Lodge Manager / General Manager
Visa sponsorship
Hospitality · Invercargill, New Zealand · Full-Time · Discussed at interview · Visa: Employer sponsored
If you run a country-house hotel or boutique property and fancy swapping the British winter for New Zealand, this Lodge Manager / General Manager vacancy is worth a read. It is at a small, upmarket lodge beside a national park, down in the southern South Island.
After a top-to-bottom restoration it reopens on 1 December 2026 with ten suites, a pair of log cabins and a four-bedroom house hired out to one group at a time. Nine new suites are due in October 2027, and the grounds run to about 32 hectares.
Think of it as a proper hands-on GM post. You will be at the front door, by the fireside with a drink in hand and on the floor through a busy dinner, then back at the desk for the budget, the rota and the upkeep of the land. You will have plenty of freedom to make decisions and the owners' ear whenever you need it.
Applicants based in New Zealand, Australia and overseas are welcome, and the owners will consider visa sponsorship for the right candidate.
Your English CV should show the properties you have run, your P&L responsibility and the teams you have led. Polish your country-house GM CV with Build AI CV before you apply.
Key Responsibilities
- Greet guests yourself, look after them and give them proper time during their stay
- See each visit through from pre-arrival chats to meals, guided outings, stays in the exclusive-use house and the send-off
- Set the bar for service, keep it there and muck in with colleagues wherever needed
- Shape how guests feel and how the team behaves, from hello to goodbye
- See nine new suites through their opening and into everyday running, taking rooms from 12 keys to 21
- Work up the menu and drinks list with the Lodge Head Chef
- Lead a multi-skilled team of roughly eighteen on reopening, line-managing the Housekeeping Manager, Lodge Host, Maintenance & Grounds Supervisor, Assistant Lodge Manager and Executive Chef
- Recruit, train and develop the team and organise its rota so service holds up all year round
- Look after the lodge itself, vehicles, the exclusive-use house, cabins, driveways, staff quarters, grounds, native bush and infrastructure, keeping the maintenance crew to a yearly estate programme of preventive work, presentation and compliance
- Own the yearly operating budget and the bottom line, grow rate, occupancy, guest spend and repeat and direct bookings alongside reservations and finance, review trading each week and report to the directors each month
Requirements & Eligibility
- Leadership in high-end hospitality, ideally at Lodge Manager, General Manager or senior operations level
- Strong leadership with guests and a genuine fondness for personal service
- A proven grip on financial and commercial management: budgets, forecasts and operating profit
- Experience of running teams across several hospitality departments
- Clear communication in writing and in person
- The judgement to lead on your own somewhere remote, when the road is closed or the weather takes a turn
- A Manager's Certificate, or eligibility to obtain one before certificated duties, plus a clean, full driver licence
- Highly regarded: experience running a luxury lodge, boutique hotel or exclusive-use property; a hotel opening, refurbishment or major development; knowledge of New Zealand's luxury tourism market; and looking after the grounds, facilities and infrastructure of a remote site
- You must hold, or be able to obtain, the legal right to work in New Zealand
Apply: Apply by email · WhatsApp
Visa guide: AEWV Guide for UK Workers