Area General Manager

Sonder is on a mission to revolutionize hospitality and make a world of better stays open to all. No two Sonders are the same – each property has a bespoke design and contains a mix of rooms, suites, and apartments. Though each Sonder is unique, our mobile app allows guests to effortlessly navigate their stay. From check-in to checkout, everything they need is just a tap away. To be better is a never-ending pursuit and revolutions don’t happen overnight. But, together, we can forever change the way people stay, for the better.

We are looking for someone who breathes hospitality operations and is energized by the opportunity to maximize, motivate, and inspire a team to deliver an amazing Sonder guest experience. Our Sonder locations are distributed across a city in different shapes, sizes, ages, and styles, and we pride ourselves on offering a hotel-like service. That’s what you’ll own.

Life at Sonder

We aspire to build a workplace where employees can thrive. Our culture shapes how we make decisions, how we conduct meetings, how we communicate, and how we treat each other. It’s the coordinated way in which we work that gives us a shot at achieving the epic tale we hope to be part of. Our Leadership Principles are a foundational part of our culture and they play a vital role in guiding the values and actions of our team members. Each of these principles is at the heart of what we do. Check out this article to find out more about our Culture and Principles.

The Area General Manager Position

The Area General Manager position is one of the most impactful roles at Sonder. As the leader of Sonder in Dubai, you will be responsible for ensuring the success of the market, which includes delivering a five-star guest experience, driving growth, maximizing revenue, and controlling costs to achieve strong unit economics and paybacks, and creating a memorable local guest experience that drives repeat guests. The GM will also build and maintain a hospitality-focused culture to deliver the Sonder vision and experience to thousands of guests. You will manage the P&L and are responsible for consistently delivering on our brand promise across operations, hospitality, and real estate while scaling the city.

THE OPPORTUNITY:

• Build and manage a world-class team of individuals focused on hospitality, operations, commercial, and real estate.
• Create, deliver, and maintain a service-oriented local team culture rooted in guest centricity, helping us to create amazing experiences for our guests.
• Co-create a local growth strategy with the Real Estate team that incorporates supply and demand, regulations, and Sonder’s goals related to profitability and guest experience.
• Engage with Public Policy stakeholders in the market to incorporate public policy into the market strategy while aligning it with Sonder's mission and brand values.
• Oversee the signing, onboarding, opening, and ramp-up of new buildings and hotels in line with the city’s growth ambition.
• Manage your city’s P&L (similar to a business unit), including forecasting targets, tracking performance, and driving innovative initiatives to maximize profitability.
• Define and execute strategic vision: translate Sonder goals into operational plans that will guide the Sonder experience at a local level.
• Build and develop strong relationships with senior cross-functional leaders (e.g., revenue, central operations, real estate, finance, technology) in order to communicate local needs and drive change, leveraging a cross-functional matrix to support local operations.
• Build and manage relationships with landlords, asset managers, and property owners of both hotel and multi-family buildings to ensure successful operating partnerships.
• Overcome obstacles, solve problems, and develop a path forward through ambiguity, operating a dynamic and rapidly growing business.
• Partner with other Sonder markets to create and share scalable best practices.

WHAT WE LOOK FOR:

• Extensive experience in hospitality, operations, and management.
• Real estate experience would be preferable.
• An analytical and data-driven decision-making mentality.
• Experience with or strong excitement for a startup environment.
• Proven track record of leading, managing, and developing high-performing teams.
• An ultimate team player with strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strength in building positive cross-functional relationships to accomplish goals.
• Out-of-the-box thinker who will find creative ways to hit growth targets.
• Ability to thrive autonomously in an individual market while leveraging central resources and supporting effectively.
• Hospitality experience and experience of scaling an operationally complex business preferred.

Benefits

We offer attractive employee travel perks for any Sonder location as well as competitive stock, health, and lifestyle benefits. For eligible employees, benefits may include:

• Competitive compensation.
• Generous stock plan.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (where applicable).
• Flexible vacation.
• Wellness and volunteering days.
• Annual free credits and discounts to stay in Sonders.
• Workplace flexibility (for remote-specified positions only) #ABetterWaytoWork.

Learn More About Sonder

• Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability.
• Data Privacy Policy.
• Blog: Sonder Stories.
• Instagram: @sonderstays.

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other classification protected by applicable state, federal or local law. Extend Hospitality To All is one of Sonder’s Leadership Principles. Living up to that principle means fully embracing diversity: ensuring that all of our employees, guests, partners, and communities feel safe, respected, included, cared for, and empowered.

As part of our commitment to creating a workplace open to all, we have created Sonder Circles, also known as employee resource groups. These groups aim to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace aligned with the communities they serve.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to recruiting@sonder.com.