Senior Manager Development - Germany

From opportunity to opening

As a Senior Development Manager, you will drive hotel development across Germany, IHG’s core growth market in the region. Acting as a trusted commercial partner to owners and investors, you will identify where IHG’s brands can grow most effectively, originate the right opportunities, and convert them into value-accretive, executable deals. You will work closely with the Development Director while operating with a high degree of independence and commercial judgment. 

This is a highly autonomous, deal-driven role with end-to-end ownership of the development lifecycle - from shaping opportunities and assessing feasibility through to negotiation and contract execution.

 While Germany is the primary and accountable territory, the role may also support selective development activity in other DACH and or Benelux markets.

Your day to day

• Identify and progress development opportunities that align with brand positioning, market demand, and long-term value creation.
• Assess opportunities through a commercial and financial lens, balancing brand integrity with flexible deal structures that align incentives.
• Own and execute a Germany-focused territory strategy, informed by market trends, competitive activity, segment dynamics, and investor appetite.
• Manage a broad funnel of opportunities simultaneously, maintaining momentum through complex negotiations and extended development cycles.
• Build trusted, long-term relationships with owners, investors, asset managers, developers, banks, and operating partners, positioning IHG as a preferred brand partner.
• Lead negotiations with confidence, supported by strong financial literacy and comfort with feasibility analysis, deal economics, and value drivers.
• Work closely with internal teams across Design & Engineering, Investment Analysis, Brand, Operations, and Legal to ensure proposals are robust, brand-aligned, and operationally sound.
• Maintain disciplined oversight of pipeline activity, approvals, and documentation, ensuring accurate execution and effective handover to the New Hotels Opening team.

What we need from you

• Proven experience in hotel development, real estate finance, acquisitions, feasibility, or a comparable development-led role.
• Alternatively, senior-level experience within a franchised or brand-led development environment (beyond hotels alone), gained through consultancy, brokerage, banking, or investment roles, with hands-on exposure to complex, multi-party transactions.
• Strong commercial and financial capability, with confidence evaluating feasibility, value, and risk.
• A well-developed understanding of brand-led growth, competitive positioning, and the operational realities that influence long-term performance.
• Proven ability to build credibility with stakeholders, communicate value propositions persuasively, and think beyond individual deals to long-term partnerships.
• Highly self-directed, resilient, and detail-oriented, with the discipline to manage multiple workstreams through to completion.
• Fluent in German and English; additional European languages are an advantage.

This is a remote role, with the successful candidate ideally based near one of Germany’s major cities, and willing to travel regularly across Germany and within the DACH region, including to Frankfurt, home to IHG’s regional head office.

Ready to shape IHG’s next phase of growth in Germany? 
If you’re a commercially driven dealmaker with a strong German network and the ability to selectively support pan-DACH opportunities, we’d love to hear from you.