Director of Reservations

Director of Reservations

Panhandle Getaways

Panama City Beach, FL

Job Description

Panhandle Getaways is proud to be recognized as one of the Top 50 Vacation Rental Property Management Companies in the World by Rentals United. Managing over 900 short-term vacation rental properties along the Florida Panhandle, we deliver exceptional guest experiences while maintaining strong relationships with our homeowners.

Position Summary

This is a hands on hospitality leadership role leading a team of 20+ reservations agents and front desk staff. You will own how we hire, train, and develop them, and be responsible for the quality of every guest conversation the department has. You will also lead the reservations side of a new property management system rollout and build our guest conversation tracking and reporting from scratch.

You will not be doing it alone. Our Director of Guest Services is your go to partner, sharing team management, handling escalated guests, and putting out day to day fires so you can focus on coaching, quality, and better systems.

Expect to be on site five days a week and, at least initially, spend more than half your time in the queue alongside your team taking guest calls. That shifts as you build supervisor support and raise team capability.

What You'll Own

• Lead, develop, and hold accountable a team of 20+ reservations agents and front desk staff across four markets (30A, Destin, Panama City Beach and the Forgotten Coast)
• Own departmental hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, performance reviews, employee development, and termination decisions
• Build and continuously improve the department's training curriculum, quality standards, and new hire ramp-up process
• Oversee scheduling, hourly payroll approvals, PTO and schedule changes, staffing coverage, and overtime management
• Establish a consistent quality assurance process for monitoring guest conversations, identifying coaching opportunities, and improving service standards
• Analyze guest reviews and feedback to identify root causes, recurring reservation issues, and opportunities for operational improvement
• Lead reservations workflows and process development throughout the company's property management system transition
• Identify and champion opportunities for automation, workflow improvement, and greater operational efficiency
• Build guest conversation tracking, departmental reporting, and performance visibility from the ground up
• Establish and report on key departmental metrics, including speed to answer, call abandonment, response times, booking conversion, guest satisfaction, new hire ramp time, and team performance
• Partner with business leadership to translate departmental data into coaching priorities, staffing decisions, and operational improvements
• Serve as the primary reservations liaison with housekeeping, maintenance, owner services, revenue management, and other operational teams

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in reservations, guest services, hospitality operations, or a related customer-facing environment, including at least 3 years in a people leadership role
• Proven experience leading, coaching, and holding accountable a team of 15+ employees in a fast-paced service environment
• Demonstrated ability to develop employees through structured onboarding, training, coaching, performance feedback, and accountability
• Experience using KPIs, reporting, and performance data to identify trends, coach employees, and improve departmental results
• Strong operational judgment with the ability to balance exceptional guest service, company policies, and sound business decisions
• Experience handling escalated guest situations and coaching others to confidently resolve challenging conversations
• Strong organizational and process management skills
• Comfortable learning and working within reservation systems, property management software, CRM platforms, and other operational technology
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally with departments such as housekeeping, maintenance, revenue management, owner services, or comparable operational teams
• Ability and willingness to work on-site five days per week and initially spend significant time working alongside the reservations team, including handling guest calls

Preferred Qualifications

• Built training or QA programs from scratch
• Homeowner communication experience, including owner referrals and owner stay changes

Compensation & Benefits

Annual Salary $65,000 - $85,000 based on experience

What's Great About Working with Us

• Stable, locally owned company with strong community roots and family operated
• Manage one of the largest vacation rental portfolios in the area (900+ homes)
• Competitive pay with growth opportunities & performance raises
• Full Benefits: Health with HSA, dental, disability, life and vision insurance
• Retirement account with generous ~4% company match
• Workplace perks such as recreation activities, food and coffee, and flexible work schedules
• A genuinely fun and supportive team that is constantly improving while celebrating the wins