Executive Housekeeper

Dream Hotels & Resorts lives by its 8 core values. Our team is dedicated to being reliable and accountable, fostering empathy to understand others' feelings and collaboratively find solutions, and prioritizing sustainability in environmental, financial, and social aspects. Rooted in humanity, trust, dynamism, excellence, and joy, we celebrate diversity, prioritize integrity, embrace creativity, pursue quality, and foster a joyful work environment to connect people with our surroundings and each other. These play a part in our day-to-day decision making & operational requirements. 

Job Overview:
The Executive Housekeeper (EHK) is responsible for managing and overseeing the full housekeeping function at Jozini Tiger Lodge & Spa, ensuring exceptional cleanliness, orderliness, hygiene standards and guest experiences throughout guest rooms, public areas, employee areas and back-of-house spaces.

This role supervises housekeeping employees, plans and assigns work, schedules the team according to occupancy forecasts, supports recruitment and training, controls departmental resources and ensures rooms and public areas are prepared according to company standards. The Executive Housekeeper works closely with Front Office, Maintenance, Accounts, Stores, Purchasing and Management to resolve guest requests, coordinate preventive maintenance, control costs and maintain effective stock and inventory control.

The Executive Housekeeper plays a key role in creating memorable guest experiences by maintaining a warm, welcoming and immaculate environment while developing and empowering the housekeeping team through effective leadership, coaching and support.

Key Responsibilities:

Housekeeping Operations & Standards

• Lead and supervise daily housekeeping operations across guest rooms, public areas, employee locker rooms, back-of-house areas and related lodge spaces.
• Ensure the cleanliness, orderliness and appearance of the entire lodge are consistently maintained.
• Ensure all rooms are made up and presented according to company and lodge standards before guest arrival.
• Plan the work of the housekeeping department and distribute daily, regular and special duties accordingly.
• Schedule employees and allocate extra days off according to occupancy forecasts and operational requirements.
• Conduct daily inspections of guest rooms, public areas and employee areas to ensure quality standards are achieved.
• Audit and inspect housekeeping assignments, identify improvement opportunities and follow up on corrective actions.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance schedules for rooms and public areas with the Maintenance department.
• Attend immediately to guest requests relating to rooms, cleanliness, amenities or housekeeping service delivery.
• Develop, implement and maintain housekeeping systems, procedures, checklists, departmental manuals and quality control measures.

Team Leadership & Development

• Supervise all housekeeping employees and provide daily leadership, guidance and support.
• Recruit or recommend recruitment of new housekeeping personnel in line with company procedures and operational needs.
• Support performance management, disciplinary processes and employee development when policies or standards are not followed.
• Allocate daily duties, manage workloads and ensure adequate operational coverage during normal and peak periods.
• Ensure each housekeeping team member cleans a minimum of 10 rooms per day in line with daily allocations and management requirements.
• Conduct daily briefings with supervisors and team members to communicate priorities, guest requirements and operational updates.
• Train new employees by assigning them to experienced team members and monitoring their progress and work quality.
• Organise on-the-job training, evaluate its effectiveness and identify further training needs.
• Coach and develop team members to improve performance, confidence, productivity and service delivery.
• Promote a positive team culture built on respect, accountability, teamwork and the values of Ubuntu.

Guest Experience & Service Excellence

• Ensure housekeeping contributes to an exceptional guest journey from arrival to departure.
• Attend to and resolve guest complaints relating to cleanliness, room presentation or housekeeping service delivery.
• Work closely with Front Office to ensure guest requests are fulfilled timeously and rooms are released efficiently.
• Collaborate with Maintenance to ensure room defects and public-area maintenance issues are addressed quickly.
• Maintain a strong understanding of guest expectations, lodge standards and hospitality service trends.
• Champion attention to detail, personalised service and service excellence within the housekeeping team.
• Maintain and control the Lost and Found process, including recording items, determining rightful ownership and arranging correspondence or return where required.

Administration, Budget & Reporting

• Prepare and support control of the annual Housekeeping budget and departmental cost management initiatives.
• Maintain a time logbook and accurate housekeeping records for employees, inspections, room status, cleaning schedules, maintenance requests and stock control.
• Approve or recommend housekeeping supply requisitions, including guest supplies, linen, uniforms, bathroom items and cleaning materials.
• Maintain par stock levels for guest supplies, cleaning supplies, linen and uniforms.
• Organise inventories with Accounts and General Store for linen, uniforms and fixed assets.
• Verify supply consignments and follow up on variances or quality concerns.
• Assist the Purchasing department in selecting suitable suppliers for housekeeping-related items.
• Prepare reports for management information and provide regular feedback to the Property Custodian / General Manager.
• Monitor housekeeping expenses, minimise wastage and promote responsible use of lodge resources.
• Ensure salary costs, guest supplies and cleaning supplies remain within the budget figures provided by management at all times.

Health, Safety & Compliance

• Ensure adherence to all company policies, procedures, operational standards and occupational health and safety requirements.
• Promote safe working practices within the housekeeping department and ensure correct use of equipment.
• Ensure correct handling, labelling and storage of cleaning chemicals, consumables and equipment.
• Maintain compliance with hygiene, sanitation, health, safety and environmental standards.
• Pay particular attention to pest control activities and coordinate pest eradication arrangements where required.
• Support planned horticultural activities where housekeeping coordination or guest-area presentation is required.
• Participate in audits, inspections and continuous improvement initiatives.

Qualifications and Experience