General Manager

The Opportunity

Strand Palace is seeking an inspirational General Manager to lead the landmark 788-bedroom hotel in the Heart of London. Independently positioned and part of Iconic Hotels & Resorts, Strand Palace combines the pace and complexity of a high-volume central London operation with more than a century of heritage and a clear ambition: to be recognised as London's leading independent hotel.

The successful candidate will shape the hotel's next chapter by creating a culture of pride and joy, championing exacting service delivered with warmth and genuine care, strengthening the hotel's story and experiences, and driving sustainable commercial performance. They will bring together talented property teams, ownership and Group experts behind a clear vision for Strand Palace.

Role Purpose

The General Manager has full responsibility for the leadership, operation, positioning and performance of Strand Palace. The role is accountable for the guest and colleague experience, talent, commercial and financial delivery, product quality, reputation, community engagement, governance and long-term asset value.

Working closely with ownership and Iconic Hotels & Resorts specialists, the General Manager will set the property vision, translate strategy into clear priorities and maintain hotel-level accountability for delivery. Success requires visible leadership, strong judgement, curiosity, commercial authority and the ability to build trust and alignment across a complex stakeholder environment.

Key Responsibilities People & Culture

• Build a culture of pride and joy in which colleagues feel valued, understand the hotel's ambition and take ownership of the guest experience.
• Bring the Strand Palace personality to life: Confident, Creative, Knowledgeable, Agile and Personable.
• Attract best-in-class talent that reflects the property's distinctive story, values and service ambition.
• Build a high-performing Senior Leadership Team and wider leadership community, with clear accountability, regular coaching and open communication.
• Foster continuous talent growth, active succession planning and meaningful development opportunities for key leadership roles.
• Create a fair, inclusive and engaging working environment that supports both wellbeing and high performance.

Operational Mastery

• Lead an exacting and consistent approach to service delivery, balanced with warmth, personality and genuine care.
• Grow repeat guest patronage and advocacy through memorable experiences, thoughtful recognition and disciplined service recovery.
• Use guest feedback, reputation measures, operating data and personal interaction to identify priorities and drive continuous improvement.
• Champion product excellence through robust planned preventive maintenance and high presentation standards
• Ensure safe, efficient and compliant operations across Rooms, F&B, Meetings & Events and all guest touchpoints.
• Remain calm, visible and decisive during operational challenges, incidents, major works and periods of peak demand.

Story, Programming & Experiences

• Champion the vision for Strand Palace to be recognised as London's leading independent hotel.
• Continuously identify distinctive stories from the life, heritage, people and location of the property that can support marketing, PR and guest engagement.
• Create and execute hotel-defining programming and experiences that strengthen positioning, generate compelling content and encourage guests and local audiences to return.
• Bring the Heart of London promise to life through partnerships, storytelling and experiences rooted in the hotel's location and independent character.
• Guide the evolution of F&B, Meetings & Events and other propositions so they remain relevant, distinctive and profitable.

Entrepreneurial & Business Expertise

• Hold full accountability for the hotel P&L and delivery of agreed revenue, TRevPAR, GOP, cash and owner-return targets.
• Continually seek opportunities to grow Rooms, F&B, Meetings & Events and ancillary performance through pricing, business mix, conversion, programming and guest spend.
• Lead robust budgeting and forecasting, proactively reviewing actual and forecast performance to identify opportunities and corrective action.
• Manage all costs responsibly, including labour, with manning levels aligned to operational demand and without compromising the guest or colleague experience.
• Use London market insight, competitor intelligence and performance data to make clear decisions and create sustainable growth.
• Lead disciplined procurement, commercial partnerships and capital proposals that protect both current performance and long-term value.

Community Engagement

• Act as an ambassador for positive connection with London's hospitality, tourism, business and local communities.
• Develop relationships and partnerships that strengthen the hotel's profile and contribute to commercial success across Rooms, F&B and Meetings & Events.
• Champion responsible business and sustainability priorities, embedding measurable progress into hotel operations and decision-making.
• Build Strand Palace's reputation as a positive employer, neighbour, partner and contributor in its community.

Building Consensus & Alignment

• Build trust, confidence and a strong relationship with ownership through transparent, commercially focused communication.
• Provide clear reporting on performance, opportunity, risk and required action, supported by sound judgement and appropriate challenge.
• Leverage the General Manager peer group and Group experts across People & Culture, Design & Construction, Information & Technology, Commercial, Operations, Finance, Procurement, Engineering and Health & Safety.
• Bring property and specialist teams together behind shared priorities while maintaining clear accountability for hotel-level decisions and delivery.
• Maintain strong governance, risk management and compliance disciplines across the business.

What We Are Looking For

• Leadership experience within a large, full-service, upper-upscale or luxury city hotel.
• Previous experience as a General Manager, Hotel Manager or equivalent senior property leader.
• A proven record of building strong cultures and delivering financial, commercial, guest and colleague results in a complex, high-volume operation.
• Full P&L, budgeting, forecasting and labour-management responsibility, with the ability to translate data into decisive action.
• Strong Rooms understanding, with confidence across F&B, Meetings & Events and other hotel revenue streams.
• A track record of attracting, developing and retaining talent, supported by active succession planning.
• The ability to combine strategic vision, entrepreneurial thinking and storytelling with visible, hands-on operational leadership.
• Credibility with ownership and senior stakeholders, with the ability to use specialist expertise and build consensus.
• Experience of major capital projects, refurbishment, transformation, restructuring or significant change would be advantageous.
• A strong understanding of the London hotel market and independent hotel positioning would be advantageous.

Leadership Profile

PEOPLE & CULTURE

Build pride and joy, attract best-in-class talent and create a strong pipeline of future leaders.

OPERATIONAL MASTERY

Deliver exacting service with warmth, tell the property story, create defining experiences and champion the product.

ENTREPRENEURIAL & BUSINESS EXPERTISE

Grow commercial performance through market insight, innovation, financial discipline and active cost management.

BUILDING CONSENSUS & ALIGNMENT

Deepen owner trust and use the full strength of property, peer and Group expertise.

Why join Iconic Hotels & Resorts?

This is an opportunity to lead one of London's most established and recognisable hotels while shaping its future within a growing and ambitious hospitality company. The General Manager will have the autonomy to make a meaningful property-level impact, supported by an experienced peer group and specialist teams, and an ownership environment that values entrepreneurial thinking, strong performance and long-term care of the asset.

This role overview summarises the principal purpose and accountabilities of the position. Responsibilities may reasonably evolve to reflect the needs of the hotel and Company.