Associate/Senior Associate, Hotels & Hospitality Group
JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group serves as the hospitality industry's global leader in real estate services for luxury, upscale, select service and budget hotels; timeshare and fractional ownership properties; convention centres; mixed-use developments and other hospitality properties. The firm's more than 350 dedicated hotel and hospitality experts partner with investors and owner/operators around the globe to support and shape investment strategies that deliver maximum value throughout the entire lifecycle of an asset. In the last five years, we helped clients complete more transactions than any other hotels and hospitality real estate advisor in the world, totaling more than USD 68 billion. We also helped solve nearly 4,400 unique client challenges by completing advisory, valuation and asset management assignments around the globe, in addition to managing the design and construction of over 50 unique hotel destination projects. The group's hotels and hospitality specialists provide independent and expert advice to clients, backed by industry-leading research.
About the Opportunity
We are currently seeking an
Associate/Senior Associate, to join our growing Hotels & Hospitality platform with a primary focus on
Operator Selection and Enterprise Consulting in Asia. This role will be based in Bangkok reporting to the Senior Vice President of Operator Selection, APAC with a dotted line into our Head of Advisory, Thailand.
The ideal candidate should have a good understanding of the hotel brand landscape and be well versed with Hotel Management Agreements (HMA) and hotel P&Ls. He/she must also be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment and be able to deliver sound advice on brand selection and HMA commercial terms to clients.
How you can benefit
In this role, you will gain invaluable exposure to high-growth Asian hospitality markets, establish connections with key hotel owners and engage with both international & regional hotel operators. Through your interactions with JLL's hotels and hospitality specialists, you will gain knowledge to various aspects of the hotel lifecycle - from hospitality investment, development, and asset management. Most significantly, your recommendations will have a direct impact on clients hotel investment decisions and in the long term, shape the future of owner-operator relationships.
Responsibilities
- Manage the Request for Proposal (RFP) process, overseeing all aspects such as preparation of marketing materials, discussions with potential operators and coordination with client's representatives.
- Evaluate operators submissions across both commercial and non-commercial aspects, articulating the recommendations to the client through a holistic assessment matrix.
- Review operators Commercial Termsheets (MoUs) and Hotel Management Agreement (HMAs), providing recommendations on commercial terms and operational considerations to address clients considerations yet within the constraints of market norms.
- Participate in operators presentations, MoU and HMAs negotiations, documenting key outcomes and agreed positions accurately.
- Keep up with the latest trends in hotel brands and HMA terms, being principally accountable for the management of internal databases for brands and commercial terms.
- Play a key role in strategic growth consulting assignments targeted at hotel operators. Project manage and work collaboratively with cross-functional regional teams on projects ranging from market studies, commercial terms benchmarking and growth strategy development & recommendations.
- Support business development activities by preparing pitch documents and participating in client meetings, actively networking in Hotels/ Real Estate forums, representing JLL at industry/ client events.
- Act as the go-to person on brand recommendations and HMA matters for regional teams across advisory, investment sales and asset management assignments.
- Support the Advisory and Asset Management teams on assignments as they may arise from time to time.
Required Skills / Educational Background
- Undergraduate degree in relevant disciplines such as law, business, hospitality, finance and/or real estate;
- Min. 4-years work experience in hospitality, finance, consulting and/or real estate ideally with hotel operators, investors, hospitality-focused advisors and legal consultants;
- Well versed with operator management agreements and with some experience reviewing and negotiating such agreements;
- Highly diplomatic, with gravitas and an ability to relate well to professionals at all levels, internally and externally;
- Analytical and with excellent report writing skills. Attention to detail essential;
- Excellent presentation, communication and interpersonal skills;
- Proficiency in English is essential and a second language preferred;
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint);
- Self-starter, with a track record of meeting deadlines and delivering on goals;
- Organised and with strong project management skills;
- Must be willing to travel in the region;
As a dedicated Hotels and Hospitality sector specialist you should possess strong analytical, communication and team-working skills and be comfortable in dealing with people of all cultures and at different levels across Asia. You should enjoy working in a dynamic, multi-national environment and be comfortable contributing innovative ideas, insights and suggestions on how to improve the way we conduct, present and communicate our expertise. You should embrace the latest available technology tools as a leverage to source, prepare and deliver up-to-date, world-class data analytics to both internal and external stakeholders.
