Associate Director, Project Management

Kasa is seeking a Project Management Associate Director to oversee the company's Launch Operations Project Management team. This team was created in early 2022 to oversee the end-to-end planning, coordination, and resource allocation for Kasa's new short term rental and hospitality property launches, which include complex scenarios like hotel takeovers & transitions, (modest) property renovations & custom design, and integrating Kasa's launch schedule and budget with new build construction timelines. The leader of this team will oversee and grow a team of Project Management professionals while developing the processes, tools, and strategies to continue to expand Kasa's ability to execute launches with reliability and excellence. Launch Operations projects at Kasa are deeply multifunctional; your team will coordinate activities with a broad mix of cross-functional partners from our Real Estate, Partner Success, Supply Chain, Field Operations, Legal/Regulatory, Marketing and Finance organizations, as well as other teams within Launch Operations in order to ensure that our highest priority new building launches deliver on time, on budget, and generate a great outcome for Kasa’s guests, property partners, and employees! Finally, you will play a role evangelizing stronger project management methodologies and rigor across Kasa, and in executing important projects in Kasa's existing portfolio (including deployment of new property amenities/features, property renovations, and portfolio-wide experiential upgrades).

This role will sit in Kasa's Launch Operations & Supply Chain team alongside leaders who manage the physical execution, digital/information creation, and supply chain management that allow us to launch new hospitality properties more rapidly and efficiently than any other Short Term Rental operator. You will sit within and work with a broader Kasa Operations team that also includes our on-the-ground property operations gurus and remote guest experience experts who collectively ensure that every Kasa property and every guest stay meets Kasa's high standard of excellence. The team is geographically diverse, spanning every US time zone as well as the Philippines, and also brings a diversity of experience and passion to the table. We constantly challenge our current way of operating in order to unlock new possibilities, and we foster a culture of deep empathy for each other as well as for our guests and partners that supersedes any particular day's challenges.

• Days in the life of the Project Management Associate Director will shift between leading Project Managers who oversee the flawless execution of specific property launches, partnering with stakeholders across the organization to identify opportunities for improvement and drive accountability to deadlines, and establishing tools, practices, and analysis to improve how this function operates within Kasa.
• Your team will be responsible for developing, maintaining, and faithfully executing against detailed project schedules, budgets, launch checklists, operational standards, and screening criteria that will continue to improve our performance in future launches. It will be your responsibility to hold all teams involved in a launch to the highest standards of quality, accuracy, and collaboration, and to empower and drive your Project Managers to hold together the many moving parts of any launch. You will own ensuring consistent approaches, deliverables, and communication across all projects and team members and will constantly coach and motivate them.
• You will spend time working with stakeholders from across Operations, Real Estate, Finance, and Marketing teams to ensure that each launch is appropriately funded, set up for success with property owners and on-site property partners, and grounded in business reality. As the leader of the Project Management team, you will at times be "the face" representing project plans to external investors and partners to build confidence in Kasa's ability to execute seamless launches, on time and under budget.
• Day to day, you will change hats between educator, property guru, hotel expert, and financial wizard, but will always stay firmly rooted in the key principles of project management - meticulous organization, attention to detail, (over)communication, and a focus on achieving committed outcomes. Your job will often be to make the company see that impossible-seeming project scopes or timelines are indeed possible, and then probable, and eventually inevitable.
• No two launches will be the same. In one, your team may be working side by side with ground-up construction partners to coordinate launch timing. In the next, they may be taking over operations from a (potentially disengaged) existing property manager and needing to coordinate the experience to avoid disrupting current guest stays. After that, your team may help us launch a new variety of building altogether, determining appropriate building staffing, regulatory requirements, and marketing plan are completed on time. In all cases, your team will wrap the launch by clearly documenting learnings, improving launch checklists and processes, and hosting retrospectives to capture relevant institutional knowledge in the spirit of continuous improvement.

• 10+ years of relevant Project Management experience, ideally within early stage start-up, Hospitality, or Real Estate setting or equivalent
• You have spent time in a Project Management function in an industry delivering physical projects (not just software or information-based products) and have significant first-hand experience maneuvering the challenges of physical projects
• You possess strong analytical and financial capabilities including reading a P&L, conducting financial analysis (especially capital expense estimation) and performing mid- and post-project budget reconciliation
• You have managed project executions and overseen teams at a fast-paced, ambiguous organizations where the playbook has not yet been fully written, and you understand that two projects that seem similar on the surface must often be tackled with very different solutions once the details are understood
• Your co-workers would describe you as having meticulous attention to detail, and as somebody never satisfied with the status quo who takes initiative to improve existing processes
• You understand the key stakeholders (property owners, property managers, and on-site staff) in institutional real estate and/or hotels (or equivalent) and have a track record of forming deep and collaborative connections with these external stakeholders
• You have worked in a remote setting (ideally using video and web-based project management tools to communicate), and are a clear communicator both in person and from afar
• You have a high level of independence and can drive thoughtful decisions even in fast-paced, ambiguous operating environments, informing and consulting the right stakeholders as necessary
• You are obsessive about clear documentation of learnings, and always approach a problem with the mindset of how you could scale the solution to 100x the size
• You communicate with clarity and empathy and can deliver impactful presentations to both senior business leaders and external partners as well as daily operations staff
• Travel is part of your DNA and you have a passion for the real estate, tech, and hospitality industry

• You have earned your PMP certification or an MBA or equivalent masters degree
• You have managed the launches and/or flag transitions of hotels or large-scale short term rental operations
• You have overseen significant construction or renovation projects in multifamily housing or hospitality

• Developed consistent, repeatable playbooks for various types of launches, including the tools, processes, and organization needed to support execution of that playbook
• Created a high performing and highly trusted team of Project Management professionals of various levels who can each point to meaningful successes among the projects they have completed
• Set a new standard for Kasa's ability to hit tight timelines and adhere to budgets, inspiring confidence externally and internally
• Led the development of a robust launch cost finance reconciliation process in partnership with our Finance team
• Supported on a variety of non-Launch project management initiatives, helping to improve Operations capabilities across the company with your knack for organizing information and developing robust project timelines
• Become a trusted partner across the leadership of Operations, Real Estate, Finance, and Marketing partners, who pull you in to consult on critical launch-related decisions, and driven them to become stronger project managers in their own right

• 🌏 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 50% discount on any night for friends and family
• 📈 Generous Stock Option Plan: We believe the success of our business should be shared with our team. As you grow with us, we increase the opportunities for you to become part-owners of our company.
• 🙌 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 50% of the first 4% of deferred salary.
• 💰 Competitive Salary: We offer base salaries at or above market rates plus additional earning opportunities based on the position
• 🩺 Health Coverage: We've invested in comprehensive health insurance options to help when you need it most