Job at a glance
General Manager — By the Sea Resorts Panama City Beach, FL The Opportunity We're hiring a General Manager to lead a large beachfront hotel through a physical and operational turnaround. This is an active, occupied property — not a dark reopening — requiring a leader who can run day-to-day operations while simultaneously managing capital renovation work and rebuilding guest satisfaction. The right candidate has hard operational chops in the two departments that drive guest experience and asset condition: housekeeping and engineering.
This is not a role for a GM who delegates those functions and reviews reports — we need someone who can walk the property, diagnose root causes, and rebuild both departments from the ground up. What You'll Own Renovation & Capital Project Management Manage active or phased renovation work while the hotel remains operational — sequencing, contractor coordination, minimizing guest disruption and OOO inventory.
Serve as property-side owner of the capital project punch list; report progress and issues to ownership with clear timelines. Prior experience leading a hotel through renovation-while-operating is strongly preferred. Housekeeping Leadership Direct hands-on management of the housekeeping department: staffing model, inspection standards, deep-clean cycles, and room-condition consistency. Own the housekeeping component of guest satisfaction recovery — this is the single largest lever on review scores.
Strong housekeeping management experience is strongly preferred, not just oversight of a director. Engineering & Property Condition Direct hands-on management of the engineering/maintenance department: preventive maintenance program, work-order discipline, life-safety compliance, and internal physical product requirements. Own remediation of deferred maintenance backlog and coordinate with capital renovation scope to avoid duplicated or wasted work.
Strong engineering/maintenance management experience is strongly preferred, not just oversight of a chief engineer. Revenue & Financial Performance Strong understanding of RevPAR, ADR, occupancy, and channel mix; execute against a centralized revenue management strategy set by the Chief Commercial Officer. Own CPOR, labor productivity, purchasing controls, budgeting, and flow-through. People & Culture Recruit, train, and retain department heads and line staff in a challenging labor market.
Build accountability and consistency, particularly within housekeeping and engineering. What Success Looks Like Measurable, sustained improvement in guest satisfaction scores and inspection results. Housekeeping and engineering functioning as strengths rather than liabilities. Renovation milestones hit without unplanned OOO expansion or guest-facing disruption. CPOR and labor targets held while service and condition improve.
The Ideal Candidate Proven Hotel GM experience, ideally in a mid-market beach or resort property. Direct, hands-on experience managing housekeeping departments — required. Direct, hands-on experience managing engineering/maintenance departments — required. Experience operating a hotel through active renovation — strongly preferred Franchise/brand standards experience (any major flag) - preferred Financial fluency: RevPAR, CPOR, labor %, budgeting, forecasting, P&L.
Panama City Beach / Emerald Coast market familiarity is a plus but not required How to Apply Send your resume and a short note covering: Your hands-on experience managing housekeeping and engineering departments (not just directing managers who ran them) Your experience operating a hotel during active renovation A guest satisfaction turnaround you drove, with the numbers