Dir-IT Application Dev

Job description

Marriott International is the world's largest hotel company, with more brands, more hotels and more opportunities for associates to grow and succeed. We believe a great career is a journey of discovery and exploration. So, we ask, where will your journey take you?

Desired profile

Qualifications :

JOB SUMMARY




In 2019, we are re-thinking the PMS solution in North America. The PMS is a critical enabler in all Marriott's innovative strategies as the key touchpoint of an arriving guest and the experience provided by the hotel. A critical component of this journey is to create a ‘single pane of glass' or a unified user experience for the associate agnostic of the function they are looking to perform for the guest. As an IT Director, Application Development you will be responsible for leading the efforts around the analysis of the existing PMS capabilities and screens, providing inputs to optimize the process flows, and driving the creation of this unified UX Design. This individual will be highly collaborative and responsible for leading a team to develop innovative and usable front office platform experiences anchored by research and data-driven design. In this role, you will define and advocate consistent, intuitive user experience across all our existing applications in Empower and establish and lead a governance model for converging upon this target UX standard for in-scope applications.

A strong portfolio is critical for this role, both in terms of demonstrating your experience and as an example of your ability to create a compelling design presentation. Your portfolio should showcase experience in UX and interaction design, particularly where simplicity and ease-of-use were a major concern. Diversity of projects is equally as important as focus on curation and quality to choose a solid collection of outcomes and design intermediaries and deliverables (especially flows, mockups, and prototypes). Every example should demonstrate the design and thought process behind each image.

The ideal candidate will be responsible for delivering experiences that are measurable and drive higher conversion and satisfaction across all our digital products. Additionally, this position is responsible for providing oversight and direction to a team of interaction and visual designers, copywriters, external agency partners and front-end developers to evolve our user experiences across multiple devices and platforms. The ideal candidate would have some front-end development background, be technically proficient in the latest and greatest front-end tech stack and have experience in taking a project from ideation through design, evaluation, collaboration with stakeholders, implementation and governance and adherence to best practices.

You'll direct and design experiences that solve complex interactions with elegance and simplicity. The role's broad scope will give you ample room to flex your design muscles—both on projects that have immediate impact on the business, as well as explorations that shape our long-term strategy, vision, and UX direction.

Cross-functional collaboration with product team leaders, global brand teams, IT, and research is essential to the success of this role. You should be highly detailed surrounding communication of design principles and direction, as well as design specifications to multiple key stakeholders. You will be held accountable for total creative oversight, execution, quality of design, and on-time and on-strategy delivery.

Team mentality is mandatory to achieve and push for continued success as the global leader in hospitality. Our guests come first as we strive to achieve seamless on-property and digital experiences worldwide.

CANDIDATE PROFILE


Education and Experience Required:

·  8+ years of strong design background on the product and/or agency side preferably in hospitality or a related industry.
·  2+ years of developer background with experience working with object-oriented programming and web technologies (Javascript, HTML, CSS, AJAX, Restful APIs).
·  4+ years of relevant front-end developer experience with a proficient understanding of web markup, including HTML5, CSS3 Solid grasp of asynchronous request handling, partial page updates, and AJAX Advanced knowledge of JavaScript libraries and frameworks, such as jQuery, AngularJS, ReactJS etc.
·  Lead/manage design for globally distributed, high traffic apps and product experiences
·  Lead ideation, design, evaluation, and detailed specification for existing and future products or experiences including online and mobile products
·  Define design, UI, and copy criteria for voice anthropology, interaction motion builds, and A/B & usability tests
·  Translate user and business friction into UX artifacts (ex. user flows, page flows, wireframes)
·  Create high-fidelity prototypes with rich interactions and animations to send to IT partners
·  Expert at all design software (i.e.: PS, AE, Illustrator, Sketch, etc.), but also deep knowledge of InVision Studio, InVision DSM and Adobe AEM/Target
·  Experience in User-centered design (UCD) from initial wireframes through prototyping and building of the final product.
·  Proficient in UI/UX design and translating the design to code.
·  Experience in building highly scalable, high performance, responsive web applications.
·  Familiarity with usage of source version control software (e.g. Git)
·  Experience working with qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and read-outs.
·  Detail-oriented team player with cross-functional project leadership and strong team management skills
·  Experience managing team of direct reports as well as third party partners, agencies, contractors, and freelancers
·  Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high growth environment, and work collaboratively on an executive-level
·  Excellent communicator with proven ability to clearly convey complex ideas and data in written, presentation, and spoken formats to a variety of audiences including executive management
·  Strong work portfolio that demonstrates systematic and creative design thinking as well as a deep understanding of UI/UX best practices

CORE WORK ACTIVITIES


Research and User-Centered Design

·  Design truly end-to-end consumer experiences for our guests based on the latest technology
·  Maintain mastery of design and copy orchestration on complex associate-focused product systems
·  Provide visionary leadership to bring research-driven experiences to the forefront across the entire Empower Portfolio to grow and shape Marriott International's world-class front desk platform solutions.
·  Lead and oversee the creation of rich digital concepts, layouts, design, copy, interaction models, visual prototypes, user interface elements, typography, wireframes, and user flows
·  Act as the Studio and group lead to oversee all user centered design and copy, while testing and collaborating cross-functionally from concept to delivery to integration
·  Direct and execute creation of experience maps, user scenarios, mockups, and flows/pathing
·  Create rapid prototypes to validate design concepts with stakeholders and guests
·  Lead internal and external team(s) to design user-experiences from low-fidelity sketches to hi-fidelity pixel perfect mockups
·  Provide Creative/Design direction over multiple complex projects from initial concept to product research and discovery activities to define, production, and post-launch validation features that ship continuously
·  Ability to juggle multiple projects, with a focus on quality, timeliness, and exceptionalism
·  Show expertise in problem definition and user-needs analysis
·  Measure recently released product features to establish benchmarks and to identify potential areas of improvement
·  Align decisions with high-level organizational strategies, KPIs, and business objectives, working with other team leaders to translate these into team and personal goals
·  Stay abreast of UX trends and looking for creative ideas and inspiration in parallel analogous worlds.
·  Attract, develop, and retain top visual/graphic design, IxD, IA, UX, and copy talent

Creative Leadership and Management
·  Manage and influence up, down, and across the organization, including Product, Brand, Global Operations, and IT to drive collaboration and consensus around strategy, creative direction, and design outputs
·  Set creative team visions and quarterly team goals that ladders up to business objectives
·  Play a key role in shaping the vision of the Unified PMS.
·  Work closely with vendor partners and engineers on the team to align on a robust solution that meets not just business needs but also associate and optimal guest experience needs.
·  Collaborate with external agency partners and freelancer network, managing process, work, budgets, and personnel to produce creative and impactful solutions through ideation, leadership, feedback and critique
·  Ability to adapt to varying team dynamics to lead and collaborate with other business segments both domestically and globally
·  Provide guidance and thoughtful leadership, feedback, and coaching to motivate individuals and facilitate career growth
·  Promote a work environment that inspires visionary and creative thinking
·  Consistently offers a positive, professional, and roll-up-your-sleeves attitude

Manage and conduct Human Resources activities

·  Helps conduct Interviews, hires employees, build team to support project needs and onboarding of new candidates.
·  Ensures employees are treated fairly and equitably.
·  Ensures that regular, ongoing communication is happening in department (e.g., pre-shift briefings, staff meetings).
·  Fosters employee commitment to providing excellent service, participates in daily stand-up meetings and models desired service behaviors in all interactions with guests and employees.
·  Incorporates customer satisfaction as a component of staff/operations meetings with an emphasis on generating innovative ways to continually improve results.
·  Sets goals and expectations for direct reports using the performance review process and holds staff accountable for performance goals.
·  Solicits employee feedback.
·  Utilizes an “open door policy” and reviews employee satisfaction results to identify and address employee problems or concerns.
·  Ensures policies are administered fairly and consistently, disciplinary procedures and documentation are completed according to Standard and Local Operating Procedures (SOPs and LSOPs) and supports the Peer Review Process.
·  Conducts annual performance appraisal with direct reports according to Standard Operating Procedures.
·  Champions change ensures brand and regional business initiatives are implemented and communicates follow-up actions to team as necessary.
·  Identifies talents of direct reports and their teams and assists with their growth and development plans.

MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES

Leadership
·  Communication - Conveys information and ideas to others in a convincing and engaging manner through a variety of methods.
·  Leading Through Vision and Values - Keeps the organization's vision and values at the forefront of employee decision making and action.
·  Managing Change - Initiates and/or manages the change process and energizes it on an ongoing basis, taking steps to remove barriers or accelerate its pace; serves as role model for how to handle change by maintaining composure and performance level under pressure or when experiencing challenges.
·  Problem Solving and Decision Making - Identifies and understands issues, problems, and opportunities; obtains and compares information from different sources to draw conclusions, develops and evaluates alternatives and solutions, solves problems, and chooses a course of action.
·  Professional Demeanor - Exhibits behavioral styles that convey confidence and command respect from others; makes a good first impression and represents the company in alignment with its values.
·  Strategy Development - Develops business plans by exploring and systematically evaluating opportunities with the greatest potential for producing positive results; ensures successful preparation and execution of business plans through effective planning, organizing, and on-going evaluation processes.
Managing Execution
·  Building a Successful Team - Uses an effective interpersonal style to build a cohesive team; inspires and sustains team cohesion and engagement by focusing the team on its mission and importance to the organization.
·  Strategy Execution – Ensures successful execution across of business plans designed to maximize customer satisfaction, profitability, and market share through effective planning, organizing, and on-going evaluation processes.
·  Driving for Results - Sets high standards of performance for self and/or others; assumes responsibility for work objectives; initiates, focuses, and monitors the efforts of self and/or others toward the accomplishment goals; proactively takes action and goes beyond what is required.
Building Relationships
·  Customer Relationships - Develops and sustains relationships based on an understanding of customer/stakeholder needs and actions consistent with the company's service standards.
·  Global Mindset - Supports employees and business partners with diverse styles, abilities, motivations, and/or cultural perspectives; utilizes differences to drive innovation, engagement and enhance business results; and ensures employees are given the opportunity to contribute to their full potential.
·  Strategic Partnerships - Develops collaborative relationships with fellow employees and business partners by making them feel valued, appreciated, and included; explores partnership opportunities with other people in and outside the organization; influences and leverages corporate and continental shared services and/or discipline leaders (e.g., HR, Sales & Marketing, Finance, Revenue Management) to achieve objectives; maintains effective external relations with government, business and industry in respective countries; performs effectively as a liaison between locations, disciplines, and corporate to ensure needed resources are received and corporate strategies are understood and executed.

Generating Talent and Organizational Capability

·  Developing Others - Supports the development of other's skills and capabilities so that they can fulfill current or future job/role responsibilities more effectively.

Organizational Capability - Evaluates and adapts the structure of assignments and work processes to best fit the needs and/or support the goals of an organizational unit.

Marriott International is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring a diverse workforce and sustaining an inclusive culture. Marriott International does not discriminate on the basis of disability, veteran status or any other basis protected under federal, state or local laws.