Director, Workforce Development

The hotel and lodging industry is vibrant, innovative and full of dynamic opportunities for upward mobility while serving (and supporting) its most important assets: its people. The AHLA Foundation, the charitable giving arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, is dedicated to helping people build careers, improve their lives and strengthen the lodging industry. We are a dynamic, entrepreneurial organization strengthening our team and deepening our impact with strategic program implementation focused on helping maintain a skilled and stable workforce to drive the industry forward.

Position Summary

The Director, Workforce Development is responsible for driving strategic implementation of workforce initiatives to support the retention and advancement of our industry’s current workforce. This position will report to the Vice President to design and drive effective programs that invest in the current industry workforce by supporting their ongoing skill development and engagement to support a stable workforce for the lodging industry.

Responsibilities:

• Drive development and implementation of AHLAF’s workforce-related programs in active collaboration with development, communications and membership teams across the AHLA enterprise. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Ensuring full utilization and accurate tracking of professional development funding (with the support of administrative coordinator)
• Delivering annual mentorship program for current industry employees from marketing to content, participant selection and evaluation processes.
•  Evolving registered apprenticeship program, while maintaining programmatic and administrative compliance with federal sub-grant award provisions
• Identify and establish partnerships with relevant national organizations in alignment with programmatic priorities and in coordination with leadership team. Maintain effective working relationships while supporting deliverable tracking and impact measurement of shared activities.
• Increase impact measurement of workforce development activities and programs along with qualitative data collection to support marketing, communications and fundraising efforts
• Develop and monitor program budgets, vendor contracts, and reporting requirements to support effective operations, in collaboration with finance, legal and executive team members
• Collaboratively drive employer engagement across Foundation programs in coordination with team members
• Maintain subject matter expertise in relevant workforce education and development trends to inform all Foundation programs
• Support membership-based Human Resources Committee (including agenda development, member relations, meeting delivery, etc.) and other relevant member meetings in coordination with Foundation leadership and Membership teams
• Represent the organization at industry conferences, workforce development summits, and stakeholder meetings to promote program visibility, develop and maintain effective partnerships
• Maintain relevance and accuracy of website and other communications/marketing materials and regularly supply strategic distribution channels to sustain program engagement

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or related experience
• 3-5 years workforce development experience or combination of education and experience
• Personal or professional familiarity with hotel industry, previous work experience preferred
• Proven project management experience across internal and external stakeholder groups, including high-profile leaders and matrixed corporations/organizations
• Experience creating and managing nonprofit program budgets. 

Skills and Attributes

• Proven ability to translate organizational priorities into clear project plans, timelines, and deliverables. 
• Strong strategic thinking with the ability to identify challenges and opportunities alongside recommendations for program development, enhancement or reconfiguration to meet participants, funders and industry needs. 
• Advanced communication skills, both written and verbal, with an ability to clearly articulate program impact and outcomes that resonate with program participants, stakeholders and funders.  
• Dynamic problem-solving, including the ability to effectively source, analyze, and report data to inform decision making. 
• Excellent relationship management skills with strong customer service ethics. 
• Comfortable working under pressure and adhering to deadlines.  
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively across the organization, while maintaining attention to detail and “managing up” effectively.   
• Positive attitude and willingness to be flexible to adapt to changing needs with an entrepreneurial mindset. 
• The ability to source, analyze, and report on data, including presenting organized themes and findings to the leadership team. 
• Experienced computer and software knowledge: Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), project management tools (Asana preferred) and CRMs (Salesforce preferred).  
• Basic design proficiency utilizing Canva, Adobe or other software. 

Other 

• Ability to travel (up to 25%).  
• Hybrid position (three days in office, Tuesday - Thursday) based in downtown Washington, DC. 
• Target salary range for this position is $100,000 - $120,000 depending on experience.

AHLA is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the position. We are looking for someone with relevant skills and experience, not a checklist that exactly matches the job description. We want to help you grow and in return, you help us grow into a stronger, more inclusive organization. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.