Director of Human Resources

Who We Are:

Sonesta, with its 65-year history, owns and operates 40 full-service and extended stay locations including North America, South America and Africa/Asia.  Just as we believe in creating an unforgettable experience for our hotel guests, we take pride in treating every employee with respect, integrity and authenticity.  One of our core values is the on-going support of our employees’ professional development - this manifests itself in our ability to make Sonesta more than a chain, but a collection of truly unique and distinct properties. 

Position Summary:

The primary responsibility of the Director of Human Resources is to apply their expertise in support of Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta), both full service and extended stay segments (Sonesta ES Suites). The Director of Human Resources works closely with the Vice President of Human Resources and the corporate Human Resources team to provide generalist support in the areas of talent acquisition, employee relations, training needs assessment, performance management, and compensation analysis for our growing hotel base, as designated. The Sonesta brand has gone through significant growth in 2012 and is poised to add more properties to its existing regions.

Focus:

The focus of this job is making connections with people, and motivating and inspiring them to achieve results. The work involves driving toward results by enrolling the commitment and buy-in of others. While the job requires strong initiative and self-direction, results are only achieved with and through people, so the ability to successfully influence and persuade others by understanding how their individual needs and motivations link to goals is essential. The position requires a high degree of “selling” ideas and policies within the organization.

The role has variety of tasks and is dynamic and changing. Since goals and desired results can quickly change, the job requires regularly meeting with and pro-actively establishing relationships with new groups and people. The ability to understand, quickly react, and motivate others to adapt to the changing organization is a critical key to success. In general, the core of this position requires a motivated and motivating team builder and organization developer.

Decisions will many times have to be made in ambiguous situations under pressure, and will generally need the ideas and advice of others. Details will need to be handled quickly and accurately.

Environment:

The job environment is fast paced and results oriented. While there is urgency for goal achievement, responsibility for the achievement of results needs to be shared and effectively delegated when necessary. Initiating projects and processes beyond established practices will often require training and developing others and enlisting their support by using a “selling” rather than “telling” communication style.
 

Responsibilities:

Recruiting

• Partner with hotel General Managers and Human Resource Directors to develop a staffing strategy that meets business needs from headcount management, candidate vetting and selection, offer generation and onboarding.
• Proactively identify, source, and recruit candidates using a variety of sources with the goal of identifying the highest quality talent for the most reasonable cost.
• Build and manage relationships with external universities and organizations to facilitate recruiting process and to meet hiring goals.
• Work with hiring managers and interview teams to ensure job requirements are clearly understood and candidates are assessed against appropriate criteria. Provide interview training to interview teams, as needed.
• Conduct interviews via phone and in person, document results, and drive hiring process with the hiring manager and interviewing team. Maintain metrics to measure results.
• Manage relationships with candidates to include communication regarding candidates’ status, document management, and onboarding; develop and maintain an active applicant pool of qualified candidates for potential/future positions.
• Stay informed of the acquisitions of new properties as it pertains to the hiring of people, and work with Directors to coordinate staffing assessments and documentation.

Employee Relations/Advisory

• Assist in auditing hotel Human Resource operations.
• Ensure day-to-day application, communication, and implementation of HR policies and programs.
• Participate in employee relations management activities.
• Provide guidance and/or serve as liaison between field staff and appropriate specialists to identify courses of action related to recruitment, retention, performance management, legal issues, compensation, and training and development.
• Support managers in all HR-related matters consistent with the values of Sonesta, ensuring prompt communication and resolution of issues.

Various

• Actively participate in the design, planning, and rollout of HR initiatives as per the VP of HR.
• Assist in benchmarking HR practices and developing process improvements; apply metrics to measure continuous progress.
• Protect interests of Company and its employees in accordance with Human Resources policies, federal and state laws, and regulations.
• Represent Sonesta in networking, recruiting, and professional organizations.

Requirements:

• 10 years of solid generalist experience in a high-volume recruitment environment implementing and utilizing a variety of talent acquisition techniques, with heavy emphasis in hotel or related service industry.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• Prior experience serving as a Generalist in a multi-location setting is preferred.
• Understanding of HR policies and practices; strong knowledge of employment law and hiring “best practices.”
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, i.e., poised and engaging, empathetic communication style that can enliven, engage, and positively impact individuals and groups.
• Ability to partner with all levels of hiring managers, providing a consultative approach to hiring strategy and employee relations.
• Ability to act quickly and efficiently with high degree of professionalism.
• Customer service orientation.
• Ability to work independently and in a team environment.
• Ability to travel as required to hotel properties (up to 40%).