Director of Sales (Pre-Opening)

Salary Details

Salary Description: Competetive Salary Offered

Job Description For Director of Sales (Pre-Opening)

Description

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Let's Go Lisbon!

Opening in 2026, The Standard, Lisbon marks our long-anticipated arrival in one of Europe's most happening cities. Located at Palácio Santa Clara, the hotel rises above the colourful alleyways of Alfama-Lisbon's most picturesque neighbourhood-offering front-row views of the river. Built atop the ancient College of St. Francis Xavier, which served as the Portuguese Royal Navy Hospital for over 200 years, the property is being reimagined by acclaimed architect Samuel Torres de Carvalho. His design respects the building's heritage while looking ahead to a bold, unconventional Lisbon.

Anchored in food, music, art, and culture, The Standard, Lisbon brings our signature design and experience-driven philosophy to Portugal. With 165 guestrooms and 24 adjacent apartments, the expansive property features vibrant spaces for day- and nightlife programming. The ground floor welcomes guests and locals with a lobby lounge, pharmacy bar, all-day dining restaurant, and multiple terraces, gardens, and a pool deck. Upstairs includes a café, spa, gym, and event spaces. The rooftop bar and terrace are poised to become a neighbourhood destination.

Our signature blend of playful, sophisticated, and unexpected hospitality finds resonance in the cultural heart of Lisbon. Set in Fado's holy land-a maze of staircases, patios, and hidden corners-The Standard offers a dynamic contrast that will surprise and delight.

As we enter the pre-opening phase, we're now looking for a Director of Sales who will embody our 'Anything but Standard' ethos.

Your role

As our Director of Sales, you will work in partnership with our General Manager, Senior Executive team and Global Sales teams to oversee the Sales function of our new property in Lisbon. As part of our senior pre-opening team, you will oversee a number of important Sales projects on our critical path during pre-opening period, to ensure that our pre-opening Sales strategy is implemented within the property in the lead up to our opening.

Over the longer term you will play a key role in defining our revenue budget with our Director of Revenue and implement the annual sales plan through your dedicated property sales team across all market segments in order to drive market share, average rate and RevPAR. You will also work closely with both the Revenue & Marketing Directors in the creation of promotions and packages to support transient and direct sales to achieve our monthly revenue forecasts.

The Standard, Lisbon marks our fourth property in Europe and you will help develop our wider sales and business development strategy within the region to target key accounts travelling inbound to Lisbon along with future pan-European business leads for all Standard properties. You will be the main contact for Key accounts and also lead the annual RFP process on-behalf of the hotel.

As our senior sales lead on property, you will of course be responsible for introducing and showcasing The Standard to the Lisbon market. Initially this will involve creating a buzz and anticipation within the market as we prepare to open, through networking with potential clients and conducting 'hard hat' tours of the building. During the opening period of the hotel there will be numerous opportunities to entertain and welcome clients to the hotel, through individual fam trips, tours and of course various opening events and parties.

Your role will involve international travel in order to develop key markets, from within Portugal, Brazil, Europe and USA. This may include roadshows, sales calls and international travel trade fairs to promote not only The Standard, Lisbon but also the wider lifestyle group. As we continue to expand our brand within Europe you will help develop our wider sales and business development strategy within the region to target key accounts travelling inbound to Europe along with future pan-European business leads for all Standard properties.

This is not a 'Standard' Director of Sales position, so you will need to have miles and miles of personality and stamina, be highly social, upbeat and friendly; confident and can handle pressure well; thrive in a high-volume, high-energy environment and able to work equally well both independently and as part of a team.

Qualifications
Do you have what it takes to be our Director of Sales at The Standard, Lisbon?

A minimum of5+ years' experience Senior Sales experiencewith at least 3 years as aDirector of Salesideally gained within a similar Lifestyle Hotel or large 4- or 5-star Hotel in Lisbon or Portugal is essential for this role.

In addition to this, the ideal candidate will also...

• Have a solid understanding and detailed knowledge of the Lisbon Hotel market along with key markets and current travel trends
• Be a confident and proactive self-starter ideally with strong project management skills (including system implementation and setting up of Sales functions)
• Pre-opening hotel experience is an advantage
• Have prior experience of developing revenue budgets and hotel sales plans combined with a creative 'blue sky' approach in developing bespoke sales and promotional activities that deliver true ROI.
• Have a varied and wide range of key business contacts leads (ideally within our key target markets, Corporate, Groups, MICE, or Entertainment)
• Be highly motivated and pro-active management style (prior experience of managing a sales team is a must)
• Have sound decision making; the calm in the storm with strong negotiation skills
• Be experienced of producing a range of monthly business and sales reports for both Corporate Office & Private Ownership.
• Hold relevant Hotel Management qualifications at an equivalent of bachelor's degree
• Exceptional attention to detail with strong Administration and IT skills
• Fluency in English in addition to Portuguese is essential for this role
• During our preopening period you may need to have a flexible approach to working hours