Aparium Hotel Group Looking for Regional Director of Finance at Chicago, IL Full Time

Reports to: SVP, Finance & Accounting, the position is exempt

Who We Are

Hotels done differently. At Aparium, we believe in the power of People, Place and Character.  We ensure our hotels are a place where individuals are valued and celebrated, elevating our associates’ pride in who they are, where they live and who we serve.  Our hotel is a tribute to the neighborhoods and the people of the communities where we operate.   

Founded in 2011, Aparium is driven by the belief that all hospitality experiences should be fueled by the poetics of their surroundings and was born with an intense focus on unearthing the amazing moments unique to every city. Since its founding, Aparium has grown into a new kind of hotel brand, one that ventures off the beaten path, both geographically and philosophically. Recognized by Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards as a leading hotel brand, Aparium is known for its singular ability to combine the business acumen of large hospitality companies with the charm of boutique hotels, bringing the disparate forces together in bustling, smaller markets.

Who You Are

Your career experience is eclectic and dynamic. Having grown your career from diverse operating roles into corporate or regional leadership roles within upper-upscale or luxury hotel companies, you became bored. Decided to follow your curiosity to boutique hotel and lifestyle brands within private companies. Your early experiences were not only in rooms, as you couldn’t help yourself from experiencing food + beverage or sales + marketing or maybe something else. You are candid, articulate, and savvy in your partnership with ownership groups and are adaptable in how you engage with a variety of owners.

For you to feel comfortable within our portfolio, you will have familiarity with secondary markets and recognize that hospitality differs from city to city and even from neighborhood to neighborhood. You are comfortable with casual sophistication and realize the concept of luxury has evolved to be approachable and not cookie-cutter. You are adventurous in your backyard and are known to have your pulse on your city and are a ready participant within your community. You get excited about the newest restaurant opening, amenity packaging, a guest service story created by an employee’s intuition and not a standard, a new service concept, and get goosebumps when one of your direct reports gets promoted.

THE ROLE

The Regional Director of Finance (RDOF) reports to the SVP, Finance & Accounting and ensures execution of hotel financial obligations. The person in this position must be tactical and strategic; if you only prefer to “see the forest” and not “plant the trees,” then this is not a role for you. All leaders of Aparium are required to get down and dirty to unearth existing needs and personally ensure what needs to be fixed is repaired. We are a young company in hyper-growth, so having the ability to be a soldier is as critical as being a general.

The Regional Director of Finance provides strategic leadership, functional guidance, and valuable insights to Operations Leaders, Partners, Executive Committees and Department Heads for optimal business decisions for hotels within the Region; Interacts with the ownership group, asset managers, hotel legal counsel, insurance companies, tax consultants, auditors, commercial and government banks to control the assets of the business effectively. The role is an interdependent part of the core regional team. The Regional Director of Finance will be a highly motivated team player with strong accounting, communication, business presentation, and analytical skills and a solid multi-unit business and finance leader.

Key Responsibilities

• Uphold and role model the company’s principles of People, Place, and Character; and ensure direct reports are also modeling the way of our values that drive collaboration, intuition, and translocal hospitality.
• Creation and embracing the culture of business partnering by working with the SVP, the Hotel Directors of Finance, and the Hotel General Managers, jointly responsible for achieving optimal operating performance and returns for Aparium Group and our owners without losing sight of all measure KPIs.
• Develop and manage key relationships with respective Hotel Directors of Finance, Hotel General Managers, and their senior managers to provide financial support and understanding of short and long-term financial plans.
• Review the financial performance of the hotel department/area, analysis of variances, forecasts, and budgets of home hotels and hotels in the Region. Challenge existing strategies and recommend alternate strategies to improve the effectiveness of the business or financial management continually.
• Contribute to business decisions of the home hotel and hotels in the Region; ensure the complete conversion of revenue generation opportunities and the capturing of all revenues (i.e., TREVPAR, RevPAR, RevPOR, GOPPAR, etc.)
• Oversight of the Hotel Directors of Finance in the Region, developing and implementing “corrective action plans” on internal and external audit and operational reports.
• Oversight in developing the business acumen of all levels of the Hotel Leadership teams to ensure they understand the impact of every component on the business as a whole and embrace the financial reporting processes and other information available to drive the performance of their areas of responsibility.
• Support the SVP/Area GMs and the Hotel General Managers in the Region in developing a solid business relationship with the hotel ownership groups by participating and contributing in meetings and discussions and responding proactively to owner requests and initiatives within the boundaries of the HMA, P&P’s, ownership structure and bank documents.
• Manage and monitor pre-opening budgets for new openings, transitions, and take over. Provide leadership in rolling out company initiatives and projects as required.
• Demonstrates passion and knowledge for all aspects of hotel finance, including but not limited to accounts payable, accounts receivable, income controls, general cashiering, budgeting/forecasting, reconciliations, and cash flow forecasting.
• Use various communication channels to guarantee people are “in the know” by using traditional methods to modern practices; ensures messaging represents the brand and is meaningful to all associates.
• Aparium Hotel Group does not discriminate based on disability, veteran status, or on any other basis protected under federal, state, or local laws.

Position Requirements

• Minimum of 5+ years of work experience as a Director of Finance required, ideally in multiple progressive, size, and complex hotels.
• 2+ years of Area or RDOF experience required. Minimum of 3 or more mid to full-service hotels.
• Experienced in all areas of finance and accounting; capital project management, financial reporting and analysis, Per-opening oversight analysis, and related areas.
• Background in hotel accounting and multi-property financial management and the intricacies and vernacular of hotel accounting, specifically AHLA Uniform System of Accounts.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance or Hospitality; Master’s degree preferred.
• Travels 70-80%, sometimes it may be a little more, or sometimes a little less.
• Willingness to be based in Chicago office, located in the West Loop; Comfortable working in an open-space office environment at headquarters.
• Adaptable interpersonal skills to communicate and address all associate levels of the hotel.
• Willing to work a flexible schedule as sometimes “month-end” responsibilities and tasks need extra attention to ensure accuracy.
• Professional proficiency of the English language in reading, writing, and verbal communication

How You Lead

• Engage others in general conversation tactics to build rapport quickly; leading and adapting communication and presentation tactics to engage your audience; displaying adaptable interpersonal skills for a wide range of audiences and stakeholders.
• Approach fact-finding and discovery missions in a collaborative effort; valuing input and experiences of others that creates additional insight to uncover deeper issues that may need to be addressed or removed as a barrier to implementation.
• Value the importance of making decisions with integrity, maintaining confidentiality across internal workgroups, and knowing how to use discretion when appropriate; knows how to keep a secret by understanding the difference between transparency and confidentiality.
• Highly analytical in thought and recommendations, although never acting like the smartest person in the room; and continually seeking out the facts; able to express a point of view without being driven by your ego.
• Demonstrates business acumen and practices sound financial decisions by ensuring the actions and plans put into place support the achievement of sales goals and budgets.
• Demonstrates the ability to identify strategic needs yet can be a “soldier” to ensure a strategic plan is implemented.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Aparium Hospitality Services celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment and sense of belonging for all employees.    We do not discriminate and believe every individual should be proud of who they are, where they come from, and take pride in who we serve. Aparium Is an E-Verify employer.