Lodge Manager / General Manager
Visa sponsorship
Hospitality · Invercargill, New Zealand · Full-Time · Discussed at interview · Visa: Employer sponsored
For a hospitality professional ready to step into full general management, this Lodge Manager / General Manager position joins guest leadership with business ownership. The setting is a small luxury lodge beside a national park in the southern South Island of New Zealand.
Following a complete restoration, it reopens on 1 December 2026 with ten suites, two log cabins and a four-bedroom exclusive-use house, then grows by nine suites in October 2027 on land of around 32 hectares. Steering that expansion would be a significant step in any hospitality career.
The work blends personal hosting and evening service leadership with control of budgets, rostering and the estate, along with direct contact with the owners and wide decision-making freedom. Applicants in New Zealand, Australia and other countries are welcome, and visa sponsorship will be considered for the right candidate.
Present your progression clearly in an English CV: each step up, the size of the teams and budgets you held, and any openings. Map your career path in a CV using Build AI CV so the owners can see how far you have come.
Key Responsibilities
- Guest hosting: personal welcomes and time spent with guests throughout each stay
- Guest experience management across pre-arrival contact, dining, guided days, exclusive-use house stays and departures
- Service leadership: defining and sustaining standards while working alongside staff as needed
- Culture building: shaping how the lodge serves and how guests feel from welcome to farewell
- Expansion: opening and integrating nine new suites as capacity grows from 12 keys to 21
- Food and drink development in partnership with the Lodge Head Chef
- People leadership: a multi-skilled team of about eighteen at reopening, with direct reports including the Lodge Host, Executive Chef, Assistant Lodge Manager, Maintenance & Grounds Supervisor and Housekeeping Manager, plus recruiting, training, rostering and developing staff for every season
- Estate stewardship for the lodge, its cabins, the exclusive-use house, staff quarters, grounds, native bush, access roads, vehicles and infrastructure
- Maintenance planning: a yearly estate programme covering preventive work, presentation and compliance, delivered by the maintenance and grounds team
- Commercial ownership of the yearly operating plan and profitability, growing occupancy, rate, guest spend and repeat and direct bookings with reservations and finance, with weekly trading reviews and monthly reports to the directors
Requirements & Eligibility
- Leadership in luxury hospitality, ideally at Lodge Manager, General Manager or senior operations level
- Strong leadership in guest-facing settings
- A genuine passion for personal service
- Proven financial and commercial capability across budgets, forecasting and operating profit
- Experience leading multi-department hospitality teams
- Articulate written and spoken communication
- Sound judgement to lead independently at a remote site, including during road closures or bad weather
- A Manager's Certificate, or eligibility to obtain one prior to certificated duties
- A full, clean driver licence
- Highly regarded: experience managing a luxury lodge, boutique hotel or exclusive-use property, or leading a hotel opening, refurbishment or major development
- Highly regarded: understanding of New Zealand's luxury tourism market, and experience with the grounds, facilities and infrastructure of remote properties
- You must hold the legal right to work in New Zealand, or be able to obtain it
Apply: Apply by email · WhatsApp
Visa guide: New Zealand AEWV: A Planning Guide for Indian Professionals