Front Office Manager

DoubleTree by Hilton South Bend•South Bend, IN

About The Position

The Front Office Manager oversees the Front Office, Concierge, and Uniformed Services, ensuring attentive, friendly, efficient, and courteous operations and quality guest service before and throughout each stay. The role is responsible for maximizing room revenue and occupancy while leading Guest Services staff, maintaining hotel standards and procedures, and coordinating with other departments. The position requires a minimum 50-hour work week. Long hours may sometimes be required, and the manager must be able to stand throughout the shift and occasionally lift, carry, push, or pull up to 20 pounds, or frequently or constantly handle up to 10 pounds.

Requirements

At least 4 years of progressive experience in a hotel or related field; alternatively, a 2–4-year college degree and at least 1 year of related experience; or a 2-year college degree and 2 or more years of related experience.
Supervisory experience is required.
Proficiency in Windows, Word, Excel, and Delphi; OnQ is preferred.
A valid driver's license from the applicable state.
Ability to convey information and ideas clearly, evaluate alternatives quickly and accurately, meet deadlines, multitask, and handle workplace problems effectively.
Ability to assimilate complex information from disparate sources and adjust or modify it to meet the needs of the situation.
Effective listening skills and ability to understand and clarify concerns raised by coworkers and guests.
Ability to work with financial information and data and perform basic arithmetic.
Ability to stand for the entire shift and handle the stated light-work physical demands.
Availability to work a minimum of 50 hours per week; long hours may sometimes be required.

Nice To Haves

Proficiency with OnQ.

Responsibilities

Provide attentive, friendly, courteous, and service-oriented interactions with guests and employees, and maintain a professional presence at the Front Desk.
Maintain regular attendance, proper appearance and uniform, a warm demeanor, and compliance with Hilton and hotel safety and operating standards.
Respond courteously and efficiently to guest requests, problems, complaints, and accidents, and follow up to ensure guest satisfaction.
Motivate, coach, counsel, train, and discipline Guest Services personnel; conduct interviews, follow hiring procedures, build morale, and ensure staff training and job-skills signoffs.
Review room status, rate variances, credit reports, house counts, selling status, and room inventory to maximize revenue and occupancy; support revenue and occupancy forecasting and manage sell-out opportunities and guest relocation.
Attend daily and monthly Rooms Merchandizing meetings, weekly staff meetings, and required meetings or training; participate in the scheduled Manager on Duty program and CARE Committee meetings.
Review employee hours for payroll, submit information to Accounting on time, and prepare staff schedules based on business forecasts, payroll guidelines, and productivity requirements.
Maximize no-show revenue through accurate billing and maintain required purchase-order, invoice-vouchering, checkbook-accounting, wage-progress, productivity, and forecast procedures.
Work with Accounting on returned checks, rejected credit cards, employee discrepancies, and other follow-up items; follow and enforce hotel credit policies and ensure accurate Front Desk cash handling.
Operate the Front Office computer system, including software maintenance, report generation and analysis, and simple programming; monitor proper PBX console operation and staff compliance with procedures.
Maintain communication with Housekeeping, Reservations, the Credit Manager, and other departments; ensure timely, professional logging and delivery of messages, packages, and mail.
Carry and use pagers and radios professionally, enforcing appropriate radio etiquette; maintain a Front Desk and lobby presence during peak periods and as needed.
Manage large group check-in and check-out days; monitor guest recognition programs, VIPs, special requests, and corporate-sponsored programs; ensure staff understand and implement relevant standards.
Know the hotel rate tower and quoting standards, implement rooms-merchandising restrictions, maintain safety deposit boxes and key control, and monitor out-of-order, out-of-service, discrepant, and show rooms.
Block special requests, including VIP, special-needs, and connecting rooms; ensure an accurate nightly bucket check.
Maintain Lost and Found procedures and policies, required supply pars, front office and stationary supplies, and organized files for purchases, invoices, schedules, forecasts, reports, and tracking logs.
Review daily Front Office work and activity reports generated by Night Audit, the Front Office logbook, and the Guest Request log.
Perform other duties as requested by management.