Director of Launch Operations

[This role is fully remote based within the US; frequent travel is expected]

The Role

Kasa is seeking a seasoned, hands-on leader to join us as the Director of our Launch Operations team. This dynamic team manages the full scope of Kasa's new property openings and transitions, including visioning, design, planning, installation, and launch phases across the company's rapidly growing portfolio of tech-enabled boutique hotels, short term rental apartments, and vacation rentals. The Director will oversee and execute all of Kasa's launches to optimize the team's quality, precision, and efficiency, facilitating successful property launches that are focused on smooth and streamlined transitions that satisfy Kasa's property partners and pave the way for delivering exceptional guest experiences.

The role is a key contributor to Kasa's company-level operational strategy and sits within both the operations leadership and company-level leadership teams. While this role is remote, travel is a critical part of the LaunchOps function. This role requires extensive and regular travel in order to support prospective deals and active launches. You will likely be on the road 3+ times each month, often traveling to more than one city in a given week. You must be willing to travel "last minute" as the needs of the business arise.

About the Team

The Director of Launch Operations is a member of Kasa's Leadership Team who is responsible for managing the full end-to-end delivery of our "rarely seen but always felt" tech-enabled hospitality to guests in dozens of cities across the US, including properties with as few as 5 or as many as 200 Kasa units.

The Director of Launch Operations will work very cross-functionally across the organization, including consistent interaction with our Real Estate, Portfolio Operations, Guest Experience, Hospitality Programs, Marketing + Distribution, Regulatory, Finance, Brand and Design teams, ensuring that our launch efforts are coordinated with Kasa's broader growth and revenue performance objectives.

The LaunchOps team covers a wide span of different responsibilities which include:

• Transition of Kasa's growth pipeline into property launches, in close partnership with real estate
• Strong Partner relations and negotiations across budgets, launch timelines and scope of work
• Design, visioning and budgeting development for late stage pipeline of prospective new properties including FFE/OSE scope, install costs, construction costs, signage implementation, etc
• End-to-end pre-opening project planning and management for all launches and expansions, inclusive of launch scope creation, timeline and scheduling
• Ownership of the Launch Critical Path and Project Management Tracker. Requires strong stakeholder alignment across Regionalized Operations, Marketing & Distribution, Finance, Brand and Design
• Vendor management for creation of custom designs, sourcing and on-site logistics
• On-the-ground installation of furnishings, equipment, and technology into every Kasa unit and property through capacity planning (including contract labor)
• Full coordination of property move-outs
• Full task force oversight, inclusive of smooth set up of utilities, insurance, wifi, security, and vendor services for each launch
• Collection and documentation of operational details of each property using Kasa's proprietary data models
• Consistently Delivering on exceptional guest experiences, from the very first day

Across these many disciplines, you will be held to three primary goals:

• Quality - measured through the experiences of the first guests who stay at each property, as well as the NPS of the property partners and applicable building residents
• Efficiency - measured through our ability to achieve target budgets and timelines and be competitive with industry standards
• Flexibility - measured through the breadth of different scales (number of units) and scopes (degree of renovation/design, type of unit) that the team can confidently be deployed against

Day in the life of the Director of Launch Operations

As a team leader, your primary goal is to ensure that your department is focused on the most important priorities that will help achieve the above goals. Your days will break down into four equally important areas of focus:

• Working alongside the team to drive execution - get your hands dirty and observe how things translate at the ground floor, whether this means joining a new build or launch, jumping into a weekly project planning meeting, or chatting with guests at a grand opening event to ensure high-quality stays
• Coaching and developing your team - you understand that senior leaders are only effective by leveraging the talent on their team, and constantly seek to empower, develop, and hold your team members accountable to big and exciting goals
• Setting a strategic direction - understand our company-level strategy by working with your cross-functional leadership team peers and translate this strategy into the projects, priorities, and initiatives within your team
• Leading across Kasa - getting involved in strategic and tactical ways to cross-functionally set up the Launch team for success, as well as working with teams beyond LaunchOps in order to gain a more holistic appreciation for what Kasa is building, which you can take back to your department

Experience

• Many years of hands-on management experience in operations roles and experience leading multi-layered, multi-functional teams, ideally in hospitality, real estate, or entrepreneurial businesses
• Hotel pre-opening and/or task force experience, with a proven track record of multiple successful hotel openings
• Several years in a role overseeing the launch of physical properties or facilities, preferably at a company with a rapid growth history
• Hotel project management, construction management, or procurement experience
• You are a goal-driven strategy setter, learning about all aspects of a problem statement and then proposing a clear and achievable path forward
• You know the importance of getting on-site in order to understand how strategy collides with reality, and because it helps you to connect more deeply with your team
• You enjoy environments where the only constant is constant change - you are dynamic, optimistic, and adept at leading teams through rapidly evolving business environments
• Whether or not you have worked in a startup before, you have an entrepreneurial orientation and a track record of putting aside long-held norms and standards to try innovative new approaches
• You are analytically adept and inclined to "measure what matters", seeking out clear and quantitative leading indicators you can use to assess a team's performance against their goals
• You are comfortable interpreting nuanced financial data and can hold your own in managerial accounting conversations or projects to find cost efficiency
• You have an aversion to workplace politics and always put your cards on the table and collaborate to find the best solution, even with teams who might naturally have a different priority
• You are a perceptive and empathetic developer of people - you help people understand their key strengths and weaknesses, and can create energy and cohesion in a highly diverse team. You are able to bring out the best in both "left brain" and "right brain" focused individuals
• You are obsessive about providing exceptional guest experiences and being a Hall of Fame Host
• You are willing to travel 3+ weeks a month

Plus if...

• Direct experience in hospitality, short-term rentals, or an innovative property management business. Extensive experience in project management (maybe you even have a PMP certification or equivalent educational background) and establishing and using launch budgets for physical projects
• Meaningful experience owning a P&L
• MBA degree or commensurate management consulting or strategy experience

In one year, you will succeed at Kasa by having:

• Overseen the launch of thousands of new Kasa units on time, on budget, and with outstanding execution
• Built Kasa's launch process for hotels, multifamily apartments, and single family vacation rentals into a well oiled machine that meets the needs of Kasa's property partners
• Elevated our project management capabilities into a profit center of their own, enabling us to pursue more complex launch scenarios with confidence
• Expanded the team's culture of excellence and collaboration and helped to strengthen the integration of LaunchOps with other parts of the business

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Benefits

• Remote Work: With flexibility as a core value, and over three-quarters of the team working remotely, Kasa employees are able to work from anywhere
• Kasa Travel Credit: We love to travel Kasa employees get an allowance of free stays with us in any of our locations, plus a discount on any night for friends and family.
• The Pay: The pay range is set based on multiple considerations including business needs, market demands, talent availability, experience, and unique skills and attributes. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role may also be eligible for equity, bonus, perks, benefits, and Kasa Travel Credits.
• Generous Stock Option Plan: At Kasa, our compensation philosophy is to offer a total compensation package that over-indexes on equity to encourage our team to think like owners (by being owners) and benefit from the growth in value that our collective hard work creates.
• Flexible PTO: Full-time exempt Kasa employees are encouraged to take time off as they need and see fit, ensuring that it's not disruptive to their work.
• Cell phone reimbursement: We reimburse a portion of your monthly cell phone bill to say thanks for using your personal phone during the workday.
• 401(k) Plan: As you invest in yourself and your future, Kasa invests in you too: we match 100% of the first 1% of your deferred salary.
• Health Coverage: We've invested in comprehensive health insurance options to help when you need it most, including a company-sponsored plan with fertility coverage.
• Other Perks: Qualifying full-time roles are eligible for a wi-fi stipend, home office stipend, and more

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