Director, Hotel Leadership Development

JOB SUMMARY 

The Associate Development function at Marriott International serves the learning and development needs of associates worldwide, enabling every associate’s journey to peak performance while accelerating results to Grow Forward, faster. The Director, Hotel Leadership Development is accountable for designing, building, and bringing to life the leadership development solutions that serve leaders in Marriott’s hotels — from core development through Executive Committee, General Manager, and the field leadership community that supports them. 

Reporting to the Senior Director, Hotel Leadership and Career Development, this role translates enterprise strategy into working solutions. Where the Senior Director sets global direction, governance, and standards, the Director owns the architecture, design, delivery, and continuous improvement of the hotel leadership portfolio: core programs serving on-property leaders; qualification frameworks that define and certify readiness for key hotel roles; leadership development and pathway potential programs for hotel Executive Committee members; the General Manager development ecosystem spanning onboarding, acceleration, and continuous professional development; and the enablement that equips the Regional Vice President community to develop and coach the General Managers they lead. 

This is a hands-on design and delivery role as well as a consultative one. The Director serves as a trusted advisor to continent learning teams, senior operational leaders, and HR partners for hotel leadership development needs; facilitates flagship experiences for senior hotel audiences; sets facilitation standards and provides guidance and support to the facilitator community owned by continent learning teams; and manages the external partners and vendors who deliver alongside Marriott. 

For General Manager development specifically, the Director works within the partnership the Senior Director holds with the Performance Advisory function, which serves as the strategic thought partner to Corporate Disciplines such as Finance, Risk Management, HR and Ethics and Compliance.  The Director engages those disciplines through that partnership rather than in parallel to it, ensuring the learning experience General Managers receive is coherent, well sequenced, and realistic against the demands on their time. 

The Director also partners closely with the Brand Talent Associate Development team to ensure alignment between the enterprise hotel leadership portfolio and the learning and development strategy for Marriott’s luxury brands, supporting the distinct expectations, service culture, and leader capability requirements those brands carry. 

CANDIDATE PROFILE 

Education and Experience 

Required: 

• 4-year degree from an accredited university in Organizational Behavior/Development, Business Administration, Hospitality Management, or related major 

• 8 years of experience in leadership development, learning and development, organizational development, and/or hospitality operations, demonstrating progressive career growth and a pattern of exceptional performance 

OR 

• Master’s degree or MBA from an accredited university in Business Management, Adult Education, Organizational Behavior/Development, or similar 

• 5 years of experience in leadership development, learning and development, or related professional area 

Preferred: 

• Deep understanding of the hotel operating environment and the unique demands of the General Manager and Executive Committee roles across brands, service models, and geographies 

• Hotel operations leadership experience, or demonstrated credibility with operations leaders earned through sustained partnership 

• Demonstrated expertise designing, implementing, and measuring leadership development solutions at global scale 

• Experience building or operating qualification, certification, or role-readiness frameworks 

• Proven ability to facilitate engaging learning experiences for diverse audiences, including senior leaders 

• Strong consultative and diagnostic skills to translate business needs into targeted development solutions 

• Strong project and program management skills, with experience leading complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives to delivery 

• Proven ability to influence without authority, build alignment, and drive results across a global matrix organization 

• Experience with assessment tools, diagnostics, learning technologies, and analytics 

• Familiarity with luxury hospitality and the distinct leader capability and service culture expectations of luxury brands 

• Experience selecting and managing external design and delivery partners 

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; able to engage confidently with senior leadership and external partners 

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES 

Architecture & Solution Design 

• Translate the hotel leadership development strategy into a clear architecture of offerings — core learning, diagnostics, assessments, experiences, and resources — aligned to enterprise leadership principles and hotel operational realities. 

• Lead the design, build, and evolution of global leadership programs and experiences for hotel leaders, applying data, insights, and modern learning methodologies. 

• Integrate assessment, feedback, and experiential learning into program design to drive sustained behavior change rather than content consumption. 

• Ensure solutions are designed for scale and adaptable across continents, brands, and service and operating models without losing coherence. 

Core Programs & Qualification Frameworks 

• Own the design, delivery, and continuous improvement of core development programs serving on-property leaders, ensuring clarity of purpose, role-based pathways, and consistent quality of experience at scale. 

• Build and operate qualification frameworks for key hotel roles, including standards of evidence, assessment approach, and certification mechanics, working within the governance the Senior Director establishes. 

• Maintain the operational integrity of qualification — records, moderation, consistency of assessor judgment, and defensibility of outcomes — across continents and markets. 

• Partner with continent learning teams and Operations to drive adoption, completion, and sustained application in the hotel environment. 

General Manager Development 

• Build and sustain the General Manager development ecosystem — onboarding, acceleration, and continuous professional development — serving General Managers across brands, geographies, and service and operating models. 

• Design and deliver flagship General Manager programs and experiences, ensuring they meet the range of need from newly appointed General Managers to seasoned leaders running complex hotels. 

• Curate and sequence the wider General Manager learning experience so that leadership, commercial, technical, and brand content arrives as one navigable whole, engaging those disciplines through the Performance Advisory partnership. 

• Equip the Regional Vice President community with the frameworks, tools, diagnostics, and enablement that make field leaders more effective developers of the General Managers they lead. 

Executive Committee Development & Pathway Programs 

• Design and deliver leadership development for hotel Executive Committee members across disciplines, building both functional leadership capability and enterprise leadership breadth. 

• Build and run pathway potential programs that identify, assess, and accelerate Executive Committee members with potential to progress toward General Manager and broader leadership roles. 

• Operate nomination and selection processes for pathway programs — eligibility screening, calibration input, cohort composition, and participant communication — within the governance the Senior Director sets. 

• Ensure programs are globally relevant and culturally nuanced, and that participant experience is used as source material rather than content delivered at delegates. 

Facilitation & Delivery 

• Facilitate flagship leadership experiences for senior hotel audiences, including General Managers and Executive Committee cohorts. 

• Set facilitation standards, approach, and quality expectations for the hotel leadership portfolio. 

• Provide guidance, tools, and support to the facilitator community built and owned by continent learning teams, including facilitator guides, briefing and calibration sessions, and quality feedback that helps continents deliver the portfolio consistently at scale. 

Consulting & Partnership 

• Serve as a trusted advisor to continent learning teams, senior operational leaders, and HR partners, translating operational challenges into practical development solutions. 

• Influence and align diverse stakeholders to drive adoption of the hotel leadership development portfolio and sustain long-term engagement. 

• Work within the Performance Advisory partnership for aspects of the General Manager experience outside leadership development, respecting discipline relationships and surfacing issues to the Senior Director where alignment is needed. 

• Partner closely with the Luxury Brand Associate Development team to align the hotel leadership portfolio with the learning and development strategy for Marriott’s luxury brands, ensuring enterprise solutions accommodate luxury service culture and leader expectations, and supporting luxury-specific development where it connects to the enterprise portfolio. 

• Navigate complex matrix environments with credibility and diplomacy across cultures, geographies, and brands. 

Program & Project Management 

• Own delivery roadmaps, resourcing plans, and program operations for the hotel leadership portfolio, ensuring execution excellence across regions. 

• Manage program budgets and third-party spend, and select, brief, and manage external design and delivery partners to deliver against Marriott standards. 

• Anticipate and mitigate risks to delivery, escalating trade-offs and decisions to the Senior Director where they affect strategy, investment, or governance. 

Measurement & Continuous Improvement 

• Operate the measurement approach for hotel leadership development, linking learning outcomes to leader effectiveness and business impact. 

• Monitor and assess the effectiveness of programs and qualification outcomes, and use insights to evolve offerings and retire what no longer earns its place. 

• Stay current on global hospitality, leadership, and learning trends, and benchmark Marriott’s offerings against external best practice to drive continuous innovation. 

CRITICAL SKILLS 

• Design & Execution: Turns strategy into a coherent architecture of offerings and gets them built, delivered, and adopted. 

• Operational Acumen: Understands hotel dynamics and designs solutions that hold up in the operating environment and drive on-property performance. 

• Executive Facilitation & Presence: Credible and compelling in front of senior hotel audiences; sets the standard for facilitation quality across the portfolio. 

• Consultative Diagnosis: Diagnoses the real need beneath the stated request and recommends the proportionate solution. 

• Influence & Storytelling: Builds relationships and mobilizes others to action through partnership, consultation, and storytelling, without relying on authority. 

• Enterprise Collaboration: Works effectively across functions, cultures, geographies, and brands to create global alignment and local relevance. 

• Innovation & Learning Mindset: Embraces experimentation, evidence, and continuous improvement in leadership development.