Job Description

Armstrong Collective is the parent company of Rocky Mountaineer and Canyon Spirit, creating unforgettable rail journeys through some of the most breathtaking landscapes in Western Canada and the American Southwest. Guided by our values, Create Meaningful Moments, Be One Team, and Achieve Extraordinary Outcomes, we show up every day with pride, ownership, and a shared commitment to excellence. We work hard, support one another, embrace new possibilities, and celebrate growth, all in a respectful and inclusive environment where integrity, collaboration, and passion for the guest experience lead the way.

Reporting to the Director, RTR Guest Experience, the Senior Manager, Guest Experience is accountable for leading the Destinations operation throughout Colorado, including station operations, hotel and transportation partner execution, guest recovery, destination service standards, and the leadership effectiveness of the Destinations team.

This role is expected to lead others by setting direction, building capability, reinforcing accountability, and sustaining a high-performing destinations leadership team with a hospitality-first mindset. The Senior Manager, Guest Experience must bring strong self-discipline, initiative, attention to detail, organization, and follow-through to ensure the guest experience is executed consistently across a complex, seasonal, operating environment.

This position is deemed Safety Alert. This position requires the incumbent to periodically access an active railway area where impaired performance could result in a significant incident affecting the health and safety of team members, guests, the public, property, or the environment.

Key Responsibilities

Lead, Develop, and Hold Accountable the Destinations Leadership Team

• Lead, coach, and develop Guest Experience Managers and frontline leaders by setting clear expectations, priorities, and decision rights that enable confident leadership at all levels.
• Build and sustain a high-performance culture grounded in accountability, trust, consistency, safety, and hospitality, reinforcing company values through daily leadership behaviors.
• Establish clear performance goals and regularly assess progress through structured 1:1s, coaching conversations, feedback, and formal performance reviews.
• Address performance issues promptly and constructively, ensuring accountability while supporting development and growth.
• Develop leadership capability and succession readiness to ensure continuity, bench strength, and scalability across the Destinations operation.
• Ensure leaders understand company strategy, guest experience measures, operational priorities, financial expectations, and how their teams contribute to business outcomes.
• Model the leadership presence expected of the Destinations team—calm under pressure, organized, professional, guest-focused, and decisive.

Set Direction and Enable Consistent Execution Through Others

• Translate the Guest Experience vision into clear, executable operating practices across stations, hotels, transportation, tours, luggage handling, and guest support.
• Lead annual and seasonal planning, ensuring readiness through defined staffing plans, training priorities, partner alignment, and post-season review.
• Establish and maintain clear operating standards, tools, and procedures that enable leaders to execute consistently and confidently.
• Ensure consistent delivery of the Canyon Spirit brand experience across all assigned destinations and guest touchpoints.
• Make and own operational decisions that impact team members, guests, partners, and internal stakeholders, balancing guest expectations with operational realities.
• Work periodic shifts as an on-duty manager when required, maintaining a leadership focus on standards, coaching, and continuous improvement rather than task substitution.

Lead Through Collaboration, Influence, and Partner Accountability

• Act as the primary leadership interface between Destinations and internal partners, ensuring alignment, clarity, and shared accountability for outcomes.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships with external partners, reinforcing service standards, performance expectations, and escalation processes.
• Lead pre-season partner alignment and training to ensure shared understanding of guest expectations, communication protocols, and irregular operations support.
• Proactively identify risks related to staffing, infrastructure, community impact, or market conditions and work collaboratively to mitigate service disruption.
• Champion cross-functional collaboration that improves execution quality, guest recovery, and team effectiveness.

Drive Guest Experience Excellence and Service Recovery

• Hold accountability for guest experience results within Destinations, including satisfaction, consistency, issue resolution, and partner performance.
• Foster a hospitality-first mindset where leaders view every destination touchpoint as a meaningful part of the guest journey.
• Empower leaders and teams to resolve guest issues at the first point of contact whenever possible, using sound judgment and brand-aligned discretion.
• Use guest feedback, operational data, and team insight to identify trends, root causes, and improvement opportunities.
• Ensure leaders maintain composure, professionalism, and ownership during service disruptions, delays, and high-pressure guest situations.

Lead Change, Continuous Improvement, and Operational Discipline

• Lead and communicate operational changes in a way that creates clarity, buy-in, and consistent adoption across teams.
• Identify gaps in execution or capability and implement sustainable improvements that support long-term consistency.
• Balance urgency with discipline by involving the right stakeholders, documenting changes, and reinforcing expectations.
• Delegate improvement initiatives appropriately while maintaining accountability for outcomes and follow-through.
• Represent the Destinations perspective in cross-functional projects and initiatives supporting broader company priorities.

Safety Leadership and Emergency Preparedness

• Lead a strong safety culture by modeling safe behaviors and reinforcing compliance with safety, security, and emergency response standards.
• Ensure leaders understand and execute all safety and emergency procedures relevant to destination operations.
• Hold accountability for safety audits, incident reporting, investigations, and corrective actions.
• Lead coordinated responses during irregular operations or emergencies, maintaining calm, clear communication and decisive leadership.

Financial and Operational Accountability

• Own financial accountability for assigned areas, including staffing efficiency, partner costs, and cost-per-guest performance.
• Guide leaders in accurate scheduling, labor planning, and resource allocation aligned to operational priorities.
• Regularly review operational and financial performance, identifying risks, variances, and corrective actions.
• Balance guest experience excellence with cost discipline, ensuring decisions are both guest-centered and financially responsible.

What You Bring

• A visible, confident leadership presence with the ability to guide, influence, and hold others accountable.
• Strong leadership skills, including coaching, feedback, performance management, and capability building.
• Clear, consistent communication, particularly during change, pressure, or ambiguity.
• Strong judgment and decision-making informed by data, experience, and guest impact.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to translate strategy into actionable plans executed through others.
• A collaborative mindset that builds trust and alignment across teams and partners.

Experience & Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of progressive leadership experience
• Proven experience leading teams of 20+ and developing people leaders
• Experience managing budgets, costs, and operational performance through others
• Experience in luxury, mobile, or remote environments preferred

Work Environment

• Shift work consisting of scheduled hours with the irregular hours, including nights, weekends, holidays, and long hours
• Work in a live rail environment and outside in all weather conditions
• Travel between Canyon Spirit Colorado's locations is required on a regular basis

Compensation

• The base salary offered for this role is $90,000 to $105,000 per annum and can vary based on job-related expertise, qualifications, experience and internal equity.
• Eligible for Armstrong Collective’s Bonus Program

Perks and Benefits

All team members regularly working 30 hours per week will be eligible for our group benefits plan, which includes:

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance
• Short term disability, long term disability, and Accidental Death & Dismemberment policy
• Travel emergency assistance
• Business travel accident insurance and business travel emergency medical insurance
• Vacation, Sick-time, Company holidays

*We use E-Verify as part of our hiring practices to comply with having a lawful workforce.

The company is an equal opportunity employer, driven by our values of Creating Meaningful Moments, Being One Team, and Achieving Extraordinary Outcomes. Our strong company culture supports our vision of a diverse, open, safe, and respectful workplace. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all team members. If you require any accommodation during the application process or throughout your employment, please let us know. We will work with you to ensure your needs are met and to create a supportive environment.

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This job description is not exhaustive of all duties and will encompass additional duties assigned. Responsibilities, title, reporting structure, and duties may be changed in response to business requirements.

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