Executive Director, Airport Lounge Experience

Help set a new standard for premium travel experiences. In this role, you will shape how Sapphire Lounges deliver exceptional hospitality and seamless digital engagement across every guest touchpoint.

Job summary

As an Executive director lounge experience in the Sapphire lounge team, you lead the strategic vision, development, and execution of the end-to-end Sapphire Lounge experience across guest experience, operations, hospitality, food and beverage, marketing, and digital engagement. You partner across travel, operations, marketing, product, digital, analytics, design, and external operators to evolve the lounge network and strengthen performance. You lead a high-performing team and work closely with operating partners and airport stakeholders to improve guest satisfaction, loyalty, and business outcomes.

Job responsibilities

• Lead the overall strategy, development, and execution of the Sapphire Lounge roadmap across guest experience, operational excellence, hospitality, marketing, and digital experience.
• Define and evolve the hospitality vision and service standards to deliver premium, consistent experiences across lounge locations.
• Own lounge network performance, using guest feedback, audits, research, and operational metrics to drive continuous improvement.
• Build and maintain senior relationships with lounge operating partners, airport authorities, hospitality vendors, and strategic partners to ensure consistent execution.
• Establish operating standards, service protocols, and performance frameworks that improve service quality and operational excellence.
• Lead food and beverage strategy, culinary partnerships, wellness offerings, and experiential programming that differentiates the lounge experience.
• Oversee the end-to-end guest journey, identifying opportunities to improve service, personalization, digital engagement, and operational efficiency.
• Align events, activations, talent collaborations, and programming with Sapphire brand strategy and customer expectations.
• Partner with digital and product teams to develop and enhance digital experiences supporting lounge access, member engagement, travel benefits, and customer communications.
• Lead integrated marketing and communications strategies to increase awareness and utilization, including long-term planning, investment prioritization, and business case development.
• Define and monitor key performance indicators across guest satisfaction, utilization, service quality, digital engagement, employee engagement, and business outcomes.

• Ten or more years of leadership experience in hospitality, guest experience, operations, premium travel, experiential marketing, luxury services, or related customer-focused industries.
• Deep understanding of hospitality operations, service excellence, customer experience design, and premium customer expectations.
• Proven success leading large-scale, customer-facing experiences and operational programs across multiple locations.
• Experience managing operating partners, service providers, and external vendors in hospitality or service environments.
• Strong understanding of digital customer experiences, product development, and omnichannel engagement strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to use customer insights, operational data, and performance metrics to drive meaningful improvements.
• Exceptional leadership, partnership, and influencing skills within highly matrixed organizations.
• Track record of building and leading high-performing teams.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to balance vision and operational execution.
• Outstanding executive communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Bachelor's degree required.

• Master of business administration or related advanced degree.
• Experience in airport lounges, luxury hospitality, premium travel, hotels, restaurants, private clubs, or experiential service environments.
• Experience leading food and beverage strategy, hospitality programming, or premium service operations.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling hospitality or guest experience programs across multiple locations.
• Passion for hospitality and delivering exceptional experiences for premium and high-net-worth clients.