Job Description

Director of Advising | Columbia Hospitality
Location: Seattle, Washington

The Director of Advising is responsible for leading small to mid-sized client engagements autonomously while owning high-quality deliverables for a range of clients. This role serves as a primary point of contact for select clients, manages cross-functional project teams, and produces key deliverables such as concept decks, operational assessments, and budget planning inputs. The Director of Advising must demonstrate strong hospitality operations knowledge, financial acumen, and the ability to collaborate across departments to bring subject-matter expertise into each engagement. This role supports strategic initiatives across multiple client types, contributes to internal template and process development, and helps drive revenue and value creation across consulting projects.

Let’s start off with the most important part-what’s in it for you:
The Perks
*Eligibility of perks is dependent upon job status
• Salary Range: $105,000 to $125,000
• Cellphone Allowance
• Incentive Eligible
• Get Paid Daily (Make any day payday)
• Paid Time off & Holiday Pay (Because Balance Matters)
• Benefits - Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability, 401K
• HSA/FSA Plans -with employer contribution
• Values Based Culture (#OMGLIFE)
• Culture Add (Creating Space for Fresh Perspectives)
• Referral Bonus (Get Paid to Recruit)
• Discounted Lodging, Dining, Spa, Golf, and Retail (Yes, Discounted Travel!)
• Employee Assistance Program
• “Columbia Cares” Volunteer Opportunities
• Committee Participation Opportunities (Fun, Philanthropic, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion)
• Online Learning Platform to Help You Grow!
• Third Party Perks (Including discounts on Pet Insurance, Rental Cars, Movie and Concert Tickets, Theme Park and Attractions & so much more)

Our Commitment to you:
“People never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou’s famous statement serves as a rallying cry throughout Columbia Hospitality and fuels our collective drive - and success.

Our people are our purpose, and our brand is our people. We seek extraordinary individuals who drive our brand promise of Creating Exceptional Experiences. We are a people-first organization, ignited from the inside to succeed on the outside. We are a tight-knit, inclusive, values-driven team and we trust one another to have each other’s backs. We show up every day with open hearts, an inclusive mindset, and genuine respect for those around us. We have fun, grow together, and strive to leave a positive lasting impression on everyone we meet.

What Success Looks Like:
Your Impact
• Applies hospitality and operational knowledge on behalf of the client scope of work across pre-opening, operating, and optimizing engagements.
• Leads small- to mid-sized consulting engagements independently, serving as the primary point of contact for designated clients.
• Anticipates client needs, ensuring that Columbia Hospitality is delivering value to the overall hospitality project and maintaining an owner mentality.
• Manages project timelines, communication, and deliverables to ensure high-quality outcomes aligned with client expectations.
• Demonstrates operational and financial expertise, including understanding profit margins by department and evaluating opportunities for revenue and efficiency improvements.
• Travels to client sites as needed to conduct assessments, facilitate workshops, and support implementation.
• Builds and maintains strong client relationships, ensuring satisfaction and identifying opportunities for continued partnership.
• Collaborates with Subject Matter Experts within Columbia Hospitality to ensure successful client engagements.
• Tracks client performance metrics, ROI on engagements, client satisfaction, and turnover statistics.
• Prepares and delivers owner and leadership presentations in alignment with the agreed Scope of Work.
• Maintains a thorough understanding of hospitality trends to inform strategic decisions.
• Ensures compliance with company policies, procedures, and brand standards in all marketing communications.
• Fully owns the creation of client deliverables, including strategic decks, concept statements, budget outlines, operational recommendations, and business-case analyses.
• Able to speak to and/or develop proformas and financial projections in partnership with internal SMEs.
• Synthesizes operational, financial, and market data into clear, actionable insights.
• Continues to refine and expand CH consulting templates, tools, and methodologies based on learnings from each engagement.
• Develops strong internal relationships across Columbia Hospitality, identifying and engaging subject-matter experts (SMEs) to support specialized components of consulting projects.
• Collaborates with Marketing, Communications, Property Operations, Revenue Management, and other departments as needed to support holistic client solutions.
• Performs additional consulting tasks assigned by leadership.
• Has worked directly in the Hospitality industry for 5+ years.

What You Bring

• Minimum of 7+ years of branded lodging operations, sales and/or business development experience in branded, full-service lodging operations required.
• Strong sales knowledge within market segment
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively influence and negotiate with involved parties.
• Possesses solid understanding of hotel management operations, industry trends and market dynamics.
• This position requires very frequent travel throughout the United States, including to prospective clients, and will be based out of Columbia Hospitality's headquarters in Seattle, Washington.
• This position is located onsite and is open to Seattle, Washington based candidates.

Don’t meet every single requirement? At Columbia Hospitality we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles.

The Fine Print
Columbia Hospitality, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive environment without regard to age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, disability, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or any other protected status in accordance with applicable law. We strive for excellence in every position within the company and select the most qualified people who embrace our service philosophy and these values.

Accountability | Creativity | Enthusiasm | Honesty | Inclusion | Respect

Columbia Hospitality is a national management and consulting company with more than 25 years of experience in creating hospitality solutions and delivering exceptional experiences. Our portfolio includes award-winning hotels and resorts, premier residential communities, restaurants and bars, private and public golf clubs, conference centers, and distinctive venues. Columbia Hospitality has been consistently recognized as one of the Top Companies to Work for in Washington by Seattle Business Magazine and Puget Sound Business Journal for their commitment to creating a fun, dynamic and nurturing work environment for team members.