Vice President of Hospitality Platform Technology

Type of work: Full-Time

Location: Denver, CO

Company URL: http://www.azds.com/

About Us:

AZDS Interactive Group is the world’s leading digital agency for the luxury hospitality industry. It offers innovative marketing and technology solutions to top-tier luxury travel brands that improve their branded guest experience and deliver measurable conversion increases in room nights and revenue. We pride ourselves on our cutting-edge digital expertise and portfolio of world-renowned clients – from Accor SA to Montage International to Aspen Skiing Company to 750 + other luxury properties across 6 continents – but also on our forward-looking, entrepreneurial culture & atmosphere.

We specialize in crafting seamless, customer-centric digital ecosystems that enhance conversions through innovation and sophisticated solutions. Our distinguished lineup of products is exclusively tailored and developed in-house, encompassing custom websites, mobile applications, and our industry-leading hotel-specific booking engine and strategic suite of SaaS solutions, RevRaise. These integrated solutions seamlessly collaborate to create a cohesive, streamlined digital experience that fosters guest engagement and significantly boosts sales conversions.

To reinforce our commitment to excellence, we are actively seeking an exceptional VP of Hospitality Technology to join our esteemed team.

Description:

AZDS is looking for a Vice President of Hospitality Technology to lead the Company’s efforts to innovate, envision, build, launch and troubleshoot digital technology solutions as part of our industry-leading suite of digital products and services, which includes websites, mobile applications, digital marketing, and SaaS booking engine products for the world’s leading luxury travel companies.

This role will work intimately with our internal Product, UX/UI Design and Digital Development teams, as well as directly with our Clients, on a regular basis, and will serve as the go-to resource for internal and external teams alike for all capability questions and opportunities regarding our platforms, integrations and digital services.

The ideal candidate is an exceptional tech leader who also brings a strong Customer Service mentality and approach, with experience in strategically leading digital teams to deliver industry-leading platform solutions for forward-thinking digital innovators.

Job Responsibilities:

Design technology strategy for large scale revenue and traffic generating hospitality and travel websites, mobile applications, SaaS products and other digital solutions.
Serve as technology consultant on major projects to provide capabilities, insights, project risks, issues and develop mitigation and contingency plans where required.
Evaluate and provide direction for complex systems integrations (it is key to have robust knowledge of PMS, preferably both cloud and on-prem, CRS solutions, and RMS solutions). It is preferred to have additional knowledge on 3rd party ancillary solutions such as SevenRooms, OpenTable, Book4Time, Way, Alliants, etc.
Serve as primary technical contact for third-party partners and vendors, to identify and document integration points with third party solutions.
Evaluate resources, capacity and priorities to ensure streamlined efficiencies and maximization of profitability.
Direct research efforts to acquire learnings and make data-informed decisions based on user behavior to optimize and enhance platforms and products.
Directly work with Clients to understand objectives and capabilities to ensure accuracy in scoping new development features and creating repeatable process for project quoting.
Prepare and deliver proposals and presentations in addition to regular project documentation such as schedules, status reports and technical documentation.
Directly assist Clients and vendor partners with troubleshooting technical issues and opportunities.
Lead process for technical RFP, contracting and vendor documentation review and craft proposal, contractual and support-level agreements.
Define and document best practices and contribute to company knowledge sharing effort.
Deliver best-in-class websites, digital platforms, and new product features, bug-free, on-time, and on-budget.

Key Experience Requirements:

10+ years developing and leading large-scale technology engagement at senior leadership level.
Advanced knowledge of programming languages such as PHP, SQL, AngularJS, Symfony, React etc. and the ability to propose alternative solutions and cost-benefit analysis based on these technologies.
Expert level understanding of hospitality system technology including PMS, CRS, and RMS (Oracle, Sabre, and IDEAS preferred)
Expert level understanding of API connectivity -- using 3rd part hospitality PMS, CRS, CRM, RMS APIs to achieve direct connectivity within booking platforms.
Understanding of B2B GDS solutions and Travel Advisory bookings via IATA.
Experience building applications and digital platforms for large multinational brands.
Robust understanding of excellent UX/UI for websites and mobile apps.
Deep appreciation and understanding of user experience, including research, user-centered design techniques, information architecture, usability testing-and applying it to create compelling digital experiences for large scale platforms.
SME-level knowledge of object-oriented design concepts, various frameworks, data storage implementations and enterprise design patterns.
Proficiency in managing development projects via Jira.
Knowledge of multiple CMS platforms, such as AEM and Wordpress.
Proven ability to manage large scale technology projects successfully.
Experience adapting project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, Lean, Kanban) to the needs of the project.
Proficiency in Figma and the Adobe Creative Suite.
Must have an excellent understanding of best practices across technologies (client/server-side, Q/A, deployment, project management etc.).
Experience managing technology teams at scale.

Key Leadership Qualities:

Possess strong Customer Service mentality - able to provide white-glove service with the same level of attentiveness and service to go above and beyond with our Clients in the same way that they do with their guests.
Exhibits confidence, persuasion and solid interpersonal skills.
Advanced ability to analyze business requirements quickly to determine and assess feasibility.
Polished, poised, and professional in both mindset and manner: use of utmost discretion at all times.
Strong agility, with a willingness to adapt within an ever-changing and fast-paced environment and industry.
Up-to-date understanding of market trends and keen interest in following emerging technologies.
Excellent time management, problem solving, teamwork, and communication skills.
Flexibility in scheduling; willingness to work long hours as needed, especially around project milestone deadlines.

Compensation and benefits:

Estimated Base Salary range: $160-190k, depending on experience.
Annual bonus opportunity.
401(k) - 4% employer match (without vesting schedule and no compensation maximum).
Health insurance (company pays 100% of monthly premium).
Dental insurance (company pays 100% of monthly premium).
Vision insurance (company pays 100% of monthly premium).
Life insurance (company pays 100% of monthly premium).
Generous Paid time off policy, in addition to all major holidays.
Paid week off annually between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

This role is based on location at AZDS global headquarters in downtown Denver, Colorado, USA however full remote will be considered for the right candidate.

How to Apply:

Please submit your resume and cover letter.

We propel luxury brands as digital innovators.

AZDS is the global leader in providing digital marketing, technology and booking engine partner services to luxury hospitality brands.

Our expertise is in creating full-funnel digital conversion-focused experiences for an elite group of discerning partners that not only bring their brand to life in exceptional new ways, but drive increased bookings and revenue.

We create immersive 360-degree digital ecosystems that optimize every step along the guest journey for High Net Worth and Uber-HNW travelers. From go-to-market efforts to website development to booking engine integrations, AZDS offers a premier full-service partnership approach across all our clients’ owned channels that makes their jobs easier, drives increased revenue, and provides full-funnel guest analytics across a fully integrated digital experience.

A significant differentiator is that we lead the industry in custom integrations. We are certified partners of more hospitality systems than any other provider in the market.

We have 750+ clients across 6 continents, including iconic luxury hospitality brands such as Accor SA, Montage International, The Oetker Collection, The SET Collection, The Breakers Palm Beach, Virgin Hotels and Limited Edition, among many others. While our highest measure of success is driving increased client bookings, we have also won significant industry awards, including W3 Best in Class awards, The Internet Marketing Association Website of the Year, and Pixel Awards for our attention to user experience and design.

Our ability to see trended guest behaviors across all of our platforms (30 million guests & $2B annually) gives us the ability to provide benchmarking and aggregated data, insights and strategic advice to our partners to optimize performance.

We pride ourselves on our laser focus with an elite group of clients, our proven results in driving conversion, our first-class responsive service, and our ability to innovate and drive results as true extensions of our clients’ teams.

AZDS Interactive Group

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Vice President of Hospitality Platform Technology