Director of Operations

Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel has masterfully transformed a Renaissance Revival landmark building, part of Curlett & Beelman's iconic architectural stamp on Los Angeles. Designer Kelly Wearstler seamlessly elevates 147 rooms and suites with compelling creative design, vintage California influences, and a trove of original works by L.A. artists.

Discover a trio of inviting dining destinations in one historic location, alongside a refined split-level rooftop pool deck with uninterrupted views of the city lights; plus 12,000 square feet of distinctive event spaces, including two suites that integrate the building's sporting-club past by repurposing the vintage basketball court and indoor pool into inspired, unexpected design elements.

Position Overview
The Director of Operations is a senior hotel executive responsible for the daily leadership and performance of Rooms, Food & Beverage, Engineering, Valet, and Security operations at Downtown LA Proper Hotel. This role requires a highly visible, hands-on leader who leads from the floor, ensures operational excellence, and delivers consistently elevated guest experience in alignment with Proper Hospitality's brand and service standards.

Roles & Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Provide direct oversight of Rooms Division, Food & Beverage, Engineering, Valet, and Security operations, ensuring full compliance with applicable wage and hour laws, labor regulations, and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) requirements
• Maintain a strong on-property presence, actively engaging with guests, teams, and leaders across all operational areas
• Ensure seamless coordination between departments and third-party partners to support smooth daily operations

Labor Relations

• Effectively lead Rooms Division ensuring compliance with collective bargaining agreements and labor regulations
• Partner with People & Culture to support labor relations, grievance handling, contract adherence, and productive collaboration with bargaining units
• Balance operational efficiency with positive employee relations and service delivery

Food & Beverage Leadership

• Provide strategic and hands-on leadership for all Food & Beverage operations, including restaurant, in-room dining, and events
• Drive service standards, quality control, guest satisfaction, and financial performance across all F&B outlets
• Collaborate with culinary and F&B leadership to ensure consistency, creativity, and brand alignment

*Prior oversight of a full-scale Food & Beverage operation is preferred

Guest Experience & Service Excellence

• Champion exceptional service standards across all guest touchpoints
• Actively participate in service recovery and guest engagement
• Monitor guest feedback and implement continuous improvements to enhance satisfaction and loyalty

Financial & Performance Management

• Drive departmental performance against budgets, forecasts, and key performance indicators, including labor productivity and cost controls
• Partner with department heads to develop action plans that improve profitability while maintaining quality
• Support annual budgeting, forecasting, and capital planning initiatives

Facilities & Safety

• Oversee Engineering operations to ensure the hotel is well maintained, safe, and operationally sound
• Ensure compliance with life safety, security protocols, and regulatory requirements.
• Oversee third-party (Engineering, Valet and Security, ensuring service standards, contract compliance, and guest safety expectations are met

People Leadership & Culture

• Lead, coach, and develop department heads and management teams
• Build a strong leadership bench through mentoring, training, and succession planning
• Foster a culture aligned with Proper Hospitality values, emphasizing accountability, teamwork and guest-centric thinking

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement strategies to maximize revenue, profitability, and guest satisfaction across all outlets
• Monitor and evaluate outlet performance metrics, including guest satisfaction scores, revenue targets, and operational efficiency

Collaboration & Communication

• Work closely with hotel leadership, culinary, and sales teams to drive brand initiatives and special events
• Maintain strong relationships with external partners, vendors, and local community organizations

Qualifications

• Minimum 8-10 years of progressive hotel operations leadership experience in luxury, lifestyle or design forward hotels
• Demonstrated Senior Leadership experience overseeing hotel operations with a focus on Food & Beverage in a hotel or lifestyle hospitality environment
• Experience managing unionized hotel departments in compliance with collective bargaining agreements preferred
• Proven ability to oversee **Engineering** and manage **third-party service providers** (Valet and Security). Proven leadership experience managing multiple outlets or multi-unit operations
• Strong financial acumen with experience in budgeting, forecasting, and analyzing P&L statements
• Deep understanding of F&B operations, including culinary, service, and bar management
• Hands-on, visible leader with excellent communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills
• Ability to develop high-performing teams and mentor future leaders
• Knowledge of local, state, and federal labor and liquor laws
• Passion for delivering exceptional guest experiences aligned with a lifestyle hotel brand

Key Attributes

• Leadership: Inspires and motivates teams to deliver excellence
• Strategic Thinking: Able to plan and execute long-term goals while managing day-to-day operations
• Financial Acumen: Strong understanding of budgets, forecasting, and profitability
• Problem Solving: Proactively identifies issues and implements effective solutions
• Communication: Clear, persuasive, and approachable in all interactions
• Guest Focused: Committed to delivering exceptional guest experiences consistently
• Adaptability: Comfortable managing change and operating in a fast-paced environment
• Collaboration: Works effectively across departments to achieve organizational goals

Why Join Proper Hospitality

At Proper, we build experiences that move people - and that begins with the team behind them. As a best-in-class employer, we're committed to creating one of the Best Places to Work in hospitality by nurturing a culture where creativity, excellence, and humanity thrive together.

Everything we do is grounded in the belief that hospitality is more than a profession - it's an opportunity to care for others and make lives better. Guided by the Pillars of Proper, we show up with warmth and authenticity (Care Proper), strive for excellence in everything we do (Achieve Proper), think creatively and resourcefully (Imagine Proper), and take pride in the style and culture that make us who we are (Present Proper).

We believe our people are our greatest strength, and we invest deeply in their wellbeing, growth, and sense of belonging. From comprehensive benefits to meaningful development programs, Proper is designed to help you build a career, and a life, that feels as inspiring as the experiences we create for our guests.

Our Commitment: Building the Best Place to Work

Our Best Place to Work initiative is a living commitment - a continuous investment in our people, our culture, and our purpose. We listen, learn, and evolve together to create an environment where everyone feels empowered to imagine boldly, achieve confidently, care deeply, and present themselves authentically.

At Proper, joining the team means more than finding a job - it means joining a community that believes in building beautiful experiences together, for our guests and for one another.