Director, Restaurant Openings & Concept Development

IHG Hotels & Resorts
Atlanta, GA
The Director, Restaurant Openings & Concept Development is accountable for end - to - end Food & Beverage (F&B) readiness for New Hotel Openings (NHOP) and Re-concept/Renovations across the Luxury & Lifestyle and Managed hotel portfolio. This role owns the F&B concept development process, critical path, and governance , ensuring concepts are brand-aligned, market-relevant, operationally viable, and delivered on time to support development timelines.

Concept development serves as the primary upstream input into restaurant openings readiness. The role operates primarily as a process owner and orchestrator , coordinating internal stakeholders and external agency partners, while selectively leading creative concept development for halo assets and priority projects where bespoke differentiation is required.

Your day to day

NHOP F&B Readiness & Governance
  • Owns NHOP F&B critical path and governance , serving as the single point of accountability for F&B readiness milestones.
  • Coordinate with key internal and external stakeholders including Design, Operations, Commercial, Development, etc.
  • Accountable for all NHOP F&B readiness deliverables, including:
    • Concept sign-off where applicable
    • Agency alignment
    • Design and development inputs
    • Menu and bar readiness
    • Training schedule, timeline and delivery
  • Ensures alignment between F&B concept development milestones and overall development timelines.
  • Leads issue resolution and escalation to maintain schedule, quality, and readiness standards.
  • Manages deployment schedules for F&B task force and works in tandem with finance to ensure task force program is billed accordingly
Concept Development
  • Serves as process owner and orchestrator for agency-led and internally created concept development
  • Defines scope, briefs, timelines, and governance for external agency partners.
  • Oversees agency outputs to ensure alignment with brand intent, market context, operational feasibility, and cost discipline.
  • Owns and maintains relationships with third party agency from approved/preferred partner lists.
  • Acts as the readiness gatekeeper for concept progression prior to Brand and Operations sign-off.
  • Personally leads creative concept development for select halo assets and priority projects.
  • Develops or directly shapes for halo / select in-house bespoke concept development:
    • Market Research
    • Concept narrative and positioning
    • Menu and bar direction
    • Guest experience intent
  • Serves as the strategic owner of scalable F&B concepts across the L&L portfolio.
  • Owns the evolution, adaptation, and readiness of core concepts for deployment across markets.
  • Ensures concepts remain commercially relevant, operationally viable, and aligned to brand intent.
  • Partners with Brand, Design, and Operations to translate concepts into deployable toolkits and NHOP-ready assets.
  • Attend development pitches and represent the Food & Beverage organization to potential owners
  • Communicate status updates to ownership groups and internal stakeholders on NHOP and Concept readiness and timelines
What we need from you
  • Bachelor's degree preferred. Experience leading cross-functional teams in a global hospitality company
  • At least 10 years of relevant experience with at least 6 years of experience at the Director level or above. Operational experience as a GM or Head of Food & Beverage in a Full Service or Luxury property ; Experience and expertise in t he development and roll out of Food & Beverage Programs and Products in the hospitality industry.
  • Is proficient in the use of Microsoft Office, Avero, Revinate, JD Edwards and Vantage.
  • Experience leading cross-functional teams in a global hospitality company.
  • Operationally savvy: Can walk in the shoes of hotel owners and operators; aware of the realities and challenges of hotel restaurant operations.
  • Strategic vision: Ability to pull together consumer and commercial priorities to envision how Kimpton's products should evolve.
  • Leadership skills: Ability to build, inspire and focus a team on delivery; passionate and committed; able to build a strong culture.
  • Results orientated: Completer/finisher - pushes projects through and delivers tangible change in the business; ability to execute.
  • Collaborative team player: Politically savvy; great at building consensus and relationships across all levels, effectively coordinates effort.
  • Resourcefulness/Organizational savvy: Knows who to ask for what and when to do it; can navigate the organization with minimal guidance. Collaborates with Regional Vice Presidents/Directors of Operations to build ownership support.
  • Innovative: Creative thinker with the ability to transform ideas into a practical strategy.
  • Dialed In: Commits to continuous education and ongoing networking within the market/industry.
  • Commercial focus: Good financial understanding and broader business perspective; commercial, action orientated mindset.
  • Credible: Can win trust of senior stakeholders up to and including EC (Executive Committee) level.
  • Communication skills: Exceptional communication ability to build and maintain strong relationships. Communicates expectations, deadlines and needs/progress.
Travel - 30%

Location - Remote: Candidate must reside in the United States within 1 hour proximity to a major US airport; OR Atlanta, GA: Our hybrid work structure is an expectation of three (3) days a week in office. This expectation may be adjusted to evolve with the changing needs of the business.

The salary range for this role is $120,000.00 to $160,000.00 . This role is also eligible for bonus pay (as applicable). We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance, 401K, and other benefits to employees.

#LI-YM1
Posted 2026-05-18

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