Experience Manager (Austin, TX)

Our Company & Property

Auberge Resorts Collection is a portfolio of extraordinary hotels, resorts, residences, and private clubs. While each property is unique, all share a crafted approach to luxury and bring the soul of the locale to life through captivating design, exceptional cuisine, and spas, and gracious yet unobtrusive service. With 25 hotels and resorts and eight new hotels under development in the next 18 months, Auberge invites guests to create unforgettable stories in some of the world’s most desirable destinations. Please visit aubergeresorts.com to learn more about our Collection. Follow us on Linked In, and social @AubergeResorts and #AlwaysAuberge.

Commodore Perry Estate is a 54-room hotel set on a 10-acre private estate in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Austin, the property is the first luxury hotel of its kind in the city, blending intimacy and character with heritage and the independent spirit of Austin.  A treasured and historic landmark reborn, Commodore Perry Estate, occupies a unique niche in the Austin hospitality market. Boasting spacious rooms and suites, including a collection of five signature suites, the hotel offers a residential-style experience brimming with charm. With a dramatic 50-foot oval swimming pool, an organic urban garden, and several distinct dining and drinking venues, including Lutie’s Garden Restaurant, which opened in April 2021, Commodore Perry Estate offers an authentic Austin provenance that invites guests to dine and celebrate in contemporary style at a true landmark. 

Lutie’s Garden Restaurant is an intimate dining experience tucked away in the heart of one of Austin’s oldest neighborhoods on the grounds of Commodore Perry Estate, Auberge Resorts Collection, the storied architectural landmark and urban destination in Hyde Park. The 50-seat restaurant boasts a menu of ingredient-forward fare prepared with an elevated approach as influenced by husband-and-wife chef team Bradley Nicholson and Susana Querejazu’s experiences cooking in acclaimed restaurants around the world. The ever-changing, seasonal menus spotlight local farmers and ranchers and reflect the chefs’ celebration of ingredients through preparation rooted in understated simplicity. Named after the estate matriarch Nannie Lewette “Lutie” Perry, the namesake restaurant melds warm hospitality with the convivial spirit of the property’s Jazz Age legacy, transporting guests to a contemporary garden retreat overlooking lush estate grounds. 

Role Summary
As a company focus for 2023 and beyond, Auberge has embarked on a brand-defining program of deepening our “soulful” experiences at each of our one-of-a-kind hotels.  This role will execute & project manage programming efforts across this property, and as such, they will be responsible for facilitating, organizing and guiding well-designed and creatively curated guest and team experiences unique to this property’s identity. Whether it’s workshops,  amenities, product selection, partner alignment, space activations, or off property adventures, this role is integral to establishing and maintaining thematic stories and elements that influence and guide the resorts’ guest experience.

The Experience Manager role will support the General Manager and Director of Marketing at Commodore Perry Estate, establishing and executing programming and projects that are in alignment with the property’s DNA. The Experience Manager role works on projects that range across culinary, design, wellness, adventure, art, fashion and music. This is a great opportunity for a hyper-organized, detail-oriented individual who is obsessive about the guest experience. 

Core Responsibilities

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. Within this, the key responsibilities for this position are:

Experience Execution: Execute experience plans for seasonal and monthly calendars for the property, based on the property’s core positioning & brand.. Planning, project managing, and collaborating with inter-departmental teams to establish standard operating procedures for core experience programming. Assist in the development of daily rituals that bring the resort’s spirit alive for its guests and its members

Signature Event Production: Project manage one of a kind events and partnerships on property inclusive of managing outside vendors & partners, driving setup, ensuring alignment across inter-departmental teams, and evaluating event success afterwards.

Weekly and Monthly Program Management: Project manage weekly programming ensuring the success of daily programming offerings. This includes 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. Manage the programming calendar ensuring coordinating with all necessary third party partners or property team members. Ensure the monthly/seasonal calendar is ready for marketing and the itinerary design team at least 2-3 months in advance.

Networking: Establish and maintain relationships with local partners and vendors to initiate and enhance our unique brand story with reliable, bookable activities, adventures, and programming. Pitch new partnerships to the Director of Marketing and other senior leaders on the team as needed. Manage a database of community partners information to ensure anyone from the property can reach out to send guests to off property activities. 

Training: Manage experience resources on the internal team member website. Maintain cooperative relationships and open lines of communication with leaders of operational departments to ensure concept execution of programming and product offerings. Participate in team member daily rallies to discuss weekly programming offerings. Champion training around activities and experiences. 

Design: Support the curation of design elements as needed for programming for use in resort spaces. Creating, teaching, documenting and standardizing presentation and execution of programming. Activating holiday events with well-designed and intentional ways to create relevant, unprecedented, and memorable guest experiences.  Manage the sampling, ordering, and fulfillment of operating supplies & equipment for weekly programming. Coordinate design and printing of experience related collateral.
 
Improvement: Identify opportunities to further improve, customize, or personalize a guest's experience based on guest feedback and strategic opportunities. Identify processes to further deepen being experience led at the property level. Gather and organize metrics on experiences and programming: bookings, guest feedback, revenue, etc to analyze learnings and key opportunities.

Essential Skills

• Demonstrated excellence in a creative project management role.
• Past experience in an entrepreneurial environment, able to juggle multiple projects at one time and pivoting as needed.
• Ability to creatively plan/program ideas that bring the property identity to life from initiation to execution; adapt and revise plans as developments necessitate in real time.
• Ability to multi-task and coordinate multiple projects at once.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment and make decisions that are aligned with the goals and objectives of the property.
• Ability to professionally represent the resort and interact with guests in a polished, responsible, and timely manner.
• Ability to act as a leader with the property operations teams on all things related to guest experience and design elements. Communicate information to operational departments accurately and in a timely manner.
• Ability to prioritize and be strategic about which projects will provide the biggest impact to the property
• Extensive breadth and depth of knowledge as relates to Austin, specifically the Luxury market, catering to a luxury-minded audience. 
• Must be both “Team” focused, and a self-motivated, adaptable, innovative, and independent worker.
• Discerning eye for design and style, exceptional attention to detail, consistent follow through, and self-disciplined time management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; pleasant and professional phone and correspondence demeanor.
• Creative and proactive thinker and problem-solver with high-level organizational, research, and product-sourcing skills. 
• Computer-literate: ability to confidently and effectively navigate a variety of programs, including but not limited to Google Suite, HMS, Unifocus, Trip Advisor, Yelp, OpenTable, and social networking platforms.
• Proven professional networking, partnership sourcing, and negotiating skills.
• Ability to take on new responsibilities and roles as the position demands, both administratively and operationally.

Required Qualifications

• Required Experience: 4-5+ years of work experience in hospitality/event/creative operations field, and previous project management experience. The ideal candidate will demonstrate success with developing and executing personalized experiences: possibly including coordinating events and activities, programming, retail, or membership club offerings.
• Required Education: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent, ideally in Design, Marketing, Public Relations, Operations, or Hospitality or a combination of these.
• Be a natural entrepreneurial leader with a positive demeanor and a sense of adventure.

The Commodore Perry Estate is an Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V. The Commodore Perry Estate provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all team members and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, The Commodore Perry Estate complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Department: Operations
This is a full time position