experience page, and calendars in partnership with the marketing team. Support the curation of guest touchpoints, spaces, and the right vibe (music, holiday decor, etc) to ensure everything reflects the hotel’s soul of place Activate programming and signature event spaces in well-designed and intentional ways to create relevant, unprecedented, and memorable guest experiences.

Requirements

Minimum of 5 years experience executing personalized experiences in the hospitality industry including hotels, resorts, restaurants, and wineries.
Proven experience in design and event management in a guest-facing and creative role.
Excellent project management skills and organizational abilities.
Ability to translate ideas into operational programs and to communicate the vision and execution.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop, and manage the annual strategy and execution of experiential programming across designated properties to drive an annual increase in experience revenue, guest participation in experiences, NPS, and increase in positioning of hotel.
Project lead 2-3 key cross-functional initiatives (e.g., culinary activations, adventure concepts, etc) that differentiate the property further from its comp set.
Identify opportunities to improve, personalize, and innovate the guest journey using guest feedback and strategic insights.
Elevate experience concepts and guide implementation to ensure brand alignment and operational feasibility.
Create and manage the annual experience budget providing strategic recommendations to maximize revenue and profitability.
Secure alignment from Marketing/Operations, assign budget and calculate return on investment for each project.
Track, record, and analyze experience metrics to evaluate their success from a booking and revenue perspective.
Provide Quarterly/Seasonal Reports to reevaluate experience strategy and make strategic recommendations to the Executive Committee.
Secure new brand-defining partnerships that strategically position the property from its competitors and drive national/global attention in collaboration with Marketing.
Establish relationships with new local partners and vendors to initiate and enhance our unique brand story.
Identify opportunities to further improve, customize, or personalize a guest's experience based on guest feedback and strategic opportunities.
Identify processes, templates, and best practices to further deepen being experience led at the property level and at the Auberge Collection brand.
Lead and execute seasonal experience strategy focused on driving demand and selling the top experiences.
Project manage the strategic seasonal programs, brand campaigns and partnership execution.
Serve as the project lead for all experience projects, creating a project plan and timelines with key operational leaders on property, outlining next steps and tasks needed to execute the experience, managing cross functional and inter-departmental communication, setting the right cadence for meetings, finalizing details, and ensuring we meet our deadlines.
Create comprehensive Banquet Event Orders (BEOs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), Profit and Loss statements (P&L), and Run of Show (ROS) documents to ensure experiences and events are executed at the highest quality.
Provide support for partners and vendors, ensuring they deliver to brand and operational standards. Owning vendor communications, onboarding, invoicing and ongoing needs.
Maintain cooperative relationships and open lines of communication with leaders of operational departments to ensure concept execution of programming and product offerings.
Manage the Adventure Coordinator team, including day to day operations and needs, scheduling, and development.
Strategically develop training to turn team members into the best experience storytellers, inspiring them to actively promote experiences.
Share information, collateral, and programming details with internal teams via rallies, meetings, and updates.
Promote new experiences and events with enthusiasm, ensuring teams understand both the “why” and the unique character of the place.
Act as a point of contact for other department heads when experiences intersect with their operations, proactively resolving conflicts and communicating changes in a timely manner.
Ensure venues are well-maintained and storage areas are organized with support from the property team.
Manage purchasing, organization, and storage of experience-related inventory.
Update property collateral, signage, WAY experience page, and calendars in partnership with the marketing team.
Support the curation of guest touchpoints, spaces, and the right vibe (music, holiday decor, etc) to ensure everything reflects the hotel’s soul of place.
Activate programming and signature event spaces in well-designed and intentional ways to create relevant, unprecedented, and memorable guest experiences.