Director of Resort Operations
Seat: Director of Resort Operations
Department: Resort Operations
Location: Lutsen Mountains
Reports To: Chief of Resort Operations & Development
Status: Full-Time, Year-Round
Schedule: Evening and weekend coverage required
Base salary range: $90,000 - $115,000
Please email your resume and cover letter to: caitlin@midwestfamilyskiresorts.com
Seat Overview
The Director of Resort Operations is responsible for the full operational performance of the resort, leading both guest-facing and mountain operations. This role ensures all departments from front-line service to mountain infrastructure are aligned, prepared, and executed at a high level to deliver a safe, efficient, and exceptional guest experience.
This seat integrates all operational functions into one cohesive system, eliminating silos and driving consistency across service delivery, infrastructure reliability, and overall resort execution.
Seat Purpose
Own the end-to-end performance of resort operations, ensuring alignment between guest experience, operational execution, and financial outcomes. This role directly owns Guest Sales & Services Operations and provides leadership, direction, and accountability to all department managers to deliver a seamless guest experience while supporting executive leadership with operational execution, planning, and decision making.
Core Accountabilities
- Guest Experience Ownership: Own the end-to-end guest journey across all touchpoints, ensuring a consistent, high-quality experience from arrival through departure, including service standards, issue resolution, and continuous improvement.
- Guest Sales & Services Operations: Own all guest-facing sales and service operations including lodging, front desk, ticketing, groups, and related services, ensuring operational readiness, transaction accuracy, service consistency, and alignment with guest demand and revenue objectives.
- Department Manager Leadership & Organizational Alignment: Lead and hold all department managers accountable for operational execution, guest experience, and financial performance, while developing leadership capability and ensuring alignment across the organization.
- Integrated Resort Operations: Ensure seamless coordination across all departments by aligning staffing, scheduling, and execution with guest demand, peak periods, and operational priorities.
- Financial Performance & Operational Budget Management: Own operational financial performance across departments, including revenue, labor, and expenses, ensuring results align with budget while maintaining operational efficiency and guest experience standards.
- Capital Project Support & Execution Partnership: Partner on capital planning and project execution, ensuring projects align with operational needs, are executed effectively, and are fully integrated into day-to-day resort operations.
- Safety, Service Standards & Continuous Improvement: Own resort-wide safety, SOP adherence, and service standards, while driving continuous improvement initiatives that enhance guest experience, operational consistency, and efficiency.
Key Departments & Functions Oversight
- Guest Operations:
- Hospitality (Front Desk, Tickets, Events, F&B, Retail)
- Rentals
- Ski School
- Mountain & Infrastructure Operations:
- Lift Operations
- Snowmaking
- Grooming & Terrain Park
- Mountain & Facilities Maintenance (Lift, Vehicle, Equipment, Buildings & Systems)
- Housekeeping
Culture Fit
This role sets the operational tone for the entire resort and requires strong leadership presence, accountability, and alignment with company values.
- Ownership & Accountability: Takes full responsibility for total resort performance and follows through on commitments.
- One Team Mentality: Breaks down silos and builds alignment across all departments and leadership teams.
- Guest-First Mindset: Prioritizes the guest experience while balancing operational efficiency and business performance.
- Leadership Through Action: Maintains a visible, engaged presence and leads from the front during peak operations.
- Operational Discipline: Values structure, consistency, and execution while adapting to changing conditions.
- Composure Under Pressure: Maintains clarity and decisiveness in high-volume, high-pressure environments.
- Commitment to Improvement: Continuously seeks ways to improve systems, teams, and overall resort performance.
Skills & Experience Qualifications
- Required
- 7+ years of experience in resort, hospitality, or operational leadership
- 3+ years in a senior leadership role overseeing multiple departments
- Strong understanding of both guest-facing operations and operational systems/infrastructure
- Proven ability to lead large, cross-functional teams
- Experience managing budgets, labor, and operational performance
- Strong decision-making, problem-solving, and communication skills
- Preferred
- Ski resort or multi-department recreational operations experience
- Experience overseeing both revenue-generating and infrastructure-based departments
- Background in scaling operations across multiple locations or properties
- Familiarity with capital planning and asset management
- Physical & Environmental Requirements
- Regular presence across resort property, both indoor and outdoor environments
- Exposure to variable weather conditions depending on season
- Ability to respond to operational needs during peak periods, including weekends and holidays
- Occasional lifting and movement of equipment/materials as needed
Disclaimer: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. All employees may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities as needed. In addition, as we are a recreational business, availability on peak holiday timeframes and weekends is required.
