General Manager
Opening in early 2025, The Standard, Brussels marks the hotel brand’s third outpost in Europe. Set in the city’s Northern Quarter, The Standard, Brussels brings the brand’s design, culture and activation-driven philosophy to Belgium.
With 180 guestrooms (plus 20 residences), the modern, new-build project features many stages for The Standard’s renowned day- and nightlife. A ground-floor greenhouse welcomes guests and locals into the lobby lounge, restaurant, and terrace. Upstairs, The Rooftop features its own restaurant, bar and garden—set to become a neighbourhood destination. Throughout the building, additional public and private event spaces are platforms for happenings.
The Standard, Brussels will welcome a new set of creative, dynamic guests into the brand ethos. In Brussels, The Standard’s signature mix of playful, sophisticated, unexpected hospitality finds roots and resonances in local culture. The simple premise behind The Standard is that it is anything but. Founded in 1999, the goals of every Standard are to up the aesthetic stakes and defy convention while attending to every detail, embracing our local communities, providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for our teams and, of course, delivering a smashing good time for our guests.
We are defined by our richness of personality, diversity of background and lifestyle and are now looking for a General Manager who will embody our ‘Anything but Standard’ ethos as we commence our pre-opening period.
Your role
As the General Manager for The Standard, Brussels you will work in partnership with the VP of Operations, Ownership and our Senior Leadership team to oversee our critical path and pre-opening period of the hotel, to ensure that the project runs to schedule, pre-opening budgets are managed and the property is successfully launched.
This role is a pivotal within the business to ensure to ensure that strategic commercial decisions flow through all areas of the operation to ensure productivity and profit is maintained at optimum levels. You will lead and guide the senior team through revenue generation, labour productivity and cost control are in line with our pre-opening and operating budget. With this in mind, you will Lead and manage the Annual Budget, Annual Marketing Plan, Annual Capital Expenditure Plan, and Forecasts/Re-forecasts in conjunction with our ownership and ensure strategic objectives are communicated to the team so to share the ‘big picture’.
Naturally you will be a strong operator with a solid background within both Rooms and F&B to enable you to take a pragmatic & creative approach to the business in order to develop new concepts, take an active role in hotel programming & events and develop partnerships to support revenue generation across all areas of the business. Your keen eye for details means that you never miss a thing, and your presence within the operation will ensure that our property is maintained meticulously and each area staged to optimise our guest’s experience.
We are of course The Standard, and you will play an active role in hosting our guests, from our many parties and events to daily meet and greets with our regular guests. Equally important are our team and you will work closely with our HR team to ensure that effective communication cascades down through all levels through regular meetings and updates, team work is effective and that all team members embody our culture and values.
Finally, you will take overall responsibility across the business for the implementation of company policies and procedures to ensure that all statutory and legal obligations are met, from licencing, fire, health & safety through to insurance and GDPR requirements.
As a natural team leader, you remain calm during challenging situations with the ability to lead, motivate and coach your team to enable them to develop and grow their skills. This is not a ‘Standard’ General Manager role so you will need to have serious stamina and passion, be highly social, upbeat and friendly; confident and handle pressure well; thrive in a high-volume, high-energy environment and able to work equally well both independently and as part of a wider senior management team.
Do you have what it takes to be our General Manager at The Standard....
A minimum of 5+ years’ experience as a General Manager or Hotel Manager gained within a similar Lifestyle Hotel or large 4- or 5-star Hotel in Brussels is essential for this role
In addition to this you may also have….
Pre-opening Hotel Experience with strong project management skills
A solid understanding of the Brussels Hotel market and competitors, local business requirements and understanding of the local labour market
A background in a High-Volume property with a complex multi-outlet F&B operation
A solid understanding or experience of managing a busy Nightlife operation
Excellent understanding of Revenue Management
Have previously managed the full end to end budgeting process with an excellence commercial acumen
Be familiar with the arts, music, and entertainment industries
Have previously led and managed a large team (circa 200 employees)
Experience across a range of senior management disciplines, with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously
Be highly social, motivated, and pro-active; you’ll need to be the life and soul of the party!!
You will need to have a flexible approach to working hours including some late nights as we host a regular nightlife programme and parties within the hotel.
If you think you have what it takes to be our General Manager at The Standard, Brussels we’d love to hear from you!
All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the European Union. Documented evidence of eligibility will be required from candidates prior to commencing employment.