Lead a landmark hotel opening in one of Victoria’s most exciting waterfront destinations! In partnership with Plenary Group, IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) is bringing its world-class Crowne Plaza brand to the Victorian regional city of Geelong. Scheduled to open in 2026, Crowne Plaza Geelong will redefine premium accommodation, offering a sophisticated stay for both leisure and corporate travelers. It will form part of the highly anticipated Nyaal Banyul Geelong Convention and Exhibition Centre precinct, a transformative development featuring a 1,000-seat convention centre, exhibition spaces, and a vibrant retail and hospitality hub. Located in the heart of the emerging precinct, this 200-room hotel will feature spacious suites, an extensive restaurant and bar offering, pool, gym, and meeting facilities. With over 400 hotels worldwide, Crowne Plaza empowers guests on their journeys by creating spaces that foster connection, collaboration, and exploration. With over four decades of expertise, Crowne Plaza is a trusted hospitality leader, pioneering blended travel with tailored experiences and warm, unscripted service that meets the needs of modern travelers. To deliver this brand and shape this iconic destination, we are now on the lookout for a General Manager to lead the hotel’s pre-opening strategy and operations, and set the foundation for long-term success. **A little taste of your day-to-day** As General Manager, every day is different, but mostly you’ll be: + **Strategic Planning** : Develop and implement pre-opening strategies, timelines, and budgets to ensure an efficient and successful launch. + **Team Building** : Recruit, train, and inspire a diverse team to embody our culture of excellence and true hospitality. + **Guest Experience** : Set high standards for guest service, ensuring that the property offers memorable and personalized experiences, in accordance with our InterContinental brand standards. + **Operations Management** : Oversee daily operations, manage budgets, and ensure the hotel complies with health, safety, and regulatory standards. + **Sales & Marketing** : Collaborate with the sales and marketing teams to develop effective launch campaigns and drive occupancy rates. + **Community Engagement** : Build strong relationships with the Convention Centre precinct, local businesses and the community to position the hotel as a top destination in Geelong. **What we need from you** + Proven experience as a General Manager within a full-service hotel, with pre-opening experience preferred. + Strong commercial acumen and a proven track record in driving financial and operational performance, ideally with solid understanding of regional markets. + Expertise in stakeholder management, fostering key partnerships within the business and local community. + Capacity to build and lead a high-performing and engaged team and commitment to developing and coaching colleagues. + Financial acumen and experience with budgeting, forecasting, and P&L management. + Demonstrated skill-set within Food & Beverage activation and Convention Centre operations. + Expertise across all aspects of hotel operations, revenue management, and customer and brand service standards. + Ability to work autonomously and manage workload and key deliverables within a project opening timeline. + Proficiency in hotel management software and systems and Microsoft Office Suite. + Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a high attention to detail. + Tertiary education within a Business, Hotel Management or related field (preferred). + Full Australian working rights. **What you can expect from us** Not only will you benefit from a truly unique and career-defining opportunity as part of this exciting hotel opening, working with a talented and experienced New Hotel Openings team, but you’ll receive a competitive salary that rewards all your hard work and a wide range of benefits designed to help you live your best work life – including, impressive room discounts and some of the best training in the business. Most importantly, your career journey will be supported through our lifelong development programs, IHG career milestone celebrations, and transfer of leave entitlements as you move and grow with IHG. Our mission is to welcome everyone and create inclusive teams where we celebrate differences and encourage colleagues to bring their whole selves to work. IHG Hotels & Resorts provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability. We promote a culture of trust, support, and acceptance. Always welcoming different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. So, join us and you’ll become part of our ever-growing global family. Don't quite meet every single requirement, but still believe you'd be a great fit for the job? We'll never know unless you hit the 'Apply' button. Start your journey with us today. At IHG Hotels & Resorts, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We firmly believe that all our colleagues deserve to be treated equally and have the same opportunities to develop and grow their skills within our business and provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and colleagues without regard to an individual's, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital or familial status, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.